The iconic Hollywood filmmaker Frank Capra once famously said that drama was when the audience and not the actors cried. Sometimes the real drama plays out beyond the screen, and this is precisely what could unfold with the government’s decision to bring OTT platforms under the aegis of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry. Be prepared for the next chapter in the never-ending censorship versus free speech saga as the free run of Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hotstar, and others to stream content becomes a thing of the past.
A few weeks ago, Netflix faced an intense backlash for the Maïmouna Doucouré-directed French film Mignonnes or Cuties that sexualised pre-teen girls. The film explores the life of an 11-year-old Parisian girl, who joins a group of dancers—‘The cuties’—at school, and is torn between her family’s conservative Muslim identity and Western culture’s sexualisation of women.
Cuties hyper-sexualised pre-pubescent children right from provocatively depicting its young female actors on its poster and describing the narrative as ‘stunning’ or ‘brave.’ There was a major increase in subscription cancellations, and calls to ‘cancel Netflix’ flooded social media platforms. The steaming giant later commented that Cuties was a “social commentary against the sexualisation of young children”.
What is bizarre is that the film that flaunted 11-year-olds as sexual objects to criticise the objectification of young women, was certified for ‘adults only’.
On a different note, it’s also worth pondering what was the behind-the-scene scenario of Cuties—the crew would mostly comprise adults—and how much or what kind of footage was shot but left out?
An argument is often made that one should be more bothered with what is happening in real life rather than its onscreen depiction.
One can also argue the case for self-censorship for OTT platforms and muse that cinema or streaming media is but a reflection of society. But for free speech advocates, there exists another side. A recent incident where a young man reportedly enacted a scene from the web series Mirzapur where a spurned lover shoots the object of his desire is one of the many instances that suggest the sheer sway the reel wields over the real.
Much of what we see on OTT platforms is in some way pushing the envelope on what could be termed acceptable. In other words, one can put forth content that would otherwise not be possible. Nearly 43 years ago, Roman Polanski was charged with drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl. He fled the law and transformed into a cultural icon. One can separate the ‘art’ and the ‘artist’. However, could being okay with Roman Polanski, the filmmaker, somewhere also suggest that actions of Roman Polanski, the individual, are acceptable?
Gautam Chintamani gautam@chintamani.org
Film historian and bestselling author