Thread by @originalspin

It is really quite amazing that Tulsi Gabbard, right-wingers and QAnon have converged to swarm a fictional movie for allegedly exploiting young black Muslim girls, a group that all three have expressed zero actual concern for in the real world

Amazing, but not surprising. Bad faith actors are gonna bad faith act.

None of these folks have watched the film, most don’t know what it’s about and are unaware it’s a French indie film by a Black woman director—a child of Senegalese Muslim immigrants—not a Netflix production.

Curious: Have you watched Dance Moms or Toddlers and Tiaras, both of which have run for...uh...9 seasons?

I’m asking, where were you 9 years ago? For what it’s worth I think Dance Moms and T&T are garbage but this movie is critiquing that kind of culture, not celebrating it. If you want to attack Black women because it’s easier than going after white ones, go off I guess

Annnnd there we go

Going to have to write a letter to Harper’s now

There’s a nuanced conversation to be had but it won’t happen in the context of reactive hysteria

I think sexualization of children is bad. So does Maïmouna Doucouré. If you think making something visible is feeding it—what is it exactly that QAnon is allegedly trying to do then?

These folks are swarming a film that *criticizes child sexualization* for showing child sexualization as part of its narrative—

By widely sharing the film’s only clips that contain child sexualization—removing the critique for anyone who wants to watch just the “creepy parts”

And yet, we should also ask why feminist filmmakers of color are being held accountable for ways in which disgusting people miswatch their work? Is advising them to “be careful with shot choices” not like telling women to cover up in public if they want to avoid being harassed?

The burden always falls on women to avoid sexual assault, people of color to avoid brutalization by police, immigrants to avoid being attacked as unassimilable foreigners. A young Black woman filmmaker attacked for critiquing exploitation of young Black women?

It’s exhausting.

This whole thing with Cuties shows how the tropes and energy behind prior shock-tactic viral movements like #WhereAretheGirls and KONY 2012 can easily be weaponized from “protecting” Black women to attacking them, almost like flipping a switch

Basic logic: If you think the clips from this movie are “evidence of child porn,” why are you sharing them all over the Internet 🤪

This is not what you do with child porn, folks. If you ever do come across child porn, report it to authorities, amplifying *makes you complicit*

Meanwhile, as Maïmouna Doucouré gets irresponsibly dragged for her feature film debut, quite literally elsewhere in France, Roman Polanski continues to be feted as a genius
theguardian.com/film/2018/jan/…

Also I’m curious how right wingers can pile on the Black woman director of Cuties while blinding themselves to this and repeated examples of their orange god-king’s disgusting fetishization of adolescent girls
businessinsider.com/michael-cohen-…

Literally laughed out loud