Netflix's Chief Communications Officer Calls Ben Domenech to Yell At Him and Tell Him He's an Uncultured Conspiracy Theorist For Believing Cuties is Pedophilia

From his Transom newsletter.

To say this call was disturbing would minimize the content. First, it included an aggressive dismissal of any critiques as being indicative of backwards cultural tendencies and being out of touch with intelligent assumptions about child pornography. It indicated that someone whose literal job is communications for Netflix apparently thinks they have the power to badger people in how they cover the platform's content. And there was a moralizing tone to it which, frankly, came across as a pseudo-refined European insult to knuckle dragging Americans who fear what they do not comprehend.

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She expressed doubts whether I had seen the film. I said I had seen the trailer and the clip of the performance. She said I needed to see it in context. I said I don't need to see the context of a two minute sequence any pedophile could use as jack off material. She said I clearly didn't understand the point. I said people can like the film if they want, but that my wife and I had already talked about it and decided anyone who likes the film isn't welcome around our child. She said well under that standard then she wouldn't be welcome around our child. I said I didn't know her anyway, and this wasn't a first impression that would inspire me to reconsider.

The conversation escalated quickly into a yelling match. She invoked "conspiracy theories" (I assume QAnon) as something driving negative opinions about the film, suggesting that was my motivation. I said that the fact Netflix CEO Reed Hastings would tweet out an article suggesting this is the source of critiques of the film showed how out of touch Netflix was on the subject, and raised the point that when Nancy Pelosi's daughter and Tulsi Gabbard are hitting you politically at the same time as Ted Cruz and Tom Cotton, it means you misjudged the moment. She said she wouldn't be judged by me on child trafficking and I had no clue what I was talking about.

I have never had a call that was more insulting from any communications person in my entire life, and as you might expect, I get about a dozen calls from comms people in a week trying to influence coverage. If you thought Netflix was out of touch before, this should absolutely cement it. They view critiques of Cuties as nothing more than conspiratorial prudishness and the people who raise such critiques as backwards Americans who don't understand context. In other words, they're just as stupid and out of touch as Alyssa Rosenberg.

Cancel Netflix. Seriously. They're bad people.

PS: I saw a tweet being shared from Cathy Young that if you're in favor of cancelling Netflix over Cuties, it means you give up your right to complain about "cancel culture". Can someone explain to Cathy what "cancel culture" is? The entire point is "cancelling"-- threatening the livelihood -- of people over comments and positions that are well within the mainstream. Having sex with children is not included in that.

You know Steve Hilton, the British populist that Fox News shows on the weekend? Alas, this CCO, Rachel Whestone, is Steve Hilton's wife.

By the way: I watched Cuties. It's as bad as everyone says.

There is no "context" that spares this film from being pedophilia spank material.

I urge critics to see the movie, not because seeing the movie is necessary to evaluate whether or not it sexualizes children -- it does; you can see that in the clips -- but just to shut the fucking mouths of the people who claim "but you have to see the full context of child porn to decide if it's good child porn."

If you've seen the clips -- and most have -- you've seen most of the really bad stuff anyway.

Most. Most compilations do not include the "older girl" dance troop, ages unspecified but supposed to be teenagers, in the 15 year old range. One of them just straight up lowers her halter to fully expose a breast.

I also urge Cuties Fake Libertarian defenders -- the ones who say they haven't seen the film, but think that criticizing it based on clips is "dumb" -- to see the movie, so they can see the CP they're defending.

They're taking a calculated, cowardly position: They're making sure they don't admit they've watched the movie so that when they defend the movie they think they have some defense against accusations that they're themselves pedophiles.

Nick Gillespie, Julian Sanchez, Megan McArdle, Sonny Bunch, Cathy Young -- all defending this pedophile bait and telling critics they shouldn't comment on a movie they haven't seen while also refusing to see the movie (or at least: refusing to admit they've seen it, and approve of it).

"But I didn't even watch the movie! How would I know?!" That's their planned defense. They get to put up the ultimate Libertarian Virtue Signal -- normalizing sex with children -- while keeping plausible deniability so people aren't afraid to have them around their children.

If you're interested enough to attack critics of the film, then you're interested enough to spend 90 minutes watching it.

Below, the leftwing, socialist Bernie Girl Shoe On Head notes that it's only the typical Useless Idiots -- "the journos" -- who are denying that CP is CP.

posted by Ace at 03:37 PM

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