For the most part, online campaigns and petitions largely tend to be ignored by the major studios, with the very notable exception of the Snyder Cut of Justice League. Social media has given people a voice and a platform that allows them to share their opinions on whatever they want whether it be for better or worse, and as a result, there’s an increased sense of entitlement over major brands that causes people to publicly lash out at anything they’re not happy with it.
Even though these petitions almost never succeed in their goal, just imagine what would have happened if they did. Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and Anne with an E would both be back on Netflix, Black Widow would have been on Disney Plus by now, Brie Larson would have been fired as Captain Marvel, Emilia Clarke would be the DCEU’s Mera, bigots would have won and seen The Eternals boycotted and Pixar short Out removed from streaming, while Danny DeVito would be the new Wolverine. Okay, maybe that last one would be worth looking into.
The latest petition is calling for Netflix to pull French coming-of-age drama Cuties from the site after the huge backlash that greeted the controversial first poster for the movie, which was roundly condemned for glorifying the sexualization of young children. The streaming service issued a public apology, but that clearly wasn’t enough and the campaign to get it removed now has almost 300,000 signatures.
The MCU’s Tessa Thompson has commented on how the marketing definitely doesn’t reflect the content or quality of the movie, but that doesn’t seem to have made much difference, and Netflix’s PR team must be kicking themselves after making such a massive error. Especially when Cuties would have flown completely under the radar had it not turned out to be such a lightning rod for outrage.