Netflix has stated that it will continue to stream the Polish film 365 Days despite calls for withdrawal. Many, including British singer Duffy, have said it glamorised “the brutal reality of sex trafficking, kidnapping and rape” and thus have been asking the streaming giant to take it down.
The Polish film described as ‘erotica drama’ has been on top of the streaming service’s charts for quite a while now. The story, based on a bestselling Polish book trilogy by Blanka Lipinska, is about a woman (played by Polish actress Anna-Maria Sieklucka) imprisoned by a Sicilian mafia boss (played by Italian actor Michele Morrone), who gives his hostage a year to fall in love with him.
Welsh singer-songwriter Aimee Duffy, known as Duffy, released an open letter on Thursday to Netflix Chief Executive Reed Hastings, raising her concerns about the film. Duffy, who this year published her own account of being captured and raped, wrote, “It grieves me that Netflix provides a platform for such ‘cinema’, that eroticises kidnapping and distorts sexual violence and trafficking as a ‘sexy’ movie”. She added, “Tragically, victims of trafficking and kidnapping are unseen, and yet in 365 Days, their suffering is made into a ‘erotic drama’, as described by Netflix.”
Her letter, published by entertainment news website Deadline, followed a petition being set up on Change.org calling for the movie to be removed from Netflix for glorifying sex trafficking and facilitating sexual aggression towards women. By late Friday the petition had about 6,000 signatures.
When asked about the criticism surrounding 365 Days that has faired extremely well on the platform, a spokesman for Netflix did not have a comment but pointed out that the film carried high ratings for violence, sex and nudity.
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