Welsh singer Duffy has written an open letter to Reed Hastings, the CEO of Netflix, with complaints about including Polish film 365 Days on the streaming platform. In the letter, she argues that the film's depiction of sex trafficking and rape is "irresponsible."
Directed by Barbara Białowąs, 365 Days is billed as an erotic drama — and sees a woman kidnapped and held captive for a year by a man who hopes she will fall in love with him.
Since its release earlier this year, the film has been compared to Fifty Shades of Grey for its problematic depiction of sex and Stockholm Syndrome. The film currently holds a zero percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Duffy's criticism of 365 Days comes after she spoke out publicly in detail about her experience as a survivor of kidnapping and sexual assault.
Read an excerpt from her open letter [via Deadline] below:
I don't want to be in this position to have to write to you, but the virtue of my suffering obliges me to do so, because of a violent experience that I endured of the kind that you have chosen to present as 'adult erotica'.
365 Days glamorizes the brutal reality of sex trafficking, kidnapping and rape. This should not be anyone's idea of entertainment, nor should it be described as such, or be commercialized in this manner.
I calm myself to explain to you here — when I was trafficked and raped, I was lucky to come away with my life, but far too many have not been so lucky. And now I have to witness these tragedies, and my tragedy, eroticized and demeaned. Where can one turn? But to have to address you in writing.
To anyone who may exclaim, "it is just a movie," it is not "just," when it has great influence to distort a subject which is widely undiscussed, such as sex trafficking and kidnapping, by making the subject erotic.
And because 365 Days has proved enormously popular, I also address this letter to viewers directly. I encourage the millions who have enjoyed the movie to reflect on the reality of kidnapping and trafficking, of force and sexual exploitation, and of an experience that is the polar opposite of the glossy fantasy depicted in 365 Days.
Directed by Barbara Białowąs, 365 Days is billed as an erotic drama — and sees a woman kidnapped and held captive for a year by a man who hopes she will fall in love with him.
Since its release earlier this year, the film has been compared to Fifty Shades of Grey for its problematic depiction of sex and Stockholm Syndrome. The film currently holds a zero percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Duffy's criticism of 365 Days comes after she spoke out publicly in detail about her experience as a survivor of kidnapping and sexual assault.
Read an excerpt from her open letter [via Deadline] below:
I don't want to be in this position to have to write to you, but the virtue of my suffering obliges me to do so, because of a violent experience that I endured of the kind that you have chosen to present as 'adult erotica'.
365 Days glamorizes the brutal reality of sex trafficking, kidnapping and rape. This should not be anyone's idea of entertainment, nor should it be described as such, or be commercialized in this manner.
I calm myself to explain to you here — when I was trafficked and raped, I was lucky to come away with my life, but far too many have not been so lucky. And now I have to witness these tragedies, and my tragedy, eroticized and demeaned. Where can one turn? But to have to address you in writing.
To anyone who may exclaim, "it is just a movie," it is not "just," when it has great influence to distort a subject which is widely undiscussed, such as sex trafficking and kidnapping, by making the subject erotic.
And because 365 Days has proved enormously popular, I also address this letter to viewers directly. I encourage the millions who have enjoyed the movie to reflect on the reality of kidnapping and trafficking, of force and sexual exploitation, and of an experience that is the polar opposite of the glossy fantasy depicted in 365 Days.
