{"id":57326,"date":"2018-12-04T05:10:50","date_gmt":"2018-12-04T05:10:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=57326"},"modified":"2018-12-04T05:10:50","modified_gmt":"2018-12-04T05:10:50","slug":"netflixs-teen-prostitution-drama-baby-obscene-just-risque","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thefastfashion.com\/?p=57326","title":{"rendered":"Is Netflix\u2019s Teen Prostitution Drama \u2018Baby\u2019 Obscene or Just Risqu\u00e9?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Netflix is no stranger to risqu\u00e9 fare. From the body-shaming conversation surrounding Insatiable<\/em> to 13 Reasons Why<\/em>\u2018s depiction of suicide, you don\u2019t have to scroll far before you find a controversial project on the streaming service. But Netflix\u2019s most recent addition is by far one of its most scandalous in a while. The Italian drama Baby<\/em> has been denounced by the the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) for allegedly promoting underage sex trafficking. But is Baby<\/em> worth the outrage it\u2019s provoked or is the petition against the series an overreaction?<\/p>\n

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Netflix\u2019s second Italian original, Baby<\/em> follows a group of young, dumb, and rebellious teenagers stumbling through life. It\u2019s a fairly typical coming-of-age drama save for the fact that two of the show\u2019s teens start to casually and then seriously become involved in a prostitution ring. The six-episode series is loosely based on a viral news story from 2014. Two teenage girls were caught engaging in part-time prostitution to buy designer clothes and expensive devices. The scandal led to the arrest of five people, including one of the mothers of these teenage girls.<\/p>\n

Before it even premiered Andrea De Sica and Anna Negri\u2019s take on the story was plagued by controversy. Shortly after Netflix announced the series at the beginning of this year 55 members of NCOSE joined together to send a letter to the company. The letter worried that Baby<\/em> would glamorize underage sex trafficking and that the series \u201cnormalizes child sexual abuse and the sex trafficking of minors as \u2018prostitution.’\u201dFor its part, Netflix has emphasized the project\u2019s emotional authenticity rather than its controversial framing. The series has even been described as \u201cedgy\u201d by another Netflix VP, Erik Barmack.<\/p>\n\n

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The reality of Baby<\/em> rests somewhere in the middle of these two conflicting views. Baby<\/em> doesn\u2019t go out of its way to glamorize underage sex work by a long shot. Though there night club scenes abound, the moments showing actual sex work are dark and sad. But the series also doesn\u2019t seem very interested in condemning the illegal practice it shows. Rather the child sex trafficking ring at the center of this story is rarely anything more than a plot device, similar to how Gossip Girl<\/em> would use Serena\u2019s former drug problem. Considering the horrifying weight behind this particular plot-driving scandal, Baby<\/em>\u2018s lack of a sharp condemnation is unsettling.<\/p>\n

Adv<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n