Netflix: The title of this children’s movie amuses Internet users, but not parents

In Chupa, young Alex (Evan Whitten) visits his grandfather (Demian Bichir) in Mexico and discovers a chupacabra, a mythical Mexican creature, in his barn. However, he is not a bloodthirsty vampire like in the stories, but a very gentle creature who just wants to go home. Just like in ET, adults with evil intentions (including Christian Slater) are also on the hunt for an extraordinary beast. Alex then has to protect the little creature with the help of his cousins.

Chupa is the new film from Jonas Cuarón (Desierto), best known for co-writing Gravity for his father, Oscar winner Alfonso Cuarón (Roma), and co-directing a certain family film, the popular Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Chupa is also produced by another family film specialist, Chris Columbus, to whom we obviously owe Mother, I Missed the Plane and the first two Harry Potter films. On the show, then, is a good movie to watch with the family…with a title you don’t have to google!

title NSFW

At first glance, it makes sense to shorten the Chupacabra movie to “Chuppa”. However, as our colleagues at FilmStarts report, the short term has long taken on its own meaning in Spanish, something Netflix has notably shied away from. To give you an idea, this word actually has its own category on sites that are exclusively for adult audiences… If you’re over 18, we’ll let you search for its translation on Google.

On Twitter, author Vanessa Angelica Villarreal came out: her message, depicting the origin of meaning, went viral and greatly amused Internet users.

“Imagine the amount of people who have backed this title on Netflix until they release a promotional movie poster so that no one says that the word “Chupacabra” can’t be shortened to “Chuppa” because it literally means “suck”… the kids Do not google this word.“

Indeed, “chupacabra” literally means “goat-sucker” and thus refers to a beast that feeds on the blood of farm animals, such as goats or cows, by making perfectly circular holes in their necks, like a vampire.

If you Google the word at your own risk, you might come across a Netflix movie or the site of a famous Spanish lollipop maker—we’ll let you associate the brand name “Chupa Chups” with “chupa” now that you know. What does it mean – or on the site nsfw quite easily.

While this amuses some, others don’t quite agree.

“Making a chupacabra movie and just calling it “Chuppa” doesn’t seem to know that if you take out the “cabra” it’s just a sex word, that’s the most disgusting thing I’ve seen today.“

However, the unfortunate choice of title will not pose a great risk to children in our country. It’s a different story in Spanish-speaking countries…

Chupa will be available on Netflix from April 7, 2023.