He loves a hat.
June 8, 2017 7:41 AM   Subscribe

"June is the month of Pride and the LGBTQ community has a new queer icon to celebrate: The Babadook."
posted by everybody had matching towels (30 comments total) 28 users marked this as a favorite
 
The Internet often brings me the feeling of being totally confused for a day followed by retroactively understanding what I read, so thanks for helping me make sense of yesterday.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 7:50 AM on June 8, 2017 [18 favorites]




Uh, what is the Babadook? I know I'm a really bad queer person, but I've never heard of The Babadook until a few months ago.
posted by SansPoint at 8:07 AM on June 8, 2017


The Central monster/metaphor from the low budget horror movie of the same name.
posted by The Whelk at 8:08 AM on June 8, 2017 [1 favorite]


my favorite:
L ook it's the babadook
G od i love the babadook
B abadook
T he babadook
posted by quadrilaterals at 8:28 AM on June 8, 2017 [23 favorites]


This is thoroughly hilarious.
posted by tobascodagama at 8:39 AM on June 8, 2017


The Whelk: I'm as confused as I was before, then.
posted by SansPoint at 9:03 AM on June 8, 2017 [2 favorites]


I deeply love the Babadook. The movie is beautiful and deep and haunting.

I also love this meme, which goes against the stick-up-the-ass liberal crusader stereotype and reminds us that intertectual reading is supposed to be fun and an act of creativity and that it's ok to deflate your own Mr. Serious balloons. The fact that people aren't initially sure if they can get in on the joke or if it's a joke at all is what makes it wonderful. All hail Gay Babadook!
posted by es_de_bah at 9:04 AM on June 8, 2017 [11 favorites]


I love this movie and I love this meme

I was absolutely rolling

but then once I stopped laughing I thought: they're not serious are they, how could the Babadook be gay when he was obsessed with trying to haunt and kill a woman

which says a whole book's worth about expectations in society, in horror movies, and in me, none of which is good
posted by Countess Elena at 9:07 AM on June 8, 2017 [1 favorite]


The original meme authors missed out on a huge opportunity by not calling him the Bi-badook.
posted by Wossname at 9:22 AM on June 8, 2017 [4 favorites]


Oh my god. That Babadook striptease by Lucy Balls (in The Whelk's link, or here) is AMAZING.
posted by Secretariat at 9:50 AM on June 8, 2017 [3 favorites]




not calling him the Bi-badook.
Everybody knows that Bi-badooks don't exist. /g,d,r

Seriously, though, I'm fascinated by this development. I'm not digging in to deep or questioning it b/c it's not my community, but it's still bizarre and wonderful to me.

That film is an exemplar of the sort of horror movie I find fascinating. I don't watch them (I just can't; I'm a big softie about these -- I love to read detailed synopses of them, though), but it's pretty clear there's something quite a bit deeper going on there than in your usual example of the genre. I have the sense that It Follows is also one of those: cool ideas, cool subtext, strong execution.
posted by uberchet at 9:59 AM on June 8, 2017 [3 favorites]


My favorite overthinking-it observation thread, poached from the amazing Twitter Moments collection.
Great thing about being gay: we've survived so much bullshit that we now effortlessly turn terrifying monsters into gay icons for fun: pic.twitter.com/dOrF0N12fy— Carlos Maza (@gaywonk) June 7, 2017
Gay people have seen some SHIT but it's made us really good at co-opting/redeploying pop culture that's supposed to be scary/grotesque.— Carlos Maza (@gaywonk) June 7, 2017
BABADOOK: I'm a terrifying monster that destroys families that try to suppress me.

GAY PEOPLE: Oh my god, SAME. Drinks later?— Carlos Maza (@gaywonk) June 7, 2017
Gay people identify with monsters because we grew fearing we might be one okay Carlos just shut up and enjoy the stupid Babadook meme.— Carlos Maza (@gaywonk) June 7, 2017
posted by nicebookrack at 10:21 AM on June 8, 2017 [13 favorites]


He's one thicc bih. I'm here for this babadussy!
posted by en forme de poire at 10:30 AM on June 8, 2017 [9 favorites]


"Do you remember when you realized you were An Old?"
"To the very day."
posted by Etrigan at 10:57 AM on June 8, 2017 [18 favorites]


"Do you remember when you realized you were An Old?"

The moment I got confused looking at the pictures in the links and assumed this was all about King Diamond.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 11:42 AM on June 8, 2017


So, is this like that frog as a signifier for nazis thing, but much less frightening?
posted by eustatic at 2:13 PM on June 8, 2017


He killed a DOG, guys. Instant disqualification.
posted by praemunire at 2:41 PM on June 8, 2017 [4 favorites]


Maybe the dog was the reincarnation of Hitler.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 2:49 PM on June 8, 2017 [7 favorites]


I'm not generally a fan of horror, but I might have to watch the movie now.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 3:04 PM on June 8, 2017


this is the youngest I've ever felt on metafilter and it's great
posted by colorblock sock at 3:09 PM on June 8, 2017 [3 favorites]


Every once in a while the Internet shines through all attempts at bullshit corporate ownership and just does something perfect. This is one of those times. Fuck it, headcanon for me is now that the Babadook is gay, I'm perfectly cool with that, 'cause the Babadook gets to make it's own choices and define itself how ever it feels.

Cishumans should just accept and be happy that we live in a world were an Australian shadow monster can openly live the life it wants.

Except the killing dogs party, strictly not cool
posted by KirTakat at 6:32 PM on June 8, 2017 [6 favorites]


I desperately want to join in the fun, especially since all my queer friends are reveling in it, but I am apparently the only queer person I know who was so deeply unsettled by that movie that I can't get into this :(
posted by Anonymous at 8:49 PM on June 8, 2017




He's one thicc bih. I'm here for this babadussy!

"Babadook, sweetie. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry that a ugly ass bitch like this would even say that, oh my god."
posted by wreckingball at 10:31 PM on June 8, 2017 [1 favorite]


Tumblr taught me that the dog was a homophobe, and thus his death was An Important Metaphor

Also, the coining of "babadiscourse" makes it all worth it, the end.
posted by a fiendish thingy at 5:12 AM on June 9, 2017 [4 favorites]




Over at Vulture, a little compilation of the Babadook representing at this weekend's Pride parades. I am both delighted and weirdly moved.
posted by yasaman at 2:16 PM on June 11, 2017 [1 favorite]


You got me guys, that was a good joke and I loved being a victim.

I hadn't seen the movie and this thread prompted me to view it. I was incredulous that the Babadook is gay. I didn't dig too deep but it seemed as if the filmmakers had inadvertently included references to the Babadook being gay and the gay community picked it up as an ironic gay icon.

I watched the movie looking for the suggestion that the Babadook is gay and came away disappointed (while the monster as a metaphor for depression was obvious). Still, if people from a marginalized community tell me thing that relates to that group, I believe them so I just assumed that I had missed it.

I thought Netflix classified it as an LGBT movie because of the character really is gay. It wasn't until after watching it that Mrs. VTX determined that the Netflix made the error that led to the meme.

The gay community got me to watch The Babadook looking for evidence that isn't there. It feels like I've been pranked and I'm seriously tickled by it days later. Thank you.
posted by VTX at 12:36 PM on June 13, 2017 [3 favorites]


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