The Babadook is a gay icon because of a Netflix clerical error

The original publication of this investigation on how The Babadook came to be a gay icon took place in 2017. This investigation has been completely updated and published for Pride Month.

The horror movies of 2014 The BabadookFollows the Babadook as it terrorizes single mothers and their sons in their newly purchased home. This movie was a huge success for writer/director Jennifer Kent. But it also had a strange effect on society. An apparent clerical oversight turned the Babadook into an iconic figure of queer internet culture.

Why does The Babadook have a gay icon status?

It all began with an innocent Tumblr posting. Taco Bell Rey posted a screenshot of the meme on Tumblr. The BabadookNetflix lists this film as part of their LGBTQ collection. The post was shared thousands of times. The caption on that post — a one-line sentence about what this could possibly mean — cemented the Babadook’s fate.

“So proud that Netflix recognizes the Babadook as gay representation.”

This post was quickly shared on Tumblr, and then spread to Twitter. Buzzfeed’s Ryan Broderick, who co-hosted the Internet Explorer podcast, tweeted about how it was his favorite trend on Tumblr. The post was written by the Babadook The Babadook debate exploded, as writers suggested that the film is homosexual because it deals with isolation, depression and the inability to be yourself.

Like another Tumblr-to-Twitter story of the same era — a Tumblr request to have Rihanna and Lupita Nyong’o star in their own heist movie based on a photo taken of the pair at Paris Fashion Week got Nyongo, Rihanna, Issa Rae, and Ava DuVernay all agreeing to make that movie together — The Babadook The meme has quickly gained a new audience.

The trend of people discovering and celebrating the Babadook’s newly found sexuality continued for months, but it wasn’t until June 1 that those not paying attention to Tumblr or certain sections of Twitter finally learned about it. Twitter users began to join in, and stretched the joke as far as possible.

Part of the reason June became the time to celebrate the Babadook’s chosen sexuality is because the month is dedicated to Pride, an ongoing celebration of the queer community. The Babadook meme was just big enough — and strange enough — that the joke caught on with people right away.

It doesn’t stop there, though. Taco-bell-rey’s photo triggered a debate over whether the Babadook was actually gay. It is important to note that the debate continues even today.

The arguments for The Babadook’s queerness

Many writers and professors pointed out that the Tumblr original post, while intended as a joke, was actually not funny. The Babadook’Its themes are resonant with the homosexual community.

Dean Eastwood, founder of the men’s gay lifestyle magazine HISKIND, wrote about the similarities between the Babadook’s troubling history and what many men go through when they’re dealing with coming to terms with their own sexuality, eventually coming out. He wrote the following in a piece he did on the Babadook meme:

The BabadookThis story ultimately portrays the LGBT experience of hiding in shadows. To conform to current stereotypes, all characters wear black. In the end, the creature’s monster-like identity and traits are subdued when *spoiler alert* he comes out of his shadows and shares his truth with those he loves. Sounds familiar? Despite the meme merely picking fun in the internet’s reaction to nearly anything LGBT related, despite how trivial or serious, there are arguably parallels that follow the Babadook — a lonely, confused and misunderstood creature often depicted as a monster — and the LGBT community. In an age where coming out is still tough and the notion of suppressed identities and mental health issues are still strife within the community, the brief skeleton of the Babadook story — like many a ‘tortured soul’ storyline — may be considered a little too close to home for a community where more than half of LGBT pupils have experienced direct bullying and where gay men are three times more likely than heterosexual men to suffer from depression.

Eastwood isn’t the only person to focus on the similarities as a takeaway from the movie. Michael Varrati, the organizer of San Diego Comic Con’s queer horror panel, told Mic that by the modern definition of the term, the Babadook is a perfect example of a gay icon.

“This creature is trying to come out and be seen. By internet culture standards, it’s a gay hero,” Varrati said. “The Babadook just wants to step out of the dark and into the light.”

The Babadook isn’t the first “monster” to be considered a gay icon, either. When A Nightmare on Elm Street 2 – Freddy’s Revenge was released in 1985, people were quick to point out that the film’s main character, Jesse Walsh, was a teen struggling with his sexuality. Some of those fears found a physical presence in Freddy Krueger, the franchise’s iconic villain.

In one scene, Jesse watches his gym teacher being attacked by Krueger. This played on the fears of both Jesse as well as the society at that time. Tyler Jensen, director of the film “The Assassination of Mr. Krueger”, describes how this particular scene played into fears that Jesse and society had at the time. Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street It was during the heights of the AIDS outbreak in the United States that mainstream society viewed queerness as a serious threat.

The Babadook The fans responded similarly to the movie, about which Jennifer Kent specifically stated that it is about grief.

What is all this about?

The Babadook wasn’t conceived as a movie about the struggles the LGBTQ community deals with, as far as anyone knows. But the fact that people can resonate with the story and the theme of the film’s mysterious monster isn’t a bad thing. The best part about cinema is that it’s subjective, and viewers can see different aspects of their own lives in the story reflected back at them.

It started as a meme — one that’s still alive and well in 2023. But the fact that it’s resonated a little more deeply with people is pretty great.

The Babadook It is free to stream with advertisements on TubiThen, Pluto TVYou can download the app on KanopyYou can also find out more about the following: Shudder. It’s available for rental or purchase on Vudu, AmazonIt is not currently available on American Netflix, either under the horror category or the LBGTQ category. The film is currently not available on American Netflix under either the Horror category or the LBGTQ Category.