THE BABADOOK

I don’t know why but I feel bad that I don’t like The Babadook. It’s probably because it’s Australian and well-reviewed, and being those two things is the rarest substance on earth. So, I’m going to argue my way into not feeling bad about not liking The Babadook.

The actual specific reason I don’t like the movie is because I find the child who stars in it annoying. Being annoyed by a child actor is the worst trait. It’s a child. So instead I will think about how The Babadook won a whole bunch of awards at the AACTAs, the Australian “Oscars” if the Oscars only had a pool of fifteen films to choose from.

The Babs won Best Film and Best Director, which is quite the achievement, but I think it is important to remember that two years later the AACTAs gave those exact awards to Mel Gibson. The AACTAs were awarding Mel Gibson in 2016. Whatever you think about Mel Gibson, it’s hard to argue that Hacksaw Ridgewas so undeniable you had to publically reward a vocal anti-Semite. Do a quick little YouTube search of Mel Gibson winning his AACTA, watch the Australian film and television industry all applaud him, and hear him thank Australia for getting it made. None of that has anything to do with The Babadook, of course, but it takes the sting out me not liking this “award winner”.

I wish The Babadook was American so that I could be simply annoyed by it, and not Australian so that I feel sheepish about my actual feelings. To help me get over that I’m going to go to this old standby: not liking the people who like the thing I don’t like. The bottom rung fan of a horror movie is the one who doesn’t like horror movies at all, but likes this one because it’s not like other horror movies, this one is art.

How’s this in the Wikipedia entry for director Jennifer Kent under a section titled ‘Film Techniques’. “The Babadook has more of an emphasis on narrative than many other horror films as it is about the relationship with the monster and the family and how they, in the end, learn to live with not only their “inner demons” but the Babadook himself.” Ahh yes, The Babadook is quite unique as a horror film because it is a metaphor.

Alright, that didn’t take long. Fuck this movie. Where would I fit into it? Are you kidding me? There’s a monster called The Babadook that lives with this sad mum and her child in Adelaide. I’d be in Adelaide at some point. Nothing I’d love more than to hear a bit of Babadook goss.