Human nature is often scary, uncomfortable, and occasionally disturbing. I recently watched the Babadook, and found it a fascinating and disquieting horror movie, but also one that spoke a lot to authenticity, recognizing and integrating oneself.
The plot of Babadook follows a semi-isolated widow, Amelia, who becomes increasingly frustrated by the behavior of her son. Her son Samuel asserts that a mythical monster has made its way into their lives. Amelia initially denies the Babadook’s presence, but later fears that the Babadook’s existence would kill her and everything she cares about. She is crippled with fear about the Babadook, and watches television to numb herself as she avoids sleeping. Ironically, doing just this empowers a side of herself that’s rather scary. She tries to kill Sam, but his unconditional acceptance of her allows her to expel and control the Babadook, which she ultimately confines to the basement. Doing this, she’s able to reclaim a better relationship with her son.
Aside from this movie being terrifying, I think it represents well the idea of a shadow. A shadow is a part of yourself that you don’t like looking at. You avoid it’s existence and hope that it won’t affect you, but deep down you’re worried that this part of you will destroy you.
In the movie, I think the shadow is her feeling of resentment and loss associated with her son. His dad, her husband, is shown as the manifestation of the Babadook when she interacts directly with it, demonstrating the strong feelings she associates to him. Her resentment of her son appears to be rationalized by her love for her deceased partner. When Amelia reads the Babadook book, she becomes frightened that seeing this part of herself comes with risks to her dog, child, and eventually herself. She grows this belief into a dark powerful monster to distance herself from her pain. By doing so, the movie confirms that this merely makes the monster stronger and riskier. Failing to acknowledge who she is, to accept her negative feelings poses potential risks to her family and herself.
We also witness how this behavior especially manifests itself when she wants to avoid the Babadook. Her method of numbing herself, watching television and avoiding sleep do not protect her from the Babadook, and instead make her more vulnerable to it. While watching television, she appears to see the Babadook, undermining her strategy. Also, the more she does this in distancing herself from the Babadook, the more she lashes out at those around her. Earlier on in the movie, she neglects Samuel, and progressively gets more deranged, using abusive language, threatening him. This culminates in her possession of the Babadook, where she loses control, kills her dog, and chases Samuel with a knife. This is not to say that when we deny ourselves, we’ll kill those around us, but rather to show that the risks of denying oneself may end up hurting those around us.
While Amelia is possessed by the Babadook, she chases her son with a knife, and Samuel tries to escape and uses weapons. This doesn’t slow her down, and under the influence of the Babadook, she tries to strangle him. In this moment, rather than returning abuse, Samuel shows love to her dark side by stroking Amelia’s face. This changes the dynamic because if her son can love her despite her actions and fears, then maybe she’s able to move onward. At this point, she is no longer possessed, and tries to pretend that it’s gone. Sam challenges this by saying that the Babadook is here to stay. From this moment on, I think the fear of one’s feelings is gone.
Amelia integrates her feelings by feeding the Babadook, and treating it with tenderness, away from her son. This gives her the space to interact with her shadow, without it being a risk to others. Meanwhile, Sam is no longer isolated as he’s able to reconnect with his neighbor and get the socialization and support he needs.
Reading the film like this converts a horror movie into a semi-cautionary tale of the human psyche. And, in a sense, it’s more horrific because the Babadook is inside all of us.
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