Babashook

It's pride month and I wanted to talk some about that, but first, for posterity, I have to note that while the internet can be a horrible cesspool of hate most of the time, once in a while, it does something amazing. In this case, it all started when Netflix, by accident, placed the movie Babadook with the LGBT films instead of the horror films. Just offhand, and as a joke, people started posting on Twitter and Tumblr about how nice it was that Netflix was acknowledging the Babadook as the true gay icon he is. Nothing was meant by it, but suddenly it stirred the imagination and people began to really love the idea.

Soon after, memes like the one I posted above began to surface. This lead to people photoshopping the Babadook into famous gay moments. There is a picture of him at Stonewall. There is what looks like a screen capture of him on Drag Race. People are dressing up like him for pride parades and being carried on signs. With just one little misplaced link, a cultural shift has happened.

Is there a deeper reason for this? Possibly not. Then again, maybe there is. Maybe in the wake of a government that doesn't feel that friendly to outsiders and a world where people can be killed just for daring to step outside the normal sexual paths, it's comforting to think of a monster being on your side. And not just any monster, one with a pop-up book who tried to save us all from the most obnoxious bratty child ever.

Hell, I liked him just for that.