Babadook Is The Legendary Gay Meme Taking Over Your Feed & Your Heart
8 June 2017, 12:46 | Updated: 19 November 2018, 14:39

How horror film 'The Babadook' became the most iconic LGBTQ meme.
Move over Cher, there's a new gay icon in town and he's top-hat-wearing ghoul with an exceptionally large mouth.
Babadook has become an internet sensation after a meme about his status as a "gay icon" went viral. It all started after a film he originally starred in in 2014, The Babadook - an Australian horror film about a grieving mother and son - was mistakenly placed in the LGBT section on Netflix.
25. I think this might have been the origin for "the babadook is gay" pic.twitter.com/HAjlewk0MI
— grandpa piss (@electrapng) May 30, 2017
It didn't take long for the internet to seize upon the "error" and start hailing our ghoulish Babadook bae as "a very important part of queer history" and "not the ally we wanted but the ally we deserved".
1. Babadook must be protected at all costs.
Babadook slander will NOT be tolerated in this house. Cinematic masterpiece AND gay icon. Not the ally we wanted but the ally we deserved. pic.twitter.com/iRHyzDT067
— (@kehhbean) June 7, 2017
2. Many have been surprised to learn of Babadook's long history fighting for LGBTQ rights.
The Babadook fought so we could live (h/t @kamilumin) pic.twitter.com/YrIHiKnrUh
— Dean Tāne (@Maccadaynu) June 7, 2017
3. Academics are already talking about "Babaculture" ushering in a new paradigm in queer theory.
As I note in my paper, “Unqueering the ‘Dook: Recapitulation of Hegemonic Narratives in Mainstream Babaculture”, this is typical of [1/47]
— Tom Phillips (@flashboy) June 8, 2017
4. Don't shoot the messenger, henny.
every time you tweet "did someone actually get paid to write this" the babadook gets to go to a pride parade
— Alp Ozcelik (@alplicable) June 7, 2017
5. Haven't we all been a little bit Babadook at one point in our lives?
The Babadook is a relatable character
— Boy Mayor @ AC (@PinkiePoshArt) June 2, 2017
- embodiment of depression
- lives for free in a basement
- well dressed in a top hat
-gay
6. Amen.
self care is insisting that the b in lgbt stands for babadook
— self care is (@seIfcareis) June 2, 2017
7. Babadook even hit the runway on RuPaul's Drag Race. She was serving pure Babadook fish with a side of ghoulish realness.
The babadook did THAT pic.twitter.com/tnhSR1qAmy
— milk (@yellowisak) June 5, 2017
8. Babadook's appeal can be put down to the similarities between Babadook's struggles and the continuing tyranny of heterosexuals on planet Earth.
BABADOOK: I'm a terrifying monster that destroys families that try to suppress me.
— Carlos Maza (@gaywonk) June 7, 2017
GAY PEOPLE: Oh my god, SAME. Drinks later?
9. He's the gift that keeps giving.
The Babadook every night: pic.twitter.com/tv4hXxoRpI
— Alex Abad-Santos (@alex_abads) June 7, 2017
10. Thankfully, Babadook has a boyfriend, the Bye Bye man, to look after him when the pressures of being a gay icon get too much.
the babadook and the bye bye man are in a beautiful gay relationship and today is their 17th anniversary
— ryn 93 (@wordsforgIory) June 6, 2017
11. ICONIC.
LGBT stands for:
— ʚ♡ɞ (@Chrisantemos) June 8, 2017
Lesbian
Gay
Babadook
Trans pic.twitter.com/8uAKKu9oBO