re: The Babadook (2014) (spoilers on second page)

This movie sucked!!! The Babadook looks exactly like slash and I don't think slash is a good monster. I also didn't think the movie was scary either.

I haven't read everything in here... BUT I take it as the Babadook is a representation of her unhealthy way of dealing with grief. She tried to suppress the grief of her husband's death so hard. The Babadook book warned her not to deny him, because he (that grief) is very real and will find a way in. The repaired book with her killing the dog/her son shows what happens if she lets the Babadook control her. When the boy was talking about the Babadook, he was talking about her going crazy and losing it. I assume he had seen this before because by the end of the movie, he had the Home Alone type traps set up to tie her down. At the end when her son tells her he still loves her even though she doesn't love him (and I guess her neighbor) she decides to take control. She takes control of the Babadook rather than letting it control her. She refuses to let it ruin how she interacts with her family and friends. She won't let it consume her and cause her to hurt those around her. The Babadook is relegated to the basement with her husband's possessions (basically a room of her past). She recognizes that she can't just ignore the grief, but she has to deal with it. She feeds it in a healthy way that so that she doesn't take her pain out on others (the poor dog and her son). She sends her son to wait outside while she goes downstairs until she says it's okay to come back in. She tells him one day he'll get to see the Babadook when he understands (he's too young to really cope with his father's death and understand it all I guess).

This isn't really a horror movie. There is so much more to it than that. It relies more on brilliant storytelling than cheap scare tactics.

What's the theory on the toothache? It's thrown at you the whole movie.

Quite a bump. I saw this movie a few weeks ago. It's a lot smarter than a lot of horror movies. It definitely takes a bit of thinking to actually get the symbolism. Other elements were pretty stereotypical imo, but some depth definitely sets it apart.

I'd love to hear y'all's thoughts in it, because I watched it a while back and thought it was pretty fricking terrible.

I'm not buying symbolism, but am willing to listen to coherent arguments for that. I was really looking forward to this one and it fell really flat to me. There were some decently freaky parts, but for the most part it wasn't very good. And the ending was absolutely horrible IMO.

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I'm not buying symbolism, but am willing to listen to coherent arguments for that

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It's pretty straightforward, the monster is grief. The more you deny it's there, the stronger it gets until it takes over. That's why it couldn't die in the end, you can't destroy it only contain it. It's gotta place in the family forever but it's not calling the shots in the end.