It follows the story of a widowed mother, Amelia, and her bratty son, Samuel. Long answer: The Babadook is a 2014 Australian psychological horror film written and directed by Jennifer Kent which ended up being a huge indie hit after its American premiere at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. Short answer: it’s a demon that represents a person’s struggle with depression. The more familiar you are with Tumblr, the more the Babadook meme makes perfect sense.īut before we get into how, exactly, the Babadook became a gay icon and tell you what the meme’s creator, Tumblr user ianstagram, told Inverse, we’re going to take a pause for those of you who are completely lost. Maybe unsurprisingly, this wonderful weirdness originated on Tumblr, an online stronghold and blog collective perhaps best known for being a bit of a cesspool of tears, fanwork, infighting, and imaginary bullshit. Pride 2017 has been bombarded with what people are simply calling the “Babadook is gay” meme. The Babadook is “one thicc bih” and the internet is not here for your slander against him or his status as a queer icon. He’s out there, fighting the good fight, draped in feather boas and donning rainbow suspenders, marching in Pride parades. The Babadook, the villain in a 2014 Australian film, has come a long way from eating bugs in the basement of a single mother’s home in Australia.