Tuesday, May 12, 2015

How "The Babadook" Made Me a Better Parent



If any of you have read the "About Me" section of this page, you know I have two children.  As of the date of this publication, my daughter just turned one and my son is nearly four.  While I never really write about my family aside from the aforementioned "About Me", I couldn't find a way to discuss my next review without bringing up my life as a father.  


My children teach me patience.  And they will continue to do so.  Every.  Single.  Day.  But I don't think I could ever be as patient as Amelia, the single mother in The Babadook.  Her plight is far worse than anything I could imagine.  Her husband's death occurred on the same day as the birth of her son, six year old Samuel.  Like my own son, Samuel has a very active imagination.  He likes to practice magic and fight monsters.  He builds weapons to fight the monsters and has a bad habit of bringing them with him to school.  In fact, Amelia has been asked to find a different school for Sam.  Two weeks before Sam's seventh birthday, he finds a children's book on his shelf that unknowingly welcomes The Babadook, a supernatural creature that wants Sam at all costs.  Amelia does't believe in Babadook, but that doesn't make it less real to Sam.  And someone will do anything to make her believe.  

This movie has been called the most terrifying film since The Exorcist.  While I cannot agree with that 100% (Reagan still gives me the creeps), The Babadook gave me more chills than I can count.  Babadook to most is simply a horror film.  But to myself, as most horror films I watch now that involve families with children, this one struck me as a parent.  It has a deeper meaning.  

No, I've never read possessed storybooks to my kids and no, I am not, in fact, currently fighting demonic forces.  I related to Amelia because of her struggle of raising a rambunctious boy.  She grows tired of his games and all of the bursts of energy.  She is losing sleep and has zero privacy.  She feels like she is becoming a monster to her child.  At my daughter's first birthday party, my son was looking for some extra attention and threw a drink on my mother.  I lost it.  And it was all caught on video.  I apologized to pretty much every guest individually for my behavior.  All of the guests who were parents said pretty much the same thing:  "I thought you handled that well."  I had made myself out to be a monster, when all I was doing was being a parent.  No one judged me or looked at me differently, they just saw a father trying his best.  But that didn't mean I wasn't going to do everything I could to make sure my kids didn't see "The Monster" anymore.

Amelia is trying her best with Samuel.  By the film's climax, you know that she will be alright.  She is finally able to let go of her past and leave the monsters behind her.  As far as technical aspects, the camera work was wonderful, featuring a chilling score that compliments the film's dark tones.  All around well acted and directed, Anyone who is a horror fan, whether or not you are a parent, should check this one out.  Who knows?  You might even learn something about yourself.  

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