babadook

We're just waiting for it to come out of the closet/basement.

At least, that's the theory being advanced by some of the reigning queer meme pundits of Tumblr. In the past few months, the indie horror monster icon has somehow emerged as the unofficial meme of LGBTQ pride for reasons many of us will never fully understand.

Back in the summer of 2016, rumors first began to circulate on Tumblr and Twitter that the monster from the film was, in fact, queer. Some users reported seeing The Babadook categorized as an LGBT movie on Netflix, and with a just a few screenshots, sparked a national meme movement.

The Babadook may never come out of the closet/basement, but Babadook memes have become the universal language of the Tumblr-Twitter queer community -- building bridges, one completely random movie reference a time.