Why am I scared of Samuel??
I want to focus on a primary question from the Moodle PowerPoint: what makes us scared and why? Specifically, what makes the child in the Babadook so scary?
In my forum post, I wrote about abjection, the monstrous feminine, and the uncanny, but I want to expand on that in relation to Samuel. He is spooky and creepy because he knows too much, more so than the adults around him. This in itself is abject, but his relationship with his mother furthers that. The strange borders that they have within their relationship are uncanny/abject as well. He is not allowed to see pictures of his dad or have any idea of him whatsoever, creating a gap in the familial structure (not necessarily in the Freudian sense, but because of the clear secrets and refusal to acknowledge part of the family).
Even though Samuel and his mother often sleep in the same bed due to his frequent nightmares and overall fear, it's very clear that she would rather be alone. This seemed apparent in the scene where she seemed relieved to be able to masturbate and be free of her child only for it to have a disturbing conclusion. I think this is really what I would call the uncanny, because it turns something natural and familiar into something very wrong, as the viewer has discomfort seeing this. Creed wrote about mothers being a taboo source of sexuality and this felt true in this scene.
A final representation of Samuel's abjection within the film is how he quite literally represents death. He was born on the day his father died, and especially to his mother, he will always be tainted by death.
This isn't as much of an in depth analysis of the readings as much as casually applying them to the film, so I haven't included as many quotes to provide descriptions or context. My moodle forum post provides my analysis of the readings separately from the film. Hope everyone is doing well!
In my forum post, I wrote about abjection, the monstrous feminine, and the uncanny, but I want to expand on that in relation to Samuel. He is spooky and creepy because he knows too much, more so than the adults around him. This in itself is abject, but his relationship with his mother furthers that. The strange borders that they have within their relationship are uncanny/abject as well. He is not allowed to see pictures of his dad or have any idea of him whatsoever, creating a gap in the familial structure (not necessarily in the Freudian sense, but because of the clear secrets and refusal to acknowledge part of the family).
Even though Samuel and his mother often sleep in the same bed due to his frequent nightmares and overall fear, it's very clear that she would rather be alone. This seemed apparent in the scene where she seemed relieved to be able to masturbate and be free of her child only for it to have a disturbing conclusion. I think this is really what I would call the uncanny, because it turns something natural and familiar into something very wrong, as the viewer has discomfort seeing this. Creed wrote about mothers being a taboo source of sexuality and this felt true in this scene.
A final representation of Samuel's abjection within the film is how he quite literally represents death. He was born on the day his father died, and especially to his mother, he will always be tainted by death.
This isn't as much of an in depth analysis of the readings as much as casually applying them to the film, so I haven't included as many quotes to provide descriptions or context. My moodle forum post provides my analysis of the readings separately from the film. Hope everyone is doing well!
Your reflection is alright, I feel like just everyone is doing too hard and too deep into every film we are watching lol. Maybe because the readings are really intriguing. I also found Sam to be really scary at the beginning part of the film. But I think most of the time he is insecure and want to protect his mom. Maybe the way he shows his love is twisted, that is why it makes everything seems creepy.
ReplyDeleteI really like that you brought up thinking Sam is creepy because I definitely did too! He says a lot of knowing things about the monster and his mother and the scene in the car where he screams is v unsettling. I think it's interesting that he's both knowing but also doesn't know about his father until the end. And at the end he has to become a comforting figure for his mother which seems like a lot of responsibility for a child!
ReplyDeleteI think that your post is actually great! You are the only one who brought up the masturbation scene, which as you noted, ties really well into the reading. Female masturbation is rarely represented in film and it is just one more thing that makes monstrous. I find none of this characters in this film, besides The Babadouk, to be that likable. I think it is interesting that Jennifer Kent makes a film in which all the main characters are monstrous.
ReplyDelete