Source: Essay by student, UC Berkeley Accelerated Reading and Composition
Tags: toxic masculinity, Samuel emotional expression, horror industry gender gap, female director, Jennifer Kent, Babadook symbolism, female empowerment, monster horror subgenre, power reclamation, feeding the Babadook scene
The Babadook subverts masculinity norms through Samuel's open emotional expression, places a female protagonist in the traditionally male role of "hero who defeats the monster," and gains additional feminist weight from being written and directed by Jennifer Kent in a genre dominated by men. The film's final scenes, where Amelia feeds and controls the Babadook, function as a symbol of reclaimed power over grief and trauma.
Toxic masculinity
The set of societal expectations that men must be tough, conceal emotions, and avoid appearing vulnerable. The film challenges this through Samuel's character.
Monster horror subgenre
A category of horror film centred on a supernatural or monstrous antagonist. Historically dominated by male protagonists (approximately 85% male leads) and male directors (approximately 96% of all films directed by men, per French, 2012).
Final Girl (related concept)
A common horror trope where the last surviving character is female, but she typically survives by luck or rescue rather than by asserting dominance. Amelia goes further: she conquers and domesticates the threat.
Power reclamation (symbolism)
Amelia's act of feeding worms to the trapped Babadook symbolises her authority over the creature that once terrorised her. She controls its survival, reversing the earlier power dynamic.
Society expects boys and men to be tough, conceal emotions, and avoid vulnerability.
Samuel, Amelia's son, does the opposite. He openly expresses pain, anger, and grief without resistance or hesitation.
He communicates his worries freely to his mother and to others around him.
From a feminist perspective, this matters because dismantling toxic masculinity norms is a core feminist goal. Healthy emotional expression in boys challenges the same gender binary that constrains women.
Samuel's openness also provides a counterpoint to Amelia's suppression. The film shows that suppressing emotions (as society expects of Amelia) leads to crisis, while expressing them (as Samuel does) is healthier.
Males feature in approximately 85% of horror film lead roles; women appear in roughly 34% (Owen, 1994).
Approximately 96% of films overall are directed by men (French, 2012).
The Babadook reverses both statistics: the lead is a woman, and the writer-director is Jennifer Kent.
The female protagonist fights the monster and protects her family without male assistance, going against the "women need saving, men are heroes" trope.
Having a female writer-director strengthens the authenticity of the film's feminist themes. The conversations about motherhood and womanhood carry greater weight when shaped by a woman's perspective.
Kent's role as both writer and director is itself a form of gender subversion within the film industry.
The essay argues that her success empowers other women by demonstrating that women can thrive in horror filmmaking, a historically male-dominated space.
The feminist messages in the film, around motherhood, emotional range, and autonomy, are "enhanced and confirmed in a positive way" by the writer being female.
In the film's resolution, Amelia feeds the Babadook, now locked in her basement/closet.
She feeds it worms, insects associated with dirt and grime, emphasising how far the creature's power has fallen.
Key symbolic elements:
Amelia controls whether the Babadook lives or dies. She holds the power.
The Babadook's reliance on Amelia for food represents its acceptance of defeat.
Amelia approaches the creature with confidence rather than fear, marking her transformation.
The Babadook represents grief and trauma. Feeding it (rather than destroying it) suggests that grief does not disappear; it is managed, contained, and lived with.
This framing subverts the typical monster horror ending where the male hero destroys the threat. Amelia domesticates it instead, a resolution coded as distinctly feminine in its approach to conflict.
The essay's conclusion argues that Amelia's internal emotions, her grief, anger, isolation, and frustration, are more terrifying than the Babadook itself.
The supernatural creature is the vehicle, but the real subject is the psychological cost of societal expectations placed on women and mothers.
Support (or the lack of it) is a recurring motif. When support is present, people can face their struggles. When it is withheld, as it is from Amelia by the other mothers, the internal crisis deepens.
⚠️ Samuel's emotional openness is a feminist point, not just a character detail. It connects to the broader project of dismantling the gender binary from both sides.
⚠️ The industry statistics (85% male leads, 96% male directors) provide structural context for why The Babadook is significant as a feminist text. Know the sources: Owen (1994) for lead roles, French (2012) for directors.
⚠️ The feeding scene is the richest symbolic moment in the film. An exam answer should connect it to power reclamation, the domestication of grief, and the subversion of the "male hero destroys the monster" trope.
⚠️ The essay distinguishes between destroying grief and living with it. The Babadook is not killed; it is managed. This is a nuanced point worth emphasising.
Q: How does Samuel's character challenge traditional masculinity norms?
A: Samuel openly expresses pain, anger, and grief without hesitation, contradicting the societal expectation that boys and men should be tough and conceal their emotions. From a feminist perspective, this challenges the same rigid gender binary that constrains women.
Q: What is the symbolic significance of Amelia feeding worms to the Babadook?
A: The feeding scene represents Amelia's reclamation of power. She controls whether the creature survives, approaching it with confidence rather than fear. The choice of worms, associated with dirt and degradation, emphasises how far the Babadook's dominance has fallen. Symbolically, grief is not destroyed but managed and contained.
Q: Why is Jennifer Kent's role as writer-director significant in a feminist reading?
A: Approximately 96% of films are directed by men (French, 2012). Kent's authorship of a critically successful horror film subverts the male dominance of the genre and lends authenticity to the feminist themes of motherhood, emotional autonomy, and female strength explored in the film.
Q: How does the essay distinguish between the supernatural horror and the psychological horror in the film?
A: The essay argues that Amelia's internal emotions, her grief, anger, isolation, and frustration, are more terrifying than the Babadook itself. The creature is a physical manifestation of those emotions, making the psychological burden the true horror, and the supernatural element merely its outward expression.
Q: How does The Babadook subvert the typical resolution of a monster horror film?
A: In a conventional monster horror film, a male hero destroys the creature. In The Babadook, a female protagonist domesticates it: she traps it, feeds it, and manages it. This reflects a distinctly feminine approach to conflict resolution and suggests that grief is something to be lived with, not eliminated.
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