"The Babadook" is still streaming on Netflix, though it's no longer categorized in the "Gay & Lesbian" section. "In this moment, who better than the Babadook to represent not only queer desire, but queer antagonism, queer in-your-faceness, queer queerness?" Bronski said. Referencing the sign, Bronski said it's still at least partly true: "In some way, gay people, queer people, are the worst fear for heterosexuals, as well as on some level, the best fantasy - the sheer pleasure of not being on the inside, of not having to control everything you do and think and say to fit norms."īronski said the sign, and the embrace of the Babadook, represent "a sort of queer affiliation to monsters." Tongson, the USC professor, agreed: For "people who lived with a lot of their love and their passion in the closet, or who felt demonized in the broader culture, it's very easy to find points of identification with monsters."Īnd in the current political climate, when many LGBTQ people feel their rights are under attack, embracing a literal demon can feel like a way of reclaiming power and agency. Oh, and the name of school he was going to be sent to: Stonewall High.Īt the very first official gay pride parade, in New York City in 1970, activist Donna Gottschalk held up a sign: "I am your worst fear, I am your best fantasy." In 2003, Bronski says he caught flak from a British tabloid for writing an article about the queer allegories in the "Harry Potter" books - in particular, how Harry Potter lives in the closet and has to hide who he is because his family disapproves. Modern horror and fantasy have continued the tradition: In the second "Nightmare on Elm Street" movie, Freddy Krueger - who was murdered by parents for being a child molester, a crime that has been conflated with gayness - appears in the shower with a naked teen boy in what Bronski sarcastically called a "completely not-coded gay subplot." In a popular 19th century novel that predated Bram Stoker's "Dracula," both the vampire and the victim were women.
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The Phantom of the Opera hides both himself and his forbidden, unrequitable love. Frankenstein has been read as an allegory for a gay man, hunted down and ostracized by his community for who he is. In this moment, who better than the Babadook to represent not only queer desire, but queer antagonism, queer in-your-faceness, queer queerness? - Michael Bronskiīronski said a longstanding connection exists between the horror/fantasy genres and queerness. In the '70s, it was Bette Midler and Cher, then Madonna in the '0s and '90s, and Lady Gaga in the 2000s.
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"She was proud of who she was," Bronski said.
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In the 1960s, it was Barbra Streisand, who unapologetically embraced both her gay fans and her Jewish identity.
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Her place in gay culture was so well-known that referencing her out loud became a code word to indicate that you were part of it, Bronski said: You might ask another man, "Are you a friend of Judy's?" In terms of gay icons, he said, the community has adopted plenty of people who weren't openly gay or gay at all.