Two of the great horror monsters of our time – Pennywise the Dancing Clown and The Babadook – are in love… according to the internet. Following the success of The Babadook, the film’s titular villain was primed to be a classic horror icon, but was instead turned into an icon of a very different variety – a gay icon. Given the current success of the film version of Stephen King’s IT, perhaps it’s less surprising then that Pennywise and the Babadook have now “officially” hooked up.
An unofficial Twitter campaign has proponents for both the LGBTQ community and horror films alike pairing Pennywise and the Babadook together as 2017’s most illustrious couple. And though it’s fair to say that neither of the two have hearts of their own, that clearly hasn’t stopped the pair from stealing each other’s all the same.
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Absurdity aside, there are genuine grounds for this relationship – believe it or not. In the early months of summer 2017, the internet blew up with the suggestion that the Babadook was gay. It all started with this single Tumblr post, begging the question: “Whenever someone says the Babadook isn’t openly gay it’s like?? Did you even watch the movie???”
It all started off as innocent farce, but the post quickly spread like wildfire, prompting the internet to chime in with their own opinions in defense of the Babadook’s sexual orientation. In fact, it got to the point where one Tumblr user joked that “The B in LGBT stands for Babadook.”
Pennywise and his boyfriend, The Babadook are off on a date to get crepes and terrorize some kids. pic.twitter.com/eakshrfkN7— Kumi (@kumivenarts) September 12, 2017
It was also implied that the Babadook represents the social plight of “coming out,” in how sexual orientation is unchangeable (or inescapable), no matter how desperately someone attempts to keep it contained. By extension, the same can also be said of Pennywise, seeing as he has the power to represent his victims’ deepest, darkest fears.
Twitter has erupted in a surge of various memes, gifs, and posts regarding the partnering of these two monsters – clearly ignoring the violence with which they’re both inherently ingrained – pitting some people strictly on the side of the opposition. Various Twitter users insist that making vicious horror icons gay lovers isn’t doing any favors for the LGBTQ community.
For now, there’s really no telling where this internet-made relationship will go (and what other horror superstars might be added to the list of LGBTQ icons) – but in the meantime, it’s only a matter of time before their respective production companies cut a deal to put these two lovebirds in a horror rom-com of their very own.
