Unlikeable Characters

Unlikeable characters

The Babadook, though a progressive film raved for its depiction of depression and discussion on single mothers, is almost unbearable to finish. This is not a cinematic defect, a horror defect but a character defect. Amilia our main character, is just impossible to like. A unlikeable character that stands against meaning. One aim of The Babadook is to comment on the unrealistic representation of mothers and families in the horror genre. However, I feel that such unlikeable characters like Samuel and Amilia make it hard to relate not only with the situation that the characters find themselves in, but it makes the argument almost impossible to agree with.

Now I’ll recede to agree that the director perhaps aimed for these characters to be depicted in this fashion but I feel that it takes away from the Hollywood critique. Much of the Babadook’s basis was, as discussed before, against the mainstream presentation of a mother figure. The appeal was to delve not only into the real difficulties of parenting, but the effects of depression and suppression of mental illness. We see the second argument in the resolve; when Amilia finally admits the reality of her state. More so, after this admission we see that the Babadook creature is only locked away but always present in their lives. This is in a sense highly reminiscent to the experiences of depression and other mental illnesses. It’s a piece of you that you can never be truly rid of. Perhaps one of the better arguments is presented in this fashion, but the representation of Amilia in this film comes across as neglect towards Samuel, and bad parenting. The film frames Amilia as the catalyst for the incidents that occur, making the audience not only blame her, but subsequently has the audience ignore the larger metaphor of depression. Knowingly all of Amilia’s actions can be implied as side effects of depression and grief. However, the audience really isn’t provided this perception because she is depicted less as a victim and more as a driving antagonistic force.

This is where the first argument of this film fails. When trying to stand against the unrealistic expectations of Hollywood there must be a question of whether or not the message comes across the intended way. For instance, in The Babadook, Amilia being framed the way she is does little for the audience in accepting the argument against the structure of representation were used to seeing in media. For instance, parts where we see Samuel act as just a terrible and undisciplined child reflects even more so negatively on Amilia. Having a character that is unlikeable often leads to audiences disliking even the ideas that the character represents. With this film, the idea comes across as a deranged mother who is terrible at parenting. Sure, it subverts representation of families in cinema but her antagonistic representation hardly makes us view this as right or an okay perspective. Overall, I would argue that The Babadook as a rhetorical piece fails to effectively transfer it’s argument to the audience.

Rion is a Film/Acting Student at the University of Texas. With that being his only defining achievement… he is ready to delve into the craft and explore the genres that make the medium. Most of all he finds it weird writing in third person.