Wow, what a suspenseful trailer. It seems to me, as the title of this piece suggests, that Kent’s “The Babadook” is really a 180-degree turn in terms of mothering from some of the texts that we’ve analyzed in class. Starting with Kill Bill, for instance, the Bride’s motivation to rescue her daughter in the second part of the series is completely disconnected with the mother in “The Babadook”. The Bride’s story is filled with optimistic revenge when, in this trailer, the mother might seek to get rid of her possessed child to ensure her own safety. If we look at Heavenly Creatures directed by Peter Jackson, we obtain a similar angle on contextual disconnects: Pauline’s mother is heavily inclined on instructing Pauline to follow a ‘normal’ heterosexual life trajectory whereas the mother above isn’t quite sure what she wants her child to become. All these angles provide greater exposure to varieties of motherhood and parental relationships that we’ve touched upon in Violent Femmes.
I agree with the point above that “The Babadook” does provide greater exposure to the varieties of motherhood that we have touched upon in class. After watching the film and doing some research with secondary sources, I think the film is more about the effect that motherhood has on a women and less about the type of mother the protagonist is. Obviously the two points are interrelated but I believe the film’s main focus is that of postpartum depression – depression that occurs after childbirth. The Babadook can be viewed as a manifestation of Amelia’s depression that is caused by being a mother to Samuel. It is safe to say that Amelia would not have to deal with the Babadook, i.e. her depression, if her son was not born. The film is a representation of the challenge that mothers suffering with depression have to deal with to raise their children.
Violent Femmes 2015 
Wow, what a suspenseful trailer. It seems to me, as the title of this piece suggests, that Kent’s “The Babadook” is really a 180-degree turn in terms of mothering from some of the texts that we’ve analyzed in class. Starting with Kill Bill, for instance, the Bride’s motivation to rescue her daughter in the second part of the series is completely disconnected with the mother in “The Babadook”. The Bride’s story is filled with optimistic revenge when, in this trailer, the mother might seek to get rid of her possessed child to ensure her own safety. If we look at Heavenly Creatures directed by Peter Jackson, we obtain a similar angle on contextual disconnects: Pauline’s mother is heavily inclined on instructing Pauline to follow a ‘normal’ heterosexual life trajectory whereas the mother above isn’t quite sure what she wants her child to become. All these angles provide greater exposure to varieties of motherhood and parental relationships that we’ve touched upon in Violent Femmes.
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I agree with the point above that “The Babadook” does provide greater exposure to the varieties of motherhood that we have touched upon in class. After watching the film and doing some research with secondary sources, I think the film is more about the effect that motherhood has on a women and less about the type of mother the protagonist is. Obviously the two points are interrelated but I believe the film’s main focus is that of postpartum depression – depression that occurs after childbirth. The Babadook can be viewed as a manifestation of Amelia’s depression that is caused by being a mother to Samuel. It is safe to say that Amelia would not have to deal with the Babadook, i.e. her depression, if her son was not born. The film is a representation of the challenge that mothers suffering with depression have to deal with to raise their children.
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