Babadook Opening Scene

The 2014 horror film, The Babadook, directed by Jennifer Kent can be representative of the issues discussed in Susan Wendell’s essay, The Social Construction of Disability. Within the film, the mistreatment of a grieving mother, Amelia, and her son, Samuel, can be seen by those around them. One scene in particular highlights this issue. The scene opens with a group of kids watching a mime perform at a birthday party, while Samuel is an outcast to a treehouse away from the rest of the group. Amelia and her sister Claire sit on a bench and converse about Amelia’s dead husband, Oscar, while Claire’s daughter climbs up the treehouse and finds Samuel curled up in a corner alone. The inside of the treehouse was dark and grim, contrasting with the white festive party

What the scene is conveying is the mistreatment and ignorance the other kids, and even parents, have against Samuel. One of the details is how Claire has spread her disapproval and hate towards Samuel to her daughter. Within the dialogue of the two conversations, Claire and her daughter say nearly the same things regarding Amelia’s dead husband, her depressing house, and her internal hate for Samuel. This is shown as the screen pans between Claire and her daughter as her daughter repeats nearly the same thing Claire is saying to Amelia. This shows how mistreatment spreads as even at a young age Claire’s daughter is putting down Samuel, who has issues of his own. This is also shown by the other children at the party as well as none of them speaking to him as he sits curled up alone in a dark corner away from everyone else. The film does a great job of portraying this as the other kids are seen dressed in light colors and have cheerful expressions while Samuel’s character has a dark, disturbed omen given to him. This is also seen as he is being yelled at by Amelia’s daughter as he cowers into a ball in