The internet is a wild place, full of creative minds, and everyday it offers a new way of seeing old things in the form of a viral theory, like two of the most famous horror characters being gay icons.
This time, it has turned Pennywise, the killer clown from the film It, and the Babadook, the personification of guilt that lives in the basement of Australian families, into a gay power couple, who terrorize children together before going on dates.
Fans of the characters have taken to social media to share their drawings and thoughts about Pennywise and the Babadook’s relationship after an image of the two strolling hand-in-hand went viral.
Gay icons? The internet has been theorizing about It’s Pennywise and The Babadook’s gay relationship after fan-art showing the characters strolling hand-in-hand went viral (pictured)
Interesting couple: Fans imagined the terryifying clown and the top-hat wearing Babadook in a long-term relationship, based on their mutual love of scaring children
Scary: The Babadook (left) is a personification of guilt that lives in the basements of Australian families and Pennywise (right) is the killer clown from Stephen King’s It
It all started when a screenshot of Netflix featuring the film The Babadook under their LGBT movies section went viral, and the internet immediately imagined the spooky black and white figure as a gay icon.
Although it seems the image was doctored, it forever changed the character’s persona in the minds of many, with it showing up at Pride parades and being pictured next to rainbows in fan-art.
Then, more recently, with the reemergence of Stephen King’s Pennywise in the new film It, fans started theorizing about whether the clown that lives in the sewer may be gay too, since he enjoys dancing after killing children and has a flamboyant way of dressing, always accessorizing with balloons.
So it’s no surprise that people on the internet quickly connected the two supposed gay icons, and made them into a power couple.
The beginning: The internet started portraying The Babadook as a gay icon after a (probably doctored) screenshot of the same name under Netflix’s LGBT Movies section went viral
Who would’ve thought? The Babadook has appeared at Pride parades and pictured next to rainbow flags in fan-art
Romantic? Images of Pennywise and The Babadook as a couple are all over social media
Social media was inundated with fan-made images of Pennywise and The Babadook kissing, hugging, and looking like an in-love couple, as well as funny memes and posts praising the imagined romance.
Fans imagined the two characters in a long-term relationship, based on their mutual love of scaring children, with their posts earning hundreds of shares and likes.
‘The Babadook and Pennywise are the LGBTQ couple we need, but don’t deserve,’ wrote one Twitter user.
‘GOODNIGHT TO THE LGBT ICONS PENNYWISE THE CLOWN AND HIS LONG TERM BOYFRIEND THE BABADOOK, PROSPER QUEENS,’ another tweeted.
Really? Creative fans have shared memes about the imagined relationship between the two horror characters
Unlikely romance: The Babadook comes out of pop-up books in the film, so some fans took that information and made it part of their art
But many took issue with this narrative, arguing that Pennywise couldn’t – or shouldn’t – be seen as a gay icon since the Stephen King’s novel It begins with the clown murdering a gay man who was being persecuted by homophobes.
‘Didn’t Pennywise literally eat a gay person who was being harassed by homophobes or smthn [sic],’ someone tweeted.
Others didn’t think characters who prey on children should be associated with gay culture.
One Twitter user said: ‘Making a gay icon out of a character that symbolizes (and is literally) a child predator does not seem like a good idea.’
Freaking: Twitter users are praising the relationship between the two monsters
Not everyone’s into it: Some are pointing out that, per the novel It, Pennywise may be a homophobe, and that he and The Babadook shouldn’t be associated with gay culture