Disclaimer: This analysis contains a lot of spoilers for the movie “Buddy.”
Who’s the most lovable, cuddly orange unicorn there is? Why, it’s Buddy! Your out-of-this-world pal who will love you no matter what! …Or does he?
The movie “Buddy,” directed by Casper Kelly, follows the star of a children’s show, Buddy the Unicorn, played by Keegan-Michael Key, and his insatiable bloodlust as he goes on a manhunt to eliminate his childstar co-hosts and anyone who gets in his way. The movie is set in a surrealist Barney-the-Dinosaur-esque world that gets reset every time the co-stars hug Buddy and sing the closing theme of the show.
Beneath the murder, the nostalgic vivid colors, and the movie’s vulgarity—there’s a scene where one of the kids pisses on a flower—the movie is an allegory of the exploitation of children. The movie reflects the real world by portraying coercion, manipulation, grooming, and obviously, children being harmed throughout the movie in a direct manner as there’s rarely any off-screen deaths or implications that something “big” happened.
It is quite clear that Buddy represents an abuser and a predator. The sole reason why Buddy goes on this pursuit to kill others is because of his own insecurities arising when something doesn’t go his way. If the other co-stars don’t follow along with his plan or if they view him as a monster, he’ll go through an existential crisis. If he doesn’t get what he wants, he’ll literally malfunction. His constant need to feel secure replicates the behavior of an abuser, as he is willing to do anything that it takes to keep his power; a prime example of this is when he rips apart Charlie the Train when the children are attempting to escape from him.
Before his spiral into madness, Buddy was the main figure that the co-stars would go to whenever they felt scared or hurt; he comforts them in a way that makes them feel happy and heard. However, what he says is often contradictory from his actions. He feeds his co-stars lies in order to get them to trust him, similar to what a groomer does in order to gain their victims’ trust.
Also, Buddy doesn’t just get his satisfaction and his security from the children, but also from the adults. In the movie, Nurse Grace, one of the stars of the imaginative show, is taken forcefully from her home and has her memories wiped. Buddy asks her to comfort him after he kills another co-star and she does so by singing him a song. As she sings, he grabs her forcefully and licks her.
Without the trust and dependence from his co-stars, Buddy has no power; without the physical comfort of Nurse Grace, he also has no power. Therefore, he exploits the people around him in order to feel comfortable with himself, similar to how a groomer craves solace.
Betty the Bunny, the other furry friend of the gang, is an energetic, silly door-mat of a character. She represents the adult bystander that does absolutely nothing to prevent the harm that the abuser causes. In the first few scenes that she’s in the movie, she’s worried about not pleasing Buddy, as it is his birthday. She wants to ensure that he’s happy on his special day.
However, when the other co-stars become aware of Buddy’s abuse and go to her for help, she doesn’t take their warning as seriously as she should, nor does she help them. In fact, she is not seen around the children at all after this encounter.
Betty is aware of Buddy’s rampage and how he was plotting to hurt his co-stars, yet she does not attempt to stop him or reach out for help. Often when friends of an abuser or predator find out about what the other is doing, they sometimes brush off that fact and assume that they’re being lied to. This sentiment only leads to more suffering for the victims, and the effect of Betty’s bystanding is extremely clear.
The bluntness of “Buddy” captures the lengths groomers go in order to stay in control and the adults that do nothing about it. “Buddy” sheds light on the harm that many children experience, and its bloody way of portraying it is a call to action; if you see something, say something. Even if the action requires a lot of courage, do something! Like what Buddy says, “in order to be brave, you must also be afraid.”
