With the recent release of Suicide Squad, I'm sure we are all a little bit tired of seeing the Harley Quinn obsession on our timelines. However, here I am with yet another tribute to America's favorite female villain. Forgive me.

Now I suppose I can see your annoyance with the constant clutter of #relationshipgoals in regards to Harley Quinn and The Joker. Obviously, they're not relationship goals, or they probably shouldn't be, especially not for young girls. The Joker is heinous, manipulative, and clearly a mentally disturbed shell of a person. And he very obviously treats Harley the way you'd expect: in a heinous and manipulative way. Did you know that in the beginning of the movie when he breaks out of the asylum (with the generous help of Harley), he actually brutally tortures her before leaving the facility? I have heard rumors that they cut the scene out because it was so intense, and apparently, that scene alone would push the rating past PG-13. But I guess we will have to wait until the DVD/Blu-Ray is released with all of the deleted scenes before we can confirm this conspiracy theory of sorts. After watching the movie, all the audience can really gather from the scene thus far is that he used electric-shock therapy on her and he clearly enjoyed it. Which is more than enough torture, in my opinion, to be deemed as "abusive" behavior. So if my point hasn't been made abundantly by now, please refer to the comics for further examples of The Joker's abusive tendencies.

I, personally, am not a comic book reader, but I have heard the countless rants from my boyfriend about Harley Quinn and The Joker. And, honestly, I see his point, and I share in his frustration with everyone jumping on the bandwagon of the latest and greatest Hollywood-created couple. She certainly is not a hero, not even close. She is a wounded woman, a tortured soul, and a mentally broken person who happened to fall in love with the wrong guy. And that's exactly why she inspires me. Because I mean, come on, haven't we all been there?

When I reflect back on my time in high school, or even the years shortly after, I had some serious issues going on. And every time things got rough, I turned to the wrong outlets and the wrong guy. I see Harley Quinn's pain behind her beautiful smile, and I identify with that. I can relate to the dysfunction and sorrow. I can also relate to choosing the wrong guy over and over and over again.

Maybe it's because Margot Robbie is an extremely skilled actor, but I felt like Harley Quinn was living the life that women all across America have lived at some point. Only maybe without the fishnet tights and shiny spandex shorts. She didn't have to be a hero to inspire me. Her experiences and her life (as disturbing as it may be) resonated with me and more importantly, the worst parts of me. I like to pretend that the high school version of myself didn't exist; I push those memories to the very back of my mind as often as possible. But, occasionally, I see someone out there, either in person or on screen who brings back the "good ole' days", and I'm reminded of that lonely, broken, insecure, and completely unhinged teenage girl that I once was.

I still don't condone young girls looking up at her and saying #goals. However, I don't understand the continual public "shaming" of Harley Quinn. No, she isn't a hero. She might never be the hero. But, that doesn't mean she can't inspire people, lift them up out of their dark time or remind them of the most valuable lesson to be learned during times of adversity, and that lesson is that YOU ARE NOT ALONE. Somebody else is fighting your same fight, and somebody out there has made it through the same struggle. So stay strong, ladies. And if you're in an abusive relationship, either verbally, emotionally, or physically, I strongly encourage you to reach out to someone. It doesn't even have to be someone you know personally. Reach out to me! Or someone on an anonymous forum. Just talk to someone. Be brave and speak out about the hardships you've faced, because you just never know who might need to hear your words, and who might be inspired by your story. Just like Harley, your bravery might be overlooked by the world, but I assure you, it will not be overlooked by girls like me.