“Both of us trying to find meaning in a meaningless world! Why be disfigured outcast when I can be a notorious Crime God? Why be an orphaned boy when you can be a superhero?" – The Joker (Batman #663)
If you have been anywhere near social media you have heard some form of excitement over a little record-breaking blockbuster called “Suicide Squad”. I say excitement because it is either fans being over the moon excited about the film or fans be fiercely disappointed. If you are devoted to the characters as I am for some, you will most likely find this film to be more of a disappointment than an achievement, despite the record breaking numbers.
As a whole the film is a commercial success. Why, then, are so many people grumbling about the film’s characters? Well, I’m glad you asked.
I love anti-heroes. What can be more anti-hero than a bunch of bad guys forced to do good? Well, I don’t know about you but I can think of very little. Bittersweet is my favorite flavor when it comes to movies, books, and characters and perhaps one of the most bittersweet relationships of all time (though constantly overlooked) is that of The Joker and Harley Quinn.
Let me just throw this out there to get it out of the way, I adore Jared Leto and Margo Robbie. As people and actors. Their contributions in award-winning films and personal awards are proof of their acting ability. My disapproval of their roles in Suicide Squad is the fault of the direction they were given and not their own personal portrayal. I like to think they could both have done a far more acceptable portrayal.
Now that that's out of the way lets get back to the point.
The film gives us a closer look into the background on how the two met. In keeping true to the original backstory, Harley was Joker’s psychiatrist who fell in love with him and left her life to follow him deeper down the rabbit hole of madness. In Suicide Squad it shows her becoming Harley via electroshock treatment from a very unpracticed Joker. The fact that they made her go off the rails due to a brain trauma and not purely throwing caution to the wind for the man she loves was the first bucket thrown to water the Joker down.
Why? Joker is a master of manipulation. We see this so profoundly in the devotion this woman has to him. The fact that he had to hurt her, “really, really badly” in order for her to be pushed over the edge takes away from his powerful influence.
Second, in this adaptation we see a Bonnie and Clyde relationship between Joker and Harley. This is wrong. Bonnie and Clyde were partners. Equal masterminds in crime and profits and they were lovers to boot. Bonnie had Clyde’s back just as much as Clyde had Bonnie’s. This is not Joker and Harley. Harley is his right hand, his bodyguard, his most loyal henchman. But at the end of the day, she is just that. Often referred to as his girlfriend, Harley is only his girlfriend on HIS terms. Their relationship is abusive. In some instances, Joker is even written as asexual. If any sex was involved in his relationship to Harley it was unattached. If you need a better example, think sex without ever kissing on the mouth. It’s not quite as intimate.
Abusive relationships require a dominant and a submissive. The dominant one gives the submissive one just enough to keep them at their side, throws them a bone once in a while to ignite their hope that “maybe now, now they are finally coming around!” and then rips it away from them to keep them fighting to get it back, because now they have seen it, they know the dominant is capable of showing them affection, they just need to make them happy to get them to show it again. I can’t even begin to tell you how devastating this is to someone. And I can't imagine how destructive this is to be dominated by someone as evil as the Joker. Harley makes it look good because, let's face it, that's how she is drawn. We ignore the abuse and forgive the darkness because Harley always carries on, stronger and more devoted than ever. Even when she has broken away, she somehow makes her way back to her Mista J.
I am in no way supporting abusive relationships. Far from it. But when you have a character as iconic as Joker, you really can’t mess with the things that make him so, well, iconic. Suicide Squad gave us a Joker who identified more to a lovesick puppy. Perhaps under some circumstances Joker would have Harley’s back but to launch a campaign to rescue her, to risk his recourses and his own life to go get her? We are not seeing the Joker anymore.
Was he insane? Yes. Was he manipulative? A little. What we got was far more “Crown Prince of Crime” than evil psychopathic mastermind (I guess they had that going for them). Leto resembled more of a crime kingpin than a man who lived for causing chaos, destruction, and disorder. So here is my question: “Did you see a man worthy of being Batman’s arch nemesis?”
No. No, we did not.
I can recall everyone complaining, “This is an insult to Heath Ledger!” when Leto was first announced and quite frankly I think that is ridiculous. Heath Ledger will forever carry the title of being flawlessly brilliant in is portrayal in The Dark Knight. The real insult is to The Joker himself.
You can focus on the Joker/Harley relationship to bring more attention to it but one thing you absolutely MUST do is focus on the Joker/Batman dynamic. You cannot make a Batman imbalance to Joker. They are literally made to be the others opposite. Joker cannot be this pussy whipped (Yeah I said it) thug who lusts after a woman to the point of his potential demise, and still be the great adversary of the Dark Knight.
“You can't kill me without becoming like me! I can't kill you without losing the only human being who can keep up with me! Isn't it IRONIC?" - The Joker (Batman #663)
Joker is a man without fear. No fear of death, fear of capture, fear of consequences. The true power of this man is his shallow pool of a soul that drowns victims with no warning. What they did in Suicide Squad is give The Joker a weakness. Arguably the greatest villain of all time is now given a HUGE weakness. I would have rather seen a clip with a shadow covering his face or an Easter Egg implying his inevitable debut than to see what I saw on that big screen; which was the most iconic villain be put on the backburner so we could get force fed how “HOT HARLEY IS”.
While I doubt he will ever read this, Jared Leto I know you can do better. Batman needs a better nemesis. We deserve a better Joker.
