From a young age, I found myself following in love with a little series known as "Batman: The Animated Series". While the colors and sounds may have amused my toddler self, as I grew older it was the writing and direction of each episode that truly captivated me in every sense of the word.
Every minuscule detail painstakingly thought out, each character, the good and bad, mesmerizing as their voice actors truly got the spirit of the show, and of course, the Dark Knight himself flying onto the screen and giving the baddies a good what for. However, one character truly shined, and not because she wore red and black and had an accent so thick you wondered if you could put it on toast. She cartwheeled onto the scene, hiding her blonde tresses behind a jester's hat, and piled on the pale makeup because as she once said, “my boss likes me to wear a smile to work.”
Her name was Harley Quinn; she was crazy, she was bad, but most importantly, she was tragic.
To me, she was never something or someone I wanted to be. I wanted to help her, but that isn't the tune I hear many women singing today.
"I want a love just like Harley's and Mistah J's."
"I want to be just like Harley Quinn when I grow up."
"Isn't Harley such a strong female character?"
To hear these blatant misunderstandings truly puts a sad spot in my heart.
What some forget in this modern day is Harley is not a character for young women to emulate, she is not someone you want to aspire to be and have a love like hers because the love she has is not love at all, it is pain.
I’m sure some poets out there would argue and say, “But to love is pain.” Which is true, sometimes, but not this time…
Harley is in love, or for a better word obsessed with the Joker, while the Joker practically disdains her. He emotionally and physically beats her down until there is nothing left, yet she goes back for more because she truly believes her "Puddin" loves her. This type of tale, while gruesome and shocking to some, is all too familiar with many women, and sometimes men, in our common day. Harley is not a hero, or a true villain...she is the poster child for what many deal with on a daily basis.
She is the poster child for abuse.
What is even more appalling to this story is that it isn't the one Hollywood is putting out there anymore. While yes, the pure graphic nature of their "relationship" may shock critics and viewers alike, it is a necessary evil to show young women and older ones that this can happen and it doesn't just exist in the comics.
In the new film "Suicide Squad", The Joker and Harley relationship they present is one that is much more equal and somewhat loving. The Joker actually tries to rescue Harley in many instances, and even shows genuine emotion towards her...which in all reality should not be the case. I am no masochist, and am not asking to simply see a man pummel and punch a woman half to death, but it is a necessary truth to show the Joker and Harley relationship for what it is.
Pure, unadulterated madness, pain, and tragedy.
The Joker, even from Harley's origin story, has never truly loved her, only allowing her to believe such a thing for his own personal gain. As Batman once said, he had her pegged as hired help the moment he saw her. Harley wanted a life of adventure and love, and Joker saw that to only capitalize on it at the right moment. In this, many women face the same dilemma as Quinn.
Even when Quinn sees this darkness in him, and even when she feels she has had enough, a part of her still loves him regardless of the darkness. She wants to help him, seeing that something must have damaged him in his life to make him be so cruel and that she is the only one who truly understands him. Many have told the same tale.
Changing the story of tragic abuse and cruelty to one of love and madness does not prove the DC cinematic universe is willing to show the true nitty-gritty of the world, and only serves to show one in rose colored glasses. Yes they show death, yes they show violence and explosions, so why can't they show domestic abuse that would serve to show women the cautionary tale of what real "mad love" looks like?
Harley is no one's hero, and is not something for many women to aspire to be, but should be warned by. As the comics go on, Harley is finding her true footing by herself occasionally, but it doesn't erase the past that made her who she is. So please DC, don't try and erase it for her.
