"Suicide Squad" hit theaters this past Friday and has unfortunately gotten some very poor critic reviews. Despite what has been said, I enjoyed the movie and was very enamored by the characters-- particularly the ladies. Out of all the women featured in "Suicide Squad", I found Harley Quinn most interesting and relatable.
Former psychiatrist, Dr. Harleen Quinzel, plays quite the role in "Suicide Squad" as Harley Quinn. I'm sure you've already read tons of articles about her bizarre and abusive relationship with the Clown Prince himself, but I found that even I could relate to her. I, personally, have never been in an abusive relationship like Harley and Joker's, but watching Harley constantly do anything and everything she could for Mr. J made me realize that there are plenty of women doing the same for their significant others: falling in line, following orders and shoving their unrealized potential to the side.
I also found it quite striking that throughout the movie, Harley Quinn keeps checking her cell phone for text messages from the Joker that will inform her of when he will come to rescue her from her initial entrapment in the Squad. She is in the middle of a life-threatening mission and even forced into combat while confined to an elevator and she still manages to wait on her Puddin's word. This small detail echoed so thoroughly of today's culture. People are always entranced by their phone nowadays and pay more attention to it (or the person on the other end of it) than they should.
What I took most from Harley Quinn, though, is that she is a caring woman. Whether it be for Joker or the rest of the Squad, Harley shows she is not cold-hearted despite her villainous side. She is the most vocal of the group when El Diablo sacrifices himself to defeat Incubus and ultimately, Enchantress (fantastically played by Cara Delevingne).
When offered anything by Enchantress in exchange for their loyalties, Harley is the first of the Squad to seemingly offer herself over, only to pick up Katana's sword, slice out the Enchantress's heart while saying something along the lines of, "I like everything you're offering, lady. There's just one problem. You messed with my friends!"
Way to go, Harley.
Her character might have come across as incredibly dim-witted (possibly stupidly sarcastic), to some people, as shown by her comment on how "nice" Katana seems when the sword-wielding badass obviously doesn't trust the Squad a single bit, but I believe Robbie played Harley beautifully. She matched the playfulness that makes Harley Quinn herself.
In spite of my rave, I feel that if her character was explored more thoroughly, she would have been more successfully seen as greater than just an accessory to the Joker (although I do believe that the lack of Mr. J's scenes is to highlight the idea that Harley is not just his "girlfriend"), and more as an independent anti- hero. To further this idea and strengthen recent comic book events, maybe she'll get her own spotlight someday soon?
