With the release of the most anticipated film of the summer, Suicide Squad, many fans are shaking their heads in dismay at the butchery of a movie that we all had high hopes for. And while I haven’t seen the movie yet, I hope I’m not severely disappointed.

Before the release of Suicide Squad’s first trailer, I had never heard of Harley Quinn. But when I watched her kick butt and fall into a tub of acid with the Joker, my curiosity was piqued and I started searching the Internet for answers. Who was this woman? What had she done to deserve such a horrible fate? Is her character over-sexualized?

And what I found was a downtrodden woman forged by her own fire. Before she was Harley Quinn, she was Harleen Quinzel, an ambitious psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum. She had her eyes on the prize, but when she met the Joker during his stay at Arkham, she threw conformity out the window and turned her life around. While many stories focus on the Joker’s blatant manipulation of a “love hungry” Dr. Quinzel, I like the idea that she just needed someone to reaffirm her own brand of crazy to let loose. After helping the Joker escape the asylum, Dr. Harleen Quinzel throws herself into a vat of acid and reemerges as Harley Quinn in all of her psychotic glory.

And while there are many variations in her origin story, I like to think that Harley Quinn was a girl who grew up following the rules. She had a darkness and a power in her that she hid from the world because she was afraid of the repercussions. I want to believe she spent her education trying to understand society’s outcasts because she felt a kinship among them that she could never find amongst normal people. And when the Joker led Harley to the edge, she found herself wanting to fall into the chaos and freedom of nonconformity.

And despite her transformation being accredited to the Joker’s charisma and manipulation, I would like to think she took her power back after years of oppression. After living a life playing by society’s rules, she stopped listening to what she should and shouldn’t do, and stayed true to herself. She was the one who decided to free him from his chains, and subsequently freed herself in the process. She dove into that acid, and became a force of nature that couldn’t be contained any longer. She’s a strong (albeit insane and evil) modern example of what women are capable of when they’re no longer held to standards of fragile docility. I also think Harley proves that, strong women don’t have to be “good”. They don’t have to aspire to better the world, care about the feelings of others, or want the picture perfect suburban life. They can be hard, cutthroat, and kick-ass without ever being considered a bitch. She might be a criminal, but she’s a damn good one.

However, it’s important to note that after becoming Harley, the comic books and the show take a dark turn and the Joker becomes her entire world. She becomes a plaything for the Joker, who physically, mentally, and emotionally abuses her at every turn. But she always comes back to the man who “made” her who she is. Maybe it’s because he’s the one person who understood her, and accepted her in all of her crazy glory, but it’s a hard pill for me, and many fans, to swallow. However, her relationship with the Joker serves as a reminder of the reality of intimate partner violence, and the difficulties survivors experience when attempting to leave their abuser. With that being said, I still believe that given the opportunity, Harley could become her own source of strength if she realized the extent of her power and was given the resources and support she needed to become her own person.

I know that Harley Quinn is a damaged, tormented, and flawed individual. But the concept of a girl who chooses to be bad of her own free will is an archetype that is not seen nearly enough in today's world and is something that needs to be explored. I'm also aware that this is not what the actual Harley Quinn is truly about (and I'm sure many fans are furious that I've butchered her origin story), but if I could create a new backstory for her - than it would be this. She deserves to be more than a dumb, tortured, and "hot" blonde. She could be a flawed, but amazing powerhouse character on her own if given the chance, and I hope that one day she'll be a character worth looking up to.