Harley Quinn and the Birds of Prey

[resnullius_bells]

We went to the theatres to watch Harley’s film today. It was tons of fun, the soundtrack is great, and Harley shined as a character. I want to rewatch it ASAP. If you’re going expecting comics’ characterization for the other women you should shake them off before going in and just enjoy the film (the rest are alright, but Cass is Cass in name only). I feel like a hypocrite given that advice, given how I can get when I feel MY favorite characters aren’t well characterized, but it’s the only advice I have xD 

And if I’m honest, I feel comic adaptations don’t fall on the same spectrum as your average ones, as they don’t try to adapt specific stories but recreate characters and shape stories around them. They’re basically AUs, as opposed to a sequence of comic runs or a traditional book-to-film adaptation. But that’s neither here nor there LOL.

I liked that it didn't try to sell me an over-inspirational reading, with Harley leaving the others instead of establishing a permanent team-up, or Renee not getting recognition. I'm very glad Hyena Bruce survived, thought xD

I’m unsurprised yet exasperated that Zsasz/Roman is the new ship coming out of this, though to be fair I didn’t come out of it shipping any of the girls (a true rarity for me with a girl gang story LOL). The intro confirmed Harley as queer, so I hope it does well enough to get the Gotham Sirens sequel of my dreams with Harlivy -I’ve heard it isn’t doing well but it apparently almost broke even in opening weekend so IDEK?? Hopefully The Batman’s Catwoman with Kravitz does well too (I don’t like Pattinson -I think he’s a dick-, and I don’t see him for the role, but I could be surprised). I’m not holding my breath for more Birds of Prey content, OTOH.

BTW, given that Harley is a Jewish character, I found the nuns a super weird detail.

I’d heard there was a sexual assault scene, which made me wary given both the villain and the rating. Nothing really happens (Harley’s drunk and unresponsive and two guys try to get her into a car, but they’re stopped right there and then), in case anyone’s concerned about it going in. I’ll say that it made me rethink my assumptions because when I heard it my first guesses were that it’d be some tertiary characters one of the women would save, or one of the other BOP (who’d fight their way out and/or be assisted by another one). Instead it’s Harley, the lead, and she’s saved by Dinah.

I guess I’ve gotten too used to rape storylines being used as ways to demean secondary girls vs. the untouchable female leads (on a meta level, the fact that it happens because the guys found out she was no longer under the Joker’s “protection” is… something). Not that female leads don’t suffer sexual violence too, but it’s usually portrayed very, very differently than when it happens to secondary characters.

 

Comments

[wheatear]

It surprised me in several ways that I liked too! Even the fact that Joker dumped her rather than Harley leaving him. I'd gone in expecting the latter to be true, but the former is more true to Harley's character and worked well, I thought. Harley leaving the team at the end felt right too. I was just very satisfied with Harley's characterization overall.

[resnullius_bells]

Yeah, I liked that too. I hadn't really thought about it but if I had, I would've assumed she'd be the one to end the relationship- and I would've expected it to feel like an empty "girl power!!" moment. The way the film handled the breakup felt real for her character, and didn't try to flatten her or simplify her. She's the best part of the film and the reason why it worked so well for me, better than I expected.

[wheatear]

I would've expected it to feel like an empty "girl power!!" moment.

Right, exactly! I was expecting the entire film to be like this, honestly (i.e. flattening characterization and sacrificing nuance for the sake of a girl power moment), so it was refreshing that it wasn't.

[resnullius_bells]

That's my problem with half the girl gang films I watch LOL. So whenever one feels genuine, like this one, I love it all the more. I expected it to be fun enough to watch but ultimately empty and soulless and full of cheap empowering moments, and I'm very glad it avoided that (another reason why I love that Harley didn't stay at the end).