What’s new on exotic love? Harlequin craze

We all have seen the posts on Facebook that say “ I want a love like Joker and Harley Quinn” from Batman due to the new movie suicide squad. The Harlequin craze tugs at my minor in psychology just a bit because the relationship is not healthy…not even for a second. But let me first describe where she originated, and why suicide squad completely bashed her as a character. Harlequin developed in 1992 during a Batman animated series. She was the Joker’s girlfriend and his partner in crime. Since then, she has been seen in numerous comics, video games, and many other places. Suicide squad was her first time to be shined on the big screen, and waved to the public like her love was healthy. I feel like the problem with the suicide squad Harley Quinn craze is that the movie was meant to be rated R but changed back to pg 13 last minute which meant a lot of scenes got cut out leaving us with a disastrous portrayal of the two. Let me begin with suicide squad’s Harley Quinn and then descend into the older Harlequin first. In Suicide Squad we get our first greeting of the two in the form of a flashback. At this point we gather that Harley was completely infatuated with him to the point that she smuggled a gun into Arkham Asylum to help him escape. I feel like being thrown into their destructive relationship gave us no knowledge of who Harley was before she got infatuated with the Joker. Anyways, right after that scene she is thrown onto a table and ejected with electric shock therapy by “ Mr. J”. She must also prove to the Joker that she will live for him by throwing herself into the same chemicals that dyed the Joker’s body. The funny part is I found this a completely lacking to her full transformation. My problem with her is that there is no struggle against him like there usually is between the two. This Harley doesn’t want to know what makes him tick, or what causes the Joker to be deranged in ways.

Our main problem here is that the Joker is far too nice to Harley which makes it look like a healthy relationship on the outside. The joker from suicide squad showed only love for Harley which is nothing but disastrous for the young fans of Batman. So, let’s discuss the psychological problems here for the young audience, and those of us with a head on our shoulders for this movie.

So first let me say Harley Quinn has a histrionic personality disorder that remains for both the old version of her, and the new version of her. This disorder involves being flirtatious/ seductive, wanting to be the center of attention, provocative clothes, shallow, impressionistic speech, dramatic or excessively emotional personal presentation, suggestible by others ( Gullible), and overestimates the intimacy of their social relationships. She was created to be the perfect fit of crazy for the joker. In the animated series she has a high pitched immature voice which fits with this depiction of the disorder. Oddly enough, Harley was displayed as a sexual object for the Joker. She was basically a bad-ass stripper who could only be touched by the Joker. ( What are we teaching the kids these days?) The odd part about Harley is that she actually stands up against the joker to have a bisexual relationship with poison ivy. Needless to say, Harley and Joker are not the ideal relationship for people to be in. No one should be in a mentally abusive relationship like them which is why they are villains.

In an exotic way, their love which is not really love feels alluring because we see two people together no matter the trials of error they are in. But what we need to realize is a relationship built on instability, and abuse ends badly. It’s ok to play pretend in the bedroom of this couple but let’s leave this relationship as a form of revealing that abuse is bad. I would like to shine light on a happier couple that we should all try to strive to be. If you have seen Zootopia the little cartoon movie touches on a lot of topics with a beautiful flare. In Zootopia the main pair are a fox, and a rabbit which takes an old fairy tale and makes the two friends. By the end of the movie, the two are best friends, and potential lovers but this is never explicitly shown. What I think is if we are going to pick a perfect type of exotic love it is like those two who fight crime together to better the world. I would rather be like these two.

I may be a fan of Harley Quinn but my reason for being her fan is because she fights the Joker every step of the way in the comic books and ultimately leaves him. Suicide Squad is like a twisted movie that just wanted to make money. Anyways, if you have anything to add to this let me know. Please like, share, and comment what you think.

http://www.diaryoffantasticdiscoveries.com/2016/08/31/whats-new-on-exotic-love-harlequin-craze/