#like i have so many feelings about these certain things

[prince-septimus]

When the first suicide sqaud movie dropped I was just so happy to get Harley content (props to Margot she kills it) and there's a lot I like about that movie. Although looking back I can't help but see that they did Harley dirty? and honestly did not seem to value her, at least to me it seemed she was just there as jokers shadow like thats all a backdrop to the joker

I get her origin/creation in the animated series and that originally her character is tied to his purely because of that, but there's literally no reason the movie had to use that. her backstory simply could have been she saw a lot of shit as a therapist in ARKHAM and ending up trying to give treatment to the joker was just the icing on the cake so she decides screw it I'm gonna go have fun in Gotham and embrace a little bit of the crazy. Orgins and comic storys change in slight ways all the time. because of Ayer Sqaud BOP had to try break her away from joker (love bop no complaints about it) but Ayer Squad she's jokers shadow/backdrop/doll/thing then bop have to try break her away from his character so that she stand on her own as a character and then we get tss (yayy) and harley is finally 'free' to use as her own character and portray her own stories she's not all wrapped up in the jokers story. DC/Warner Bros don't seem to have much planning and thought into what way they're gonna lay future movies out and that's fine they don't need to have thier version of an mcu and dc movie directors get to put thier own spin on it and be creative without really having to worry about long term continuity but it seems like they maybe get over excited and end up not listening to fans/caring about anyone elses view of the character except their own and yeah it's thier project but the characters are important to everyone not just them

And I can't even with her 'suit/costume' in the Ayer Sqaud, jokers property plastered all over her, I liked her hair and the bat and the jacket was okay i guess, I really don't think costume wise it was a decision of 'oh harley would think the tiny sparkly shorts are cool and that's why she's wearing them' it blatantly seemed like 'harley is jokers trash and hey everyone let's look at her ass cuz she ain't worth much else in the movie and she doesn't have much else to offer'? It just sucks to me that Harleys first movie appearance was primarily Jokers accessorie and the sex appeal of the movie

Sorry for this unasked for rant but I am so grateful for BOP and TSS and her costumes/suits in those movies felt way more like harley is wearing that cuz she thinks it's cool compared to Ayer squad where it felt like harley is wearing that so we can attempt to get more views on the movie via harleys backside

I mean for all I've said there i dont hate the ayer suicide sqaud it sounds like I do but I don't 😅 and I don't hate DC movies tbh DC is my favourite just cuz I care more about their characters cuz of the cartoons I watched as a kid and comics and I've only literally read one marvel comic so because of that I do have more of an attachment to DC this is so long winded opps

To summarise my bullshit I like dc I like all the movies even ayer sqaud but Harleys character was handled poorly in the beginning

im putting this under the cut bc i also made a long rant djgsgjsg

i think harley quinn in the dc movies is the best example of male gaze vs female gaze, while also showing what it's like when you let the actor themselves have a say in the character.

david ayer is a great director and i would love to see what he had truly set out to do with suicide squad by seeing his cut of it, but there was so much i disliked about harley's story in that movie. at the end of the day i've come to accept it because it leads into the character she becomes in bop and tss, but this was definitely harley being seen in the male gaze, something that her character has all-too-long dealt with in the comics.

bop was directed by cathy yates, a woman of color, and this immediately meant there was going to be a change in harley's character and her design. this is the female gaze and it meant that harley is actually going to be seen as a character that we love bc we can tell she was written by a woman (christina hodson) and directed by a woman. (this can also be seen by the small action of canary putting her hair up in the middle of the big fight scene at the end). overall bop was very much meant to be the opposite of suicide squad in terms of how they deal with harley. it's basically the recovery stage for her character.

and tss. my dear sweet tss. i love how james gunn handles her character and i love that he gave margot some creative control with some of it, like the removal of her rotten tattoo. i think tss is great in those moments where we see harley being her usual self (when she has sex with the dictator) but james gunn doesn't just focus on harley like that, he gives us scenes like when joel kinnaman is found shirtless and sweaty or when john cena is straight up in his underwear and takes up half the screen. where david ayer spent half the time focusing on sexualizing harley quinn, james gunn switches it up. and i love that.

and im in the same boat - i love suicide squad. i think its a decent set up to bop and tss and i would love to see the ayer cut, but in terms of harley's character, it sucked. but when bop was released and started to kind of fix harley and put her on this path of recovery, it made what ayer did in suicide squad work better. i still dont like how harley was sexualized in suicide squad, but im not as mad anymore now that it can be explained better with 2 other movies backing it up.

this is a long way to say that you're absolutely correct.