While The Joker sees in Harley an opportunity to escape his literal prison, Harley sees in him the chance to escape her figurative jail cell – and she seizes upon that chance with both hands. The fact that it is two men – The Joker and Batman – that actually drive her to psychosis is not so much another example of male comic book characters oppressing the female, as a manifestation of the ongoing sexism she faces, even after giving her heart to the Clown Prince Of Crime.
The abuse Harley experiences at the hands of The Joker is the type of abuse that all kinds of women around the world are subjected to every day, just because they are women. In this sense, Harley represents all women, and The Joker represents the patriarchy. He fills her vision, and she works hard to meet the demands he places upon her – but is always set up to fail. However well she serves his purpose, he will always find fault and flaw, and a reason not to fully embrace her. In emotional terms, he continually keeps her at arms’ length, denying her the unconditional acceptance she craves.
But, in the event, it transpired that the darkness within Harley that was harnessed by The Joker was much darker, and more aggressive than the homicidal maniac was expecting. So when she finally snapped, and became her fully realized self as Harley Quinn, The Joker in fact had less control over her, as opposed to more. She was still in awe of him, and sought his acceptance – but was empowered by the notion of living authentically for the first time.
It is this sense of personal empowerment that led to Harley forming a bond with Poison Ivy after another instance of being cruelly rejected by The Joker. This proved to be a blow to The Joker, because Ivy bestowed upon Harley an immunity to poisons – and toxins and chemicals are The Joker’s weapon of choice. This means that her female friendship has, to an extent, levelled the battlefield between Harley and The Joker – because it means she is almost invulnerable to a large section of his arsenal and is further outside of his sphere of influence.
The relationship between Harley Quinn and The Joker has continued to evolve over the years since she first popped out of a cake in Batman: The Animated Series. The two have separated and crossed paths, and briefly reunited many times. But Harley has continued to grow and progress on her own terms – something that is infuriating to The Joker, even at a distance. While they continue to be closely associated, Harley has blossomed into a supervillain in her own right – albeit one that is particularly susceptible to the charms of The Joker.
This makes Harley Quinn a deeply feminist character and one that – underneath the bizarre costumes, mental illness and violence – is actually among the most relatable in DC comic books. Her relationship with The Joker may have caused her own incarceration – as we see in Suicide Squad – but it also caused her to embrace her authentic self, and she continues to challenge the status quo at every turn. This is undoubtedly what The Joker finds particularly vexing about his sometime side-kick, but it is also what makes for a fiery and fascinating chemistry.
Published: Jul 25, 2016 11:52 am