Harley Quinn Broke The Internet

The first movie set pictures were released last week for the upcoming Suicide Squad movie. And, good lord, did Harley Quinn tear the internet in half. The group shot of the cast is a rather drab one. Harley Quinn is the only character that has any pop to her costume so she leaps out of the picture among the other characters clad in drab outfits. In fact, all of the other characters (outside of Katana’s splash of red and white) just fade into the dull background in the team picture. The movie pictures in this article are from margotsource.net and there are plenty more pictures on that site.

Well, the reaction online was swift. There was a huge outcry from some fans who decried Harley Quinn’s movie costume. Her top was too tight. Her pants too short. Oh, my god! She’s wearing stiletto heels! The hand wringing and wailing was in full force. Harley’s costume was everything from “whorish” to “sexist” to “not in keeping with the history of the character.” Take your pick. It seemed that being offended by the movie version of Harley Quinn was the popular thing to be.

I understood the fans who still wanted the classic Harley Quinn costume. I get that. But, the fact is that the New 52 left that costume in the dust. And I failed to see any logic why DC would have Harley Quinn in the new Suicide Squad movie wear the classic Harley Quinn costume rather than an outfit that was closer to her current New 52 costume. Of course, the movie version of the costume is flashier and sexier, um, well…because Hollywood. I am not sure why that surprised anyone at all. Still, clamoring for the classic Harley Quinn outfit seemed pointless and foolish. If the comics abandoned that look for this character then surely the movie would as well.

That left the complaint that the movie version of Harley’s costume was even more revealing than her New 52 comic book costume. And it is. Not by much, though. New 52 Harley Quinn often wears nothing but a bustier showing off plenty of cleavage and belly. The movie costume for Harley consists of a full 3/4 length sleeved shirt covering her cleavage and midriff. New 52 Harley Quinn wears hot pants or short shorts in the comic books. In the movie? She has hot pants. They are pretty much a push. New 52 Harley in the comic book wears red and black stockings. The movie version gets fishnets. The New 52 Harley wears boots with no heels or a small heel. The movie version gets stiletto heels. All in all, not much of a difference to me.

Personally? I think the movie version of Harley Quinn looks fantastic. She vividly stands out from the rest of the team members who, honestly, look boring to me. I am expecting that given Harley’s position in the center of the picture and her more vibrant costume that she will be the main character of the Suicide Squad movie. Which makes perfect sense considering that she is the most well known of all the characters in this movie. Also, the fact that Harley Quinn’s comic book by Jimmy Palmiotti is burning up the sales charts shows that her character is as popular as ever.

The complaints over Harley Quinn’s costume being sexist or offensive seem silly to me. So, women in America need to cover their entire bodies from head to toe in order to be acceptable? That is backward and repressed thinking that would be applauded in other parts of the world possibly but not in America. I even read comments that wearing stiletto heels is sexist. Oh, lord. My wife is an attorney and wears spike heels all the time. Even to court! I better quickly tell her how sexist she is being.

The complaining seemed all too hilarious. It came across like a cocktail of repression, ignorance and overly sensitive feelings. Look, would I prefer a classic Harley Quinn in her adorable harlequin outfit? Of course. But, that ship has long sailed. And lashing out irrationally at the costume for Harley Quinn in the Suicide Squad movie isn’t going to bring back the classic Harley Quinn. All in all, Harley Quinn looks great in these pictures and is absolutely the only thing that that even remotely interests me in the entire Suicide Squad movie.