Dear ‘Suicide Squad,’ Stay Away From My Daughter
Iam not surprised that Suicide Squad was awful. I was certainly warned. And I shouldn’t have been surprised that it was not the most female-friendly movie. I was warned of that too. But none of that has stopped me from feeling incredibly angry about this piece of shit movie.
I’ll admit, I was totally hooked by the trailers. I love superhero movies and this looked like it might be refreshingly different. In case you don’t know this movie, from the Batman/Superman DC universe, tells the story of a bunch of villains who are coerced into saving the city. Fun!
But once the reviews hit, I changed my mind. “Vapid,” “tiring” and “just plain bad” pretty much sum up the critical response to Suicide Squad.
I paid my money and went to the theater because my two kids (ages 9 and 12) have been flat-out obsessed with the movies since Warner Bros. cleverly tied a new 21 Pilots song into the marketing. I’m not above saying no to my kids but this one would have been particularly hurtful as I had promised them they could see it and it’s borderline kid inappropriate which makes it that much more enticing to them.
Now I wish they could un-see it. No, I take that back. I’m glad they saw it because I got to have a very frank discussion with both of them, especially my daughter who (thanks to a visit from her grandmother) has a drawer full of Harley Quinn-inspired accessories.
When this movie got made, I have no doubt that the men in charge were patting themselves on the back for the fact that four of the main characters are women. I would have patted them on the back too if given the chance! But it’s impressive how despite that fact, this is one of the most misogynistic films I’ve ever seen.
But let’s talk about Harley Quinn specifically. (FYI I am not blaming actress Margot Robbie for any of this. She strikes me as a very intelligent actress who was give a juicy part and did the best she could with it.)
Harley is the charismatic center of the bad guy group. With her smudged eye makeup, colored hair, tattoos and tiny shiny shorts the ads made it look like Harley was there as the comic relief and soul of the group. Sure, she’s the Joker’s girlfriend but that doesn’t mean she couldn’t be a great well-rounded character and even a feminist one, holding her own (and then some) in a group of uber-macho men.
That is not what happens in the movie.
Harley was a great psychiatrist (I guess, maybe she was a terrible psychiatrist, it’s not clear) who wore lens-free glasses in that sexy librarian-about-to-let-her-hair-down way that is so popular in soft-core porn movies. She was treating the Joker but fell in love with him — despite the fact that he did nothing charming or interesting in her presence that I know of. (Unless you consider a dude with a hideous grill constantly opening his mouth in front of you compelling.)
She helped him break out of Arkham Asylum and was then pouty that he decided to give her electric shock. But then maybe that fried her brain because she went to a factory with him and willingly jumped into a vat of … I don’t know .. acid? Chemicals? Glue? Which maybe made her more crazy?
Anyway, the result is that this brilliant (again, I’m guessing) psychiatrist turned into an oversexed 5-year-old with a 1940’s Brooklyn accent who pines for her “Puddin’” (her name for the Joker) which seems to be her only motivation.
And guess what her secret wish is? You’re never going to guess. She wishes she could be a proper housewife with two kids and a normal Joker going off to work every day. That’s her fantasy!
Her sole means of communication with the men around her is to flirt or call them pussies. Sure she bashes people’s (although the things they are killing are not really people but don’t worry about that) heads in but you know what Warner Bros., that doesn’t make her a fucking feminist.
And here the worst part — my daughter adores Harley Quinn. She thinks she is so cool. And, no surprise, she loved the movie. Both of my kids did.
When we got out they asked me what I thought so I told them. I told them how especially disappointed I was in the Harley Quinn character — especially as she’s being marketed as an empowered female.
I don’t know if they’ll take my opinion on board but at least they heard me. How women are depicted in movies is critically important. The people who make these giant tent-pole films need to have women side by side with men as real people — not as objects.
Suicide Squad is just another male fantasy where women are mouthy so they deserve to be punched, and if they’re in a position of authority well they’re just mean bitches, and if they’re magical then they’re super sexy magical, and if they’re tough then they’re also sex-crazy babies.
These aren’t the kind of women I want my 12-year-old daughter to see on screen. I want her to see women who are powerful and human (even if they are supernatural) and just people, not sex objects. There are plenty of indie movies that are great at portraying women as real humans but my daughter loves big loud movies and there’s no reason she shouldn’t. But she shouldn’t be subjected to rampant sexism just because she likes big-budget films.
So fuck you Suicide Squad and fuck you Warner Bros. And for the record, Jared Leto is the worst Joker of all time. He did nothing. I can not believe director David Ayer had the nerve to say that after Leto, it will be hard to imagine anyone else as the Joker. His performance and the part were so weak I could literally imagine anyone else playing the Joker. Seriously, anyone. There was no there there. I know the movie is going to make a ton of money but no one over there should feel good about it.
