Comments on: Why This Suicide Squad Trailer Could Stir Sexist Controversy

By: lawhamercy

lawhamercy — Mon, 11 Apr 2016 00:18:00 +0000

ELUDED to? http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JS83MScPm48/Tr9tcnNRPzI/AAAAAAAAEjA/J_uFlP9kCz4/s1600/screen-capture-5.png

By: dave

dave — Tue, 02 Feb 2016 16:15:00 +0000

Good objective article.

My two cents on this, the PC police are ironically making it difficult for writers to actually write female characters!

Jesus Christ that Batgirl cover is nothing! I cannot believe DC pulled that. It doesn’t promote rape at all. Its a standard cover to show the hero being taken over by or at the mercy of the villain. Look at this Superman comic https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjL5LD8u9nKAhXILQ8KHaegAYAQjBwIBA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fstatic.comicvine.com%2Fuploads%2Foriginal%2F4%2F40658%2F1684782-9_1.jpg&bvm=bv.113034660,d.ZWU&psig=AFQjCNF8N8Isjc8x9VaaYJE422l0AEmzEA&ust=1454515845892154

Now as for the Harley bit well I’m not so keen as I think it looks like they are making Harley’s origin story more graphic for the sake of it. Also I prefer the idea of the Joker being able to twist her mind too. Still its not sexist. The Joker tortures people all the time. Look at what he does to Lex Luthor in Outsiders.

Look at Lex’s eye. Joker’s been frying him for hours on end. https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjep4PdvNnKAhUDfRoKHQdfBn8QjBwIBA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fcomiczombie.files.wordpress.com%2F2014%2F08%2F10-greatest-lex-luthor-moments-164554-a-1403187651-470-75.jpg&bvm=bv.113034660,d.ZWU&psig=AFQjCNHn0SA96gU_9-bZdNN0sX_pj4p1oA&ust=1454516006717370

Then there is Robin who he beat to death with a crowbar. Its perfectly in keeping with the character and its not sexist either.

By: harley quinn

harley quinn — Tue, 26 Jan 2016 15:18:00 +0000

In reply to Marty Nozz.

Well it’s a fictional couple I don’t think we should take it that seriously some people just like it. So what? They most likely wouldn’t take the same if they were real people

By: Marty Nozz

Marty Nozz — Sat, 23 Jan 2016 20:56:00 +0000

In reply to harley quinn.

It all should be a giant sign saying “This is a messed up relationship which is not to be immitated!” but over and over we see people dressing up like the pair of them like its the niftiest thing ever. At least you realize that these characters and highly disfunctional. Some of the other people I’ve encountered, it seems like its quesionable.

By: harley quinn

harley quinn — Sat, 23 Jan 2016 11:31:00 +0000

In reply to Marty Nozz.

Mad love was a good episode but I thought about something after watching it and reading it. First the joker is mentally unstable and will often let his anger get the better of him, he called harley his girlfriend and that it’s the joker if he really wanted her dead she would be dead. Batman says it’s because he wants to use her as a extra henchman but harley has both failed him and turned against him mutiply times. The joker is crazy but he has been shown not to liking to be double crossed or failure and to hold a grudge. Now lets go to a different episode “Harlequinade” where batman uses harley quinn to catch the joker before he let’s off a bomb. The joker seemed to be fine with blowing up her and the city but after she appeared and took out robin and jumped in jokers arms, he literally fights with her so they both can escape but gives up after being kicked in the face. She shoots down his plane and ever has him at gun point, she only fails at killing him because the gun was out of bullets. They look at each other for a moment before he says “baby you’re the greatest” and they hug inside a heart.
To me it seems like they do care a great deal about each other.

By: Marty Nozz

Marty Nozz — Sat, 23 Jan 2016 11:02:00 +0000

In reply to harley quinn.

He put her through a window and nearly killed her. There’s nothing cute there.

By: harley quinn

harley quinn — Sat, 23 Jan 2016 08:25:00 +0000

In reply to Marty Nozz.

I cosplay as harley because I like the character (mainly from BTAS) I think she is a very loving and fun charater and I don’t over look The joker’s abusive behaviour but it has been shown he does have feeling for her and only treats her like he does because he doesn’t understand how or why he cares for her.
I see it pretty much as a sad but cute relationship he’s to crazy to love her properly and she’s to caring to leave him all alone.

By: silverfishimperitrix

silverfishimperitrix — Tue, 08 Sep 2015 17:31:00 +0000

In reply to Carl77.

Thank you for this. I’m a little disappointed that the “Outrage Police” haven’t been all over this.

By: Carl77

Carl77 — Tue, 25 Aug 2015 18:54:00 +0000

I’m still waiting for someone to get “outraged” by the title Suicide Squad.

Then again, the movie has been announced, there’s been a steady stream of news about it with nary a peep. That and Suicide Squad was also on Arrow and Smallville with nary a peep from the PC police so maybe they did their research for once and saw that it was based on a comic about a team of supervillains that goes on suicide MISSIONS.

Still, some Tumblrite is probably going to get “triggered” by the title, have a knee-jerk reaction and if it’s a slow news day, the media is going to blow it out of proportion.

By: Saecha Rose

Saecha Rose — Fri, 17 Jul 2015 18:08:00 +0000

I don’t find it inherently sexist to show scenes like this, when these scenes are used to explain why this woman is who she is; it’s part of her development as a character, and in a dark story such as this one it makes sense that such development would take a dark path. Some people will choose not to watch based on their desire not to see such content and that’s fine. The content may be disturbing to some viewers, but I don’t see that making it sexist.

What’s sexist to me is when female characters exist as nothing more than props to help tell the male characters’ stories. When it’s, “we wanna show that this dude is a bad guy, so here’s a graphic scene of him raping/torturing a random woman- a woman whose character is not developed, who has no agency of her own, who doesn’t exist in the story other than as a plot device to help explain the man’s story. It’s the same thing when there’s a wife/girlfriend/sister/etc who gets kidnapped and tortured for no other
reason than to show that the (male) hero of the story is in pain. She doesn’t matter, we don’t learn anything about who she is as a human being, she’s just a meaningless plot device who serves her purpose and is then disposed of.

By: Marty Nozz

Marty Nozz — Thu, 16 Jul 2015 01:52:00 +0000

In reply to Mortal.

Just to clarify, I was referring to her origin in B:TAS as depicted being tame in that Joker got into her head and manipulated her as opposed to the torture scene that the SS trailer shows. But yes, it was evident almost from the start that he abused her, and I’m amazed that fact isn’t scrutinized more harshly.

By: Mortal

Mortal — Wed, 15 Jul 2015 22:55:00 +0000

In reply to Marty Nozz.

Yeah, in something like Harley’s 3rd appearance in Batman The Animated Series we see Joker aggressively pushing her around and soon after Ivy trying to convince her she can do better than that abusive relationship. I wouldn’t call that tame, especially in a kids show.

By: lapinchien

lapinchien — Wed, 15 Jul 2015 06:00:00 +0000

want to start a controversy about this trailer ? Check how much the storyverse is inspired by Hotline Miami…

By: LonnyZone

LonnyZone — Wed, 15 Jul 2015 04:46:00 +0000

She’s always been the product of torture. Yes some will complain, but they’re the same people who complain without a reason. This article is fine to point out that there are hard questions that these characters ask of us, but just boycotting art that represents things we don’t like is no solution. It’s the equivalent of sticking one’s head in the sand.

By: Marty Nozz

Marty Nozz — Wed, 15 Jul 2015 01:45:00 +0000

In reply to filmfadRyan.

Her origin was fairly tame, but the reveal that he physically abuses her was there fairly early on. It just seems that the fan-dom willfully overlooks it.

By: filmfadRyan

filmfadRyan — Tue, 14 Jul 2015 20:48:00 +0000

In reply to Marty Nozz.

There have been different interpretations of Harley throughout the years but her original origin story and relationship with the Joker was rather tame.

I definitely wouldn’t call it a “healthy” relationship haha.

By: Marty Nozz

Marty Nozz — Tue, 14 Jul 2015 20:42:00 +0000

I’ve never understood why so many women want to cos-play as Harley Quinn and run around with someone cos-playing as the Joker at conventions. It utterly baffles me. We have an insanely abusive relationship, and people want to dress up and display it. I figured after “Mad Love” that would have brought it to a stop, but its still around. I wonder how many people will be ticked at this movie and claim “their relationship isn’t really like that”, when their relationship, and totally like that.

By: filmfadRyan

filmfadRyan — Tue, 14 Jul 2015 19:35:00 +0000

In reply to Rollercoasterchild.

I’m familiar with The Killing Joke and the reference the comic book was making but the subject of this article pertained to the trailer not the comic book.

You are correct about the implications of the comic but I didn’t want to dive too deep into that and rehash an old conversation. The purpose was to touch lightly on that controversy and use it as a stepping stone towards the possibilities of audiences responses to the Suicide Squad film.

By: Rollercoasterchild

Rollercoasterchild — Tue, 14 Jul 2015 19:30:00 +0000

In reply to filmfadRyan.

This article missed a key point of the Batgirl cover. In The Killing Joke (1988) it is heavily implied that Barbara Gordon was sexually assaulted by the Joker while he possessed a gun. Given the history, fans felt uncomfortable with the cover for this reason (in fact the Joker’s clothing and appearance on the cover matches his ensemble in TKJ ). Had this background knowledge been included in the article perhaps a deeper connection could have been made. The trailer’s explanation is sound, but missing the cover’s full history takes away from the article.

By: filmfadRyan

filmfadRyan — Tue, 14 Jul 2015 19:00:00 +0000

In reply to komikbook kaylin.

Thanks for the comment! I’m glad this article was able to create a thought-provoking discussion!