SPOILERS AHEAD for Birds Of Prey, you’ve been warned!
One of the more unnecessary parts from the god-awful Suicide Squad was the gratuitous objectification of Harley Quinn, especially that scene where the camera slowly pans across her body while she gets dressed in her skimpy outfit. You know the one I’m talking about.
Margot Robbie has said Birds Of Prey will have far less “male gaze-y” costumes following her Suicide Squad experience, but it seems like she was underselling that aspect a bit because Harley Quinn’s solo adventure offers up a searing rebuke on the “male gaze.”
Speaking of female DC superheroes, the GOAT team talk about Wonder Woman on It’s Been A Big Day For… below:
Right from the onset, Birds Of Prey presents itself as a completely different kind of female-led superhero movie through the costuming. The skin-revealing and skimpy outfits were gone in favour for more practical yet still sexy clothing. Hell, we even get some context as to why the characters act the way the do and dress the way they do, which is far more than what most superhero films do.
It was incredibly gratifying to see Harley Quinn, Huntress, Black Canary, Renee Montoya and Cassandra Cain all being badarses in their own way, all while not reducing the characters down to their outfits. But the change in aesthetic and wardrobe isn’t the only way Birds Of Prey explores the male gaze.
One of the underlying themes in Birds Of Prey is the abuse powerful men inflict upon women, and the film tackles it head on in one of its most uncomfortable sequences.
Mid-way through the film, the antagonist, Roman Sionis, gets into a rage over Harley Quinn (who else would it be?) and he takes it out on a random woman in his night club by getting her to strip and dance in front of everyone. Not only does this uncomfortable scene showcase what an arsehole Roman is, it shows just how problematic and traumatic the male gaze can be. It’s almost like this is Margot Robbie’s response to Suicide Squad‘s objectification of her and Harley.
Birds Of Prey ties it all up thematically with a neat little bow towards the climax when all the women are getting ready to do battle against Roman. Renee comes across the tight shirt Harley wears in Suicide Squad, only for Harley to quickly snatch it away and say that it’s special to her.
That simple act isn’t just Harley Quinn saying “I like this shirt.” It’s Harley Quinn saying “I accept what happened in the past, but now I’m taking back control of my narrative.” Then there’s the big finishing moment when she drop-kicks Roman off a bridge just before he explodes to bits and that in itself is incredibly satisfying to watch because, well, he is such a dick.
There were a few puffy-chested bros declaring that Birds Of Prey will flop because Margot Robbie, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Jurnee Smollett-Bell aren’t dressed in enough sexy clothing (despite having not seen the movie).
But based on the reception so far, it seems like Birds Of Prey will not only be quite successful but it’ll do so without having to go down the hyper-sexualised route in order to cater to the male gaze.
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