2020’s Birds of Prey is a much better Harley Quinn showcase.
This past weekend brought the launch of Joker: Folie à Deux, the latest in a long line of films inspired by DC’s comics. A sequel to 2019’s billion-dollar-grossing Joker, the sequel aimed to up the ante with a number of new elements, including the introduction of Lady Gaga’s Harleen Quinzel / Harley Quinn. In the days since Folie à Deux debuted in theaters, that success has been debatable, with the film underperforming at the box office and polarizing fans in a multitude of ways. One of the most talked-about elements has been Harley herself, with many criticizing Folie à Deux for underserving or flat-out misunderstanding the character. In the process, this has led many to realize that an earlier DC film already provided Harley with the big-screen showcase she deserved — 2020’s Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn). Spoilers for both Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) and Joker: Folie à Deux lurk below! Only look if you want to know!
From the gritty and controversial world of the first Joker film, to Gaga’s unpredictable and Oscar-nominated acting career, to the introduction of musical numbers, it was clear that Folie à Deux would present a unique take on Harley Quinn before the film even debuted. As set photos and snippets from the film’s trailers showcased Gaga’s Harley in elaborate costumes and gothic makeup, it seemed as if she had the potential to be a distinct and theatrical foil to Joaquin Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck / Joker, while honoring facets of the character from the comics. It wasn’t clear how much of the film’s story would center her versus Arthur, or what her endgame in the movie would be, but the potential was certainly there.
It can be argued that the end product of Folie à Deux does not meet a lot of that potential — so much so that the film barely ever calls her by her full name, instead abbreviating it to “Lee.” Instead of hinging on the comic-accurate tragedy of her being a brilliant psychologist who loses herself in the orbit The Joker, Folie à Deux presents two loose origin stories for her. Arthur is led to believe she grew up in poverty and was committed to Arkham Asylum after committing acts of violence, while other characters are led to believe that she grew up with a stable home life and admitted herself to Arkham to get closer to him. This, combined with virtually every action Lee takes towards Arthur — including orchestrating their brief escape from Arkham, seducing him, moving into his old apartment building, and becoming his mouthpiece to the media — as conniving and untrustworthy.
Huge swaths of Lee’s characterization also happen offscreen, from her transformation into Harley Quinn, to whether or not she’s actually pregnant with Arthur’s baby, to the decision to unceremoniously abandon him at the end of the film once he publicly gives up the Joker persona. While there are swaths of Lee’s arc that could be interesting, especially juxtaposed with the real-world romantic infatuation that imprisoned serial killers often get from women, very little of that arc feels fundamentally Harley Quinn. If anything, Lee’s infatuation with the idea of The Joker, and disaffected nature towards the man embodying it, feels more in line with newer DC character Alexis Kaye / Punchline, who was created in the comics just months after the first Joker debuted.
Birds of Prey, meanwhile, centers the story of Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn in a significant and satisfying manner. While also a showcase for lesser-known DC heroines like Dinah Lance / Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett) and Helena Bertinelli / Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), the film is overwhelmingly a Harley solo story, chronicling her wacky attempt at a new life after breaking up with The Joker. This premise allows for Harley to openly acknowledge how toxic their relationship had been, and how much she lost of herself in an attempt to win his love. It also allows her to be unabashedly Harley — she cracks incredibly specific jokes at a breakneck speed, she commits outlandish violence against various evil men, and she begins to realize how strong and capable she is on her own. When beats of Harley’s characterization do happen offscreen in Birds of Prey, they are done so in a Looney Tunes-esque subversion of reality that inherently fits the character, instead of a half-hearted attempt to give her an arc. Sure, Birds of Prey did face its own box office woes due to the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, but it has become something of a cult classic in ensuing years on streaming and among DC fans — and at the end of the day, it is the better cinematic outing for the character of Harley Quinn.
Joker: Folie à Deux is now playing exclusively in theaters.
