Villain Therapy: HARLEY QUINN and Histrionic Personality Disorder 

“If you romanticize Joker and Harley, seek help,” Thank you! It always makes me sad that some people want to use an unhealthy relationship as the goal.

One of my favorite parts about Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn, is that her beginning as a psychologist isn't just a part of her origin story and then they never talk about it again. They reference it and have her use her education several times.

As a friend of mine recently said: "If you're not fed love with a silver spoon, you learn to lick it off knives." Have to say, that resonated with me on a whole other level.

You'll also notice, in suicide squad, the camera is VERY centered on Margots chest, whereas in birds of prey, the camera is centered on her face. Not to mention the insane push-up bra they very clearly had her wearing during suicide squad that looked physically uncomfortable, vs the pink brallete she was wearing throughout most of birds of prey which actually fit her well. 🤙

I love that Margot Robbie though broke out of her "blonde bimbo" stereotype by just straight up making her own movie company and producing her own movies. I, Tanya just showcased her acting skills SO MUCH. She's a powerhouse as an actress, businesswoman, and human being. Just respectable in every way

I don't remember the who said it but the best explanation I've heard for why her outfit in Birds of Prey feels more right is because it seems like something Harley would pick out herself, but the one in Suicide Squad looks like something someone put her in

I have histrionic personality disorder and for me, it feels more like being in a separate plane from other people if you're not talking to them or centered on in some way. It's like as soon as somebody stops including you in the conversation you literally fade out into a different dimension and you become the most depressed version of yourself; you feel worthless, invisible, unwanted. So whether it's shiny clothes, bright colors, or being loud and boisterous, the Brain will find ways to get the attention on you or to make sure that the attention can't leave you. It's awful, it's guilt inducing, and most of it is actually subconscious. We're not all sexual deviants with irritating personalities who just want to irk you 😟

A defining moment of Harley Joker relationship, is in the episode Mad Love. When Joker push her a window and Harley say "It's my fault, i didn't get the joke." It really show how she's caught in a very abusive relationship and she internalize it.

I just realised why Harley was so angry when El Diablo revealed his backstory about accidentally killing his family. Her desire, as shown by Enchantress' visions, involves a normal life with the Joker, complete with children. In her eyes, he threw away what she wanted by destroying his loved ones.

In terms of the diversity, I also like the fact that one of the women was also was a bit older, middle-aged in fact. She looked like a real person. Usually when films show 'diversity' you get the young stunning Black woman, the young stunning Latina, the young stunning Asian woman, etc....you can definitely tell this was directed by a woman!

I think the narration works cause Harley is batshit crazy and she's constantly reminding herself what she's done or what shes currently doing. It feels very in line with who she is and how she functions.

The fact that Alan started their commentary by saying “Margot Robbie. Thank you for existing” honestly just shows you how great the rest of it is gonna be

She’s romanticizing the acid scene. In the comics, he led her to the factory while she was terrified. In the comics, she was so frightened that she was trembling above the acid when Joker pushed her in knowing that she couldn’t swim and letting her remain in the chemicals for several minutes as she was drowning. He drained the chemicals at the very last second and adapted her name from Harleen Quinzel to Harley Quinn. As Kaley Cucco (the current voice of Harley Quinn in the show Harley Quinn says in an episode before hitting Joker very hard with a bat) “You got Harley Quinn out of Harleen Quinzel. Nice work, genius!!!” WHAM-O!!!

I'm surprised that they didn't mention that Harley was a therapist before becoming a criminal. I'd love to see Jonathan's take on Harley Quinn's style as a therapist

There’s a channel that discusses the wardrobe choices for Harley between the movies. In the first movie she was dressing for Joker, in the following movies especially the second, she’s dressing for herself. She’s dressing more comfortable than sexy, more colors.

Margot Robbie is a great actress and luckily the perfect pick for Harley. In the first Suicide Squad she apparently had to deal with Jared Leto often improvising his lines that she never knew what he would say, but she reacts perfectly in character. I also grew up on Batman TAS and Margot Robbie reminds me of the animated Harley. The start of Birds of Pray is chaotic, but do keep in mind that the narration comes from Harley who is seriously messed up in her head and so is all over the place. I love that they kept the three biggest actors (as in performing the best) from the first Suicide Squad in the second one, as it would not have been so good without Margot Robbie(Harley), Viola Davis(Waller) and Joel Kinnaman(Brick Flag).

An example of how to portray this condition without overly sexualising the character is Angelina Jolie in Girl, interrupted. There's a scene where she's being overly sexual and flirtatious but our thoughts in that isn't "Wow she's so hot" and instead is "My god she needs some serious help". Angelina Jolies portrayal of Lisa Rowe remains one of my favourite performances of all time.

The line she said "they tell ya the music you like ain't real music at all" help me so much. It almost sad to admit. It was really hard for me to understand my last relationship was toxic until I heard this. My ex did that all the time. He constantly dismissed and deconstructed my music taste to the point I hated myself for even thinking of listening to music, I would be afraid to like music, any music. It just helped to hear it. It really helped me acknowledge and heal from it. This line still hits.

I love that she has this whole therapy session with herself while the guy she shot is just squirming around on the floor 😂

I grew attached to Harley Quinn's character because when I watched Birds of Prey with my boyfriend, it was the first time he ever looked at a female character and told me "Oh yeah, you do that too". That's the kind of non-sexualize side of women that you normally don't see in movies, like the whole scene of her messy break-up.

I still remember this episode in Batman: The Animated Series where it showcased the toxicity and abusive nature of Joker and Harley's relationship on full display. All Harley wanted was a little attention and adoration from the Joker--she carries out his orders, dresses up sexy for him, and even tries to help him with work, even successfully abducting BATMAN so that Joker has a little less on his plate to deal with. But the Joker never once acknowledged, appreciated, or praised Harley's efforts the whole time, and was instead was enraged because 'she hurt his pride.' The episode doesn't show it, but off-screen you _hear_ Joker strike her, and Batman himself _wincing_ at the action. Everyone knows it takes a lot to faze the Batman, so to have the darkest, most undeterred superhero wince at Joker's abuse is enough to tell you how cruel and unfair this moment was for Harley. Yet even while Harley was hospitalized for her injuries, Joker sends her flowers, and Harley continues to live in that infatuation. I remember being truly heartbroken for Harley--how the Joker would lure her back in and continue his manipulative cycle all over again, and that Harley might never break free. It makes me glad and happy that current media are taking Harley's route in new directions, particularly when she chooses to move on from Joker and live for herself, and reinterpreting her as something more than just Joker's right-hand woman and plaything.

It's interesting to me that Alan mentions the narration aspect of Birds of Prey as the thing that bothered him the most about the movie. Because while is a valid criticism of any movie, on this one, i find it incredibly fitting for the character. Harley is known to break the fourth wall, she's known to talk to herself (both things she does through the movie), but the narration here is used to establish that she's not a particularly good narrator, she lies sometimes, sometimes she sees it in a completely different way on her brain. Her narrator voice lets you know that. One scene you can see it, (and is glossed over on this and idk if its because they didn't catch it or 8t was lost on editing) is when Harley crashes the truck on ace chem, she sees fireworks and crazy colors, and yet in the immediate next scene, Renee Montoya is investigating and its pretty much normal fire and the place was even more dirty and uglier than Harley ever showed us. She romantizaced that place on her mind, so much that even in its destruction it looked beautiful. Anyway, just a thought. Also, fascinating to think about how Jonathan would treat Harley, with her being a psychologist too, and psychiatrist if memory serves me correctly. Doctors make terrible pacients and all that...

Also! Re: the clothes. The clothes in birds of prey actually Look Comfortable. Suicide squad is like.. it's a single rly tight layer and the shorts are way shorter and ridiculously tight. Like... they're in no way the same ammount of revealing. And that's not taking into account that the outfits in bop have actual personality and tells a story lol. Like i would wear that in a heartbeat i just think it's so cool!

One thing I saw once about why Harley's "manic party girl" outfit feels different from the "Daddy's little monster" outfit is that in the "manic party girl" outfit, . The Joker didn't dress her like that because it was sexy - she dressed herself like that because she wants to dress like that. That's why it hits different - it's for her own sake.

as an abuse survivor, this one really hits home. my ex referred to me as his Harley all the time, and even bought these ridiculous Harley/Joker rings for us to wear. i'm almost 6 years removed from it now, and looking back it's hard to believe HOW MUCH i put up with from him. i haven't been in a relationship since, because i'm terrified of them now. ETA: i'm absolutely in therapy right now, and have been for about 5 years. 💕

To add to the discussion about Harley's outfits, the hair should also be considered. In the two examples of the male directed films with Harley featured, she had those longer bangs and the long pigtails/hair which I cannot imagine would be good in a fight. Y'know... Easy to grab etc. In Birds of Prey she's got shorter hair and shorter bangs. There's even a point where a hairband is proffered during a fight which was fantastic.

"It's for the girls, and if you're offended by that, that's your problem" Love it!

Thank you for calling out the romantization of Harley and Joker's relationship. Movies aside, their story is so tragic and terrifying I honestly don't get why people think they're cute together.

3:03 "I was the brains behind some of Mr. J's most greatest stunts." She's not just blowing smoke when she says that. In the same tv episode that Joker kicks Harley out a window he did it because she actually caught Batman. He was 100% going to die except the Joker didn't want him to die because that would be the end of their "fun" and if anyone was going to kill the Bat it would be him. He then tries to shoot Batman, guess how well that works. Batman even says that Harley came a lot closer than the Joker ever did to killing him.

As a early DC nerd; I actually never thought of how we can make Harley look less sexual, mostly because I always grew up with her being in a sexual costume, but also because it just seemed like it was part of her character, and I think a majority of DC fans didn't understand that "Hey, Harley needs to grow both in personality and in respect for herself. And this is how we are going to show it."

One of the big defining moments that I knew BoP was written and directed by women was the hair tie but. It is so small, such a little detail, but holy crap hair in your face or on your neck when you’re sweating is a nightmare for a lot of us and it’s not represented enough 😂

It’s honestly kind of upsetting that Margot Robbie played an absolutely amazing Harley and unfortunately had the absolute worst Joker for a partner

I fell in love with the Harley Quinn character in Batman the animated series when she tried to go straight and everyone judged her so badly she asked Batman to lock her back up because she couldn't maintain her progress in society due to their treatment of her. She was trying, but she didn't have a support system beyond Batman's periodic appearance once he even realized she was trying. It was the first sign of depth and healing instead of being Joker's pawn or lapdog. Since then every DC move has been to keep her broken until this series. So it's been a long wait to see the side I longed to see get more attention.

My favourite part of Harley's wardrobe in The Suicide Squad is that whenever she's dressed in clothes she picked out, it's much more practical than what she was wearing in Suicide Squad. I think Margot made sure she was wearing shoes she could do action scenes in without hurting herself as part of her contract after having to do so in Suicide Squad. Hell, in Birds of Prey I think she was wearing Converse sneakers in one of the fights.

The reason for the monologuing between her thoughts and what she says aloud is that it is a major thing in comic books: you’ll have the internalized dialog of the main character and then the things they voice both written out on the page

My favorite about Margot’s Harley is the line about how for someone to be her they would have to go through years of medical school because SHE IS A DOCTOR

I'm kinda with Lisa Nichols on this one. Quinn even in her backstory episode of the Batman: The Animated Series prior to meeting Joker is shown to have an aptitude for high energy, observation and quick thinking. Her issue is maladaptive coping strategies, yep, absolutely validation hunting and misuse of that energy. It's why I love her healing relationship with Poison Ivy as maladaptive as that can be sometimes. She has moved mre more into a heroine role over the years as writers get smarter at understanding what her backstory means. But they haven't dulled her light. She is gonna be large and attention grabbing. People can suck it. If she uses the platform that gives her to start being the hero? "Maybe they need to put their shades on"

Harley's character arc is truly exemplarly of abusive relationships, male gaze, and female empowerment. Harley begins abused and neglected by her dad, and thus she seeks out male approval. Joker uses her, pulling her into what he wants, using her for his goals, and everything about her shows that. She wears "property of Joker" on her clothes, gets tattoos which symbolizes "forever," and he pimps her out for everyone to see. So when Harley acts overly sexual in front of male guards or her teammates, we can thank the fricking male director for exemplifying the fact that Harley is nothing but a sex toy for the men in SS, nothing but something hot to look at, something to be desired. She was a prisoner in Arkam Asylum, she wears a dog collar for Joker, and she doesn't have any protection for her body. So in BOP, she gets dumped, or more literally, she gets set free, and finally is able to give herself protection and freedom. She gets coverups on her tattoos, she wears more comfortable shorts and bras, and she gets her own dog (hyena). She even cuts her hair, removing the Joker colors of infantile pink and blue for a more mature blonde and length, which removes her from a pedofilic gaze and from the little nice girl silhouette. Y'all do not realize how even hairstyles can be sexualized. The "sexy school girl" look comes with pigtails. It's awful. But where Harley of SS would probably have worn a dress with a slit and lots more cleavage, BOP Harley wears a pink pantsuit, showing that she is her own woman.

My husband and I had Harley & Deadpool as our wedding cake topper. Needless to say, we've been in and out of therapy 😂

One thing to say about the male gaze in the first movie was Jono got a lot right about the ownership bits and Sophie was spot on about certain shots like the focus on the butt and tiny shorts. I wanted to go more in-depth with the costumes because the ownership is definitely shown in the puddin collar, collarbone tattoo, and the daddy’s lil monster T-shirt. They are also shown in the hair like in the first movie the pigtails are long enough to pull on and the bangs frame her face in an attractive way whereas in the second movie they’re shorter and choppy, more fun for her and less conventionally attractive. To speak on the cinematography where in the first movie the frame seems to be centered on her chest but in the second the frames in the second movie it seems to center on her face or have more wide shots where the action takes center spotlight instead just her body or her clothes on her body. Fishnet leggings added and all three of you guys hit the nail on the head with the icky way she was shot in the first movie although yes her character lends herself to that attention seeking behavior and clothing choices. But looking at the second movie, it just shows that she can be sexy, attention seeking, or just playful without over sexualizing her and falling into a male gaze pit fall. All in all loved the commentary and analysis!💖

Harley's story mirrors Wonder Woman's somewhat. Both are motivated by love, but while Diana's love for Steve inspired her to become a hero, Harley's love for the Joker turned her into a villain. Diana is mentally stable, while Harley is chaotically insane. Diana's love for Steve is pure, while Harley struggles to see that the Joker is manipulating her.

Harley Quinn and Wonder Woman have something in common, when it comes to "the male gaze". In "Wonder Woman", Diana's body is shown as a powerful weapon. Though we do see closeups of her thighs, and a barely-there glimpse of her butt, it's meant to demonstrate how strong she is, almost like a big cat about to pounce. In "Justice League", however, it's the exact opposite. There's one particular shot, which makes me sick. She's just having a conversation with one of the male characters, but everything else is slightly out-of-focus, except for her butt. The camera holds that position for several seconds. It's gone from, "Wow. She's so strong, and that strength enhances her beauty", to, "Wow. She has a great butt." It's no wonder that some guys are threatened, when the idea of "the male gaze" is called out. It's the same principle behind why the kiss between Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and Madonna WASN'T blurred out for TV, but the kiss between Adam Lambert and his male drummer WAS. (7/19/2022)

PLEASEEE, do a Villain therapy for Frollo in Hunchback of Notre Dame - I've rewatched this movie as an adult and his character shook me (and I can't help but wonder how much disney paid to keep this movie at a G rating)

I know that she is a "Literally Me" character, but I love her so much. I don't love her with the Joker, but I love her by herself and with her friends. She is so fun I swear.

Honestly, as a guy, I'm so sick of the oversexualization of women in movies. It's disgusting and just outright sad. I'm going to movies to watch action and compelling storylines, not to look at butts.

I just want to say...thank-you so much for not relying on the auto-generated captions, I super, SUPER appreciate it. I'm not deaf or HoH in a physical sense, but I do have issues with auditory processing. Also, the deaf gain in things like "Internet Dad and Sophie:..." is really delightful. Kudos to your captioner!

I loved the video! I am deeply curious about the diagnosis ratio for histrionic personality disorder in men vs. women. Based on the explanation here, I have a hard time seeing a lot of men being diagnosed with it. Is there a male equivalent? If we're questioning patriarchy in cinema, I think it's fair to interrogate that in medicine too!

"Male Gazey" films are both an example of the problem and an enabler of the problem when it comes to women and how they are looked at by men. When I was younger, I started developing a large chest early (13) and it seemed that I got a lot of attention from guys because of it. This made me feel that the only thing important about me was my looks. I could have gone one of three ways: ride the female performance train and dress and use makeup to enhance that perception and get more attention from men or run from attention by avoiding dressing feminine and using makeup, or lastly, form a mixture of both and developed both my outward look and the inward idea of myself. I chose the second since I didn't want to be seen as "only my body parts" but wanted to be seen as having a brain. It's tough on a young girl, growing up in a religious household to choose the third option because your family is telling you how sinful you are, how you are not as important as a male, and that you are only here to serve others. It was easier to choose to avoid any acknowledgment of my femininity by avoiding feminine things.

I remember a former friend from highschool who LOVED Harley and The Joker, and funnily enough she was one of the most toxic people I've ever met. She constantly went on about how she was like them and she was "crazy" and "psycho" like them. I ended up breaking off our friendship because of the way she treated one of our guy friends who she knew had a crush on her. When he told that he was okay with her liking other guys because he was starting to get over her, she kissed him "To prove that he wasn't" and the next day at school she was raving on about how she had held hands with her latest obsession (who was in a relationship at the time). Overall, I think, like The Joker (as she likes to compare herself) likes to be wanted and needed, even at the expense of other's feelings.

As someone who has had several abusive relationships, Harley’s monologue (though hilarious at first) always leaves me teary. My exes did some of the stuff she mentioned. It’s so well acted and done

I love how Adam keeps scratching the dog in this one. So pure.

A series of unfortunate events is the only movie/series that gets away with that kind of narration because Lemony Snicket is a comedic genius

Thanks for that call out about how romanticized Joker and Harley are, it always strikes me as weird that they get that idealized treatment when it's an unhealthy relationship.

While the Birds of Prey narration was definitely choppy and all over the place, which was irritating at times, I appreciated that it seemed to reflect Harley Quinn's chaotic personality. It was like a peek into how her train of thought works.

I think the narration in this Birds of Prey works beautifully. I think the repetition and constant stating the obvious are what make it great. For example, Harley stating that she'll start the story wherever she wants (4 minutes ago) or when she reminds the audience why every thug in town hates her (eventually ending with the eggplant emoji). It's great comedic relief, and I think it helps to highlight the fact that the character isn't all mentally there. People with mental disorders can repeat themselves and state the obvious as they try to make sense of things in their mind. Also, I think on a feminist level, having Harley narrate the story gives her a voice that she hasn't previously had. By being able to be in her innermost thoughts, the audience gets a glimpse of a character that isn't just living to be with the Joker, but one who is trying to heal from trauma, and who often has justified reasons for her insane actions (even if the reasons are also insane).

The animation is also really cool because that Harley’s origin. She was literally made for tv in Batman the animated series. I just adore that they brought it back to show her introduction montage.

I was diagnosed with histrionic disorder and when i was told that, I didn't quite understood the full of it. As years pass by I now i see it. Thank you for bringing attention to this personality disorder, its been amazing to watch yours vids and learn from it

I would love to see your take on Marvel's Moon Knight and Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) in a video!!

Sofie saying that "any movement that a woman of color is making in the industry is a movement for all women of color", in reference to how the producer is Asian and she is . It means so much for me. Being Asian who grew up in the 90s, I feel so self conscious when I say that black actresses meant so much for me. Especially black women who were leads or main supporting character like Whoopie, Brandy, Whitney Tia and Tamerra and Karyn Parsons, seeing them showed me that how strong, funny, charming, beautiful, playful, and how vocal poc women could be. It sounds silly, but most women in my family and community drilled in my head that I had to keep a low profile to get people to like me and for me to get on in life, don't argue. don't speak too loud, don't be rude, don't make jokes, be pretty but not too pretty etc. Meanwhile these actresses are portraying these characters with so much energy, confidence, intelligence, leadership, empathy with actions, sass and elegance, it was so refreshing and made me think that I wanted to be like that too, to be able to speak my mind, crack jokes, sing when I want to sing, dance when I wanted to dance, and be an active part in a discussion, and choose how I wanted to show my looks and personality based on my mood. I didn't see myself represented in movies or shows for years, but having diversity in these shows were so helpful to getting me to explore my personality for myself.

I’ve been positive I have histrionic personality disorder so I was really really scared to watch this video for a long time but watching this brought a good sense of perspective… thanks you guys

The 2016 Suicide Squad reducing Harley Quinn to eye candy wasn't just "icky," it was a full-blown character assassination. They kept the needy and sexual aspects of her personality and seemingly forgot every other significant character trait that she had.

“What you really need, is to give that to other people” Wow. I feel completely validated, not even a minute in. This is EXACTLY where I’m at. I’ve had a pretty exhausting life, and I’m not even 40. But I’ll be damned if I’m not going to show everyone I meet with the exact level of kindness all people should be afforded. Which is not something I can quantify but to say that everyone deserves to be treated like a human being who wants to be happy and taken seriously.

As a lesbian (aka both a gay and a girl), Harley is WAY sexier in BoP because it's easy to tell she's wearing clothes and styles SHE LIKES. They match her loud, colorful personality, they're comfortable, they're not all about looking perfect or having things seem effortless, and they're really just all about announcing who *she is* to everyone. If BoP Harley was flirting with me, I would absolutely go for it; if SS Harley was flirting with me I would feel like she was doing it for show or with some ulterior motive (I mean, I might still go for it because it's Margot Robbie, but I'd have a lot more questions about the sincerity of it.) In the earlier parts of the movie she's not quite there yet, but she does eventually find her way to just doing sincerely what *she* wants to do, which is one of the hottest qualities any woman can have IMO. I don't think men are generally quite aware just how often women do things we don't actually want to because we feel like we're supposed to, or we don't think anyone else will do it, or we're pressured into it by someone we care about, whether said person is intentionally manipulative or not. And obviously this can and does affect anyone, but it's pervasive in subtle societal ways against women that I don't know if men even realize sometimes.

I love how all of Harleys lines are both sad and super funny at the same time

I'm writing a character with HPD. I'm glad you're looking at this so that more people can be aware of the disorder. Honestly, I'm trying so hard to write the disorder realistically.

You play it as a clip but it gets overlooked. In The Suicide Squad she is really touched Rick Flagg mounts a rescue mission. Probably the one guy she met who treats her well and is platonic.

I loved this video! the "if you romanticize Joker and Harley, seek help" part is so true. I never understood how anyone could view them in such a way or idolize them. On that note... because this is part of the psychology of a hero/villain therapy series, I would literally die if you'll ever post a video about Wolverine/Logan

I've known 2 people with HPD. One was a friend and my dad. (and yes they do think they're much closer with people than they are. I hung out with this girl like twice and she started saying we're best friends and showing up at my house) As far as I know, my dad was never diagnosed with it. But he exhibits almost if not all the signs. He was very uncomfortable with not being the center of attention. If you were talking about anything he'd interject and make things all about himself. I mean he'd even get jealous of the attention his own kids would get. Apparently as a kid his parents often favored his older brother. So he's always been attention seeking. When his brother died and I was born, my mom and grandma (his mom) doted on me. He was incredibly jealous. Also, He'd always do provocative behavior or act inappropriately which could be embarrassing when you got older. His emotions were all over the place, he was suggestible. We would always have to make him think things were his idea, it wasn't hard. Dramatic etc. He was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and I believe BPD. But I personally think he should've also been diagnosed with histrionic PD as well.

I love the fact that the writers in DC actually cut off pretty quickly the Harley Joker romance. Like you can say it’s because Jared Leto is fired but also it’s not to romanticize them and we obviously can’t see Harley get abused again and again and again by the Joker. Like…they made her her own character

I’m not the biggest fan of Birds of Prey but I can’t deny that’s it’s a very fun movie if you don’t take it too seriously😆 Margot Robbie belongs among Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man and Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool in the list for actors born to play comic book roles

I like the timing of this video. I had never heard of histrionic personality disorder before this year. I'm grateful to know something new. I'd definitely seen the behaviors before and was confused why people interacting acted like it was normal, but it was off putting for me. This really explains a lot. Thank you

I'm kind of behind on Cinema Therapy videos these days, so I just got here. And out of everything in here, I just want to thank you for that obscure reference to Stinko Man ("You gotta have blue hair!") and including the ever-classic, "I can't believe you've done this!" This brightens my day. Thank you.

Great video as always! I just want to shout out to Sophie for pointing out the water fight in Birds of Prey. When I saw it in theaters, I actually groaned and went...okay here we go, stereotypical wet t-shirt fight that is going to be super sexualized...and the movie was doing so well. And then I was shocked that they didn't. And it was such a great fight scene with the way they used the water.

7:00 somebody pointed out that Harley’s uniform isn’t a uniform at all - looks more like she had to strategically tear a blanket or pillowcase, likely because the perverted guards threw her in the cage without clothing, and only gave her a uniform later when Waller was coming to inspect.

I just discovered this channel this week. There have been a lot of references that make me happy, especially the Buffy, Angel, Firefly stuff. But when you said, "Gotta have the blue hair," and dropped that Strong Bad image, I knew you were my people. LOVE MY PEOPLE!

Never has therapy been so entertaining and engaging!!! Keep up the great work!

I enjoyed the narration because its more like a comic book experience. You can see what's going on, on the page, but you're reading what's going on too. Not only that Harley is amazing at 4th wall breaks, so it feels like she's hearing the narration and repeating what it says in a form of 4th wall breaking

I have to say, they way y'all supplement with guests now to expand the base of experience in these is genuinely commendable. Y'all do good work.

I don't know what they are talking about the screen play was brilliant! As someone with complex PTSD and who works in mental health, it is such a good depiction of the lived experience of many women escaping abusive relationships. The narration reflects the inner dialogue so well that I have experienced and wouldn't be the same movie without it. I loved and felt seen by the "disjointed" story telling - this is how trauma is experienced and processed in the mind and body. It's not a linear experience and the storytelling helps the viewer to not only see that but feel the sense of confusion. To be great art helps people to feel other's experience not just showing it.

This illness drives me nuts (if you'll forgive the pun) because both my parents have it and it made my childhood kind of miserable since it isolated me quite a bit. My dad would drag me everywhere with him since he needed constant attention and constant validation and didn't like being alone for even the length of a car ride so he'd take me with him even to places like his drug dealing friends house and he'd leave me in the car, sometimes for an hour or more, in the dark at night while he BS'ed with his friends. My mom was a chaotic mess since she takes massive risks just like my dad but she's not that bright so she crashed and burned constantly, sometimes very literally crashing and/or burning in the case of her dozens of drunk driving instances, she'd leave me for long stretches of time often because she was off on a bender or doing stupid shit. Both have faked suicide attempts for attention and one time when my mom wanted attention she told my school and the rest of the family that I had talked about and attempted suicide (I hadn't, I was like 11 or 12, and didn't have a history of depression so not prime candidate for suicidal behavior) which basically made the rest of elementary school hell since now they thought I had a dangerous mental illness.

The opening narration of the Birds of Prey movie, I'd say the whole point there is that she's still in the histrionic phase. She's narrating things unnecessarily because she needs to make sure we, the viewers, are paying attention to her and only to her. Like when I saw the movie I wasn't thinking "oh this is her histrionic personality disorder talking" or anything but it immediately characterizes Harley as the kind of person who *gives* that kind of superfluous narration - as well as give you insight in the way she thinks about herself and the things that happen to her, which, with Harley Quinn, is not always obvious (damn, she really, really loved that sandwich). So the narration in this movie is not meant to tell you what's happening, what's going to happen, or some kind of background information you really need to know but they couldn't show you. It's a) true to character, and b) I do believe a part of it is just there for fun (damn, she really, really loved that sandwich).

I've watched the cartoons and read the comics too, her story is so tragic. She deserves so much better. Got abusive family, people taking advantage of her, abusive partners, etc. So I'm glad, at least in some movies, she got friends who cares about her.

I would like you guys to talk about having traits of personality disorders but still not being fully diagnosed with the disorder. You started getting into it when you talked about how you strongly seek out for attention and validation. It can be very helpful for other to understand what a disorder really means- the difference of having some traits vs a disorder that affects every part of one’s life.

Y’all helped me during my nursing psych final bc I did not remember anything about personality disorders on the final but I was watching this the night before and not studying… Anyways it did help clarify some things while entertaining, hope that amuses y’all lol

The first half of this episode I"m thinking "man, Alan is really disgusted by this whole conversation..." Then I realized it was actually mostly the sour popcorn LOL

I found this channel last month and I’ve seen every episode at least twice now. It’s really helped me in my own relationships and enjoyment of art and media. Thank you internet dads!

Sophie's humor is so great, we need more of her omg

A friend of mine went through a breakup with a bad relationship of 9 years when birds of prey came out. It was a really meaningful movie to her

Growing up, I noticed a lot of teens romanticize Joker and Harley. I feel like I myself was there too, but eventually (and thankfully) I realized it was incredibly toxic. It's still a good story and I absolutely love Harley and Joker as characters, but not as relationship goals

“If you romanticize Harley and joker please come see me or someone like me” THANK YOU

This is literally the only RU-vid channel where I love watching the ads. You guys are brilliant.

Can we get an honorable mention for the captions to your RU-vid videos "Internet Dads" I love this lol

Mr. J and Harley in that toxic stew is everything. She jumped because he wanted her to. He thought about leaving her to die. The "romantic" moment is both a literal and a figurative toxic stew.

Harley definitely finds healing through connecting with others. Even when her "extra" personality intimidates people at first, the later two movies see people who have suffered difficult pasts as well accepting and warming up to her as well. She usually doesn't judge others from the Squads or Birds of Prey team and therefore becomes more understood and validated.

Watching this after reading She-Hulk opinions and reviews was perfect. Totally feels like many people have Histrionic Personality Disorder 😆 you guys are great 🥰🤩

It would be super cool to see you react to Harley's relationship with Ivy in the Harley Quinn animated series. See if you think that is a healthy relationship or not. It obviously starts out on not so great footing but I'd love to see if the development is healthy or not.

Can we all agree that Margo is a treasure . Shes an angel for blessing us with her talents. If she wants to be in a bunch of random movies as Harley I will gladly eat it up

This hit me right in the face. My younger sister checked every one of these boxes growing up, and all the men she dated (and eventually married) were toxic pieces of garbage. WOW. Her behavior makes so much more sense now.

Thank you for this! Harley Quinn has always been such a fascinating character. THANK YOU FOR POINTING OUT THAT HARLEY AND THE JOKER IS AN UNHEALTHY, TOXIC RELATIONSHIP, their relationship is criminally romanticized and idealized in pop culture. Aesthetically it can be fun, or a cool couple’s Halloween costume, but it’s nothing to model after. It’s nice that you recognize the importance of Harley healing - albeit in her own concerning ways, but healing nonetheless. Could you guys do an episode on The Color Purple? It was an incredibly moving book and film for me, and the songs from the musical capture it’s themes well. How would you address healing for a character like Celie or Nettie given the circumstances? Thanks for the episode!

I've been watching you guys for a bit and really like your style, but that Homestar Runner reference sealed it for me. You absolutely rule.