Why does this forum seem to dislike Harley Quinn?

[Top Hat]

When I was on this forum years ago there seemed to be a general dislike for the character verging on hate in some posters cases. It doesn’t seem any different now and I’ve never really understood it myself as she always been one of my favourites. Also the attitude on here seems out of synch with her general popularity. To the best of my knowledge she doesn’t have an appreciation thread.

It appears to me that some people just don’t like the idea of her without the Joker, whereas to me it was one of the best things they did especially as that whole abused girlfriend/sidekick looked really yuck these days. Notice Punchline doesn’t have that kind of relationship with the Joker because they know how problematic that now looks. It’s telling they retconned parts of traditional origin story in Harleen such as her only getting through university by sleeping with her tutor.

[the illustrious mr. kenway]

I can't speak for everyone but i think its more they like her but not how she's used recently by DC.

[SiegePerilous02]

I can't speak for everyone but i think its more they like her but not how she's used recently by DC.

I think this is it. Harley is the best character to come out of DC/WB in the 90s and her popularity is deserved.

But much like with the Joker and Batman himself, it can be a case of "too much of a good thing." They push her a lot, and not all the creative decisions are going to land with everyone.

[Starter Set]

Yeah, that's pretty gross how hard they are trying to sell us that character.

[yohyoi]

I like Harley. She is crazy and smoking hot. No wonder she is so popular.

[The Kid]

I think it has to do with characterization in recent material? I will say that I loved her new cartoon that came out. Probably my fav DC related multimedia project since the WW movie

[TheCape]

She is the Venom (Eddie Brock) of the batfamily with the good and the bad than that entails.

[lemonpeace]

I'll be the guy (hol'up, lemme grab my fedora and white cape) and also add that I think part of it was a bit of kneejerk misogyny when they initially started pushing for her that set the ton. it didn't help that DC went kinda aggressive hyping Harley up and capitalizing on her popularity. I think some fans didn't like seeing this secondary "female accent piece" character for the Joker getting that kind of marketing push seemingly out of the blue to "fit an agenda", since Harley happened to come up just as that agenda-cryer crowd started bubbling up as it's own little subculture on the nerddom space. much like Captain Marvel (i would say better than Captain Marvel initially) DC needed to break a big female character into this massively male-dominated and largely male-centric genre and there were some growing pains, which led to some quick fatigue. however, I think now that she's found her footing I think the dislike is pretty low despite what people on these types of platforms may make it seem. the fatigue is felt because we occasionally have people like Tom King who overplay the Harley hype a bit, but overall I think the character is more or less well-received.

[Light of Justice]

They who prefer Harley still with Joker are maybe too stuck up on their nostalgia. Personally I love Harley's characterization, especially when she shows that she has freaking doctor degree (I refused to accept Harley's sleeping with professor for degree is canon). But indeed it's annoying when DC push her too much, especially when she's included in Batfam line. Like she can be Batman's ally but there's no way Bruce will treat her as part of family, at least not above Luke, and we are all how unnoticed Luke on this era.

[ZeroBG82]

Ok, I'll throw my 2 cents in.

I hate Harley. But I don't hate Harley.

I loved her in BTAS. She was fun, had a great look, and her story was great. Tragic, in a way.

I was always struck by the irony that what created Harley Quinn was Harleen Quinzel's deep seated insecurities. She desperately wanted to be viewed a certain way, as capable and exceptional, but never was. And the only person in the whole business who finally comes to see her that way, in true respect, is Batman, her foe.

But a lot of modern Harley has lost her complexity. She's been heavily, heavily Flanderized over the years. Boiled down to the character tics that make her recognizeable, which then become her whole character.

And she's everywhere. She's the Wolverine of the DC universe. Not that well developed, not that interesting in the way she's used, but everywhere!

I think that's part of why my favorite Harley stories in recent years are the ones that lose the Harley Quinn and get back to the Harleen Quinzel. White Knight, for the most part, or Harleen. That at least try to take the character seriously as a character and not an attitude.

[DurararaFTW]

I like her as a troublemaker, not having her treated as an elite toptier fighter because of her popularity.

[Vakanai]

This forum is weird. There's a lot of dislike for Batman himself here too. And Joker. This sometimes feels like Dick Grayson's (and to a lesser extent the general Batfamily's) forum and we all just post in it.

[TheCape]

This forum is weird. There's a lot of dislike for Batman himself here too. And Joker. This sometimes feels like Dick Grayson's (and to a lesser extent the general Batfamily's) forum and we all just post in it.

In my case is more like i enjoy Bruce in anything except mainstream comics, he is a bore at best these days sadly. I still enjoy in most of his other media appeareances and i'm excited for The Batman, because i think that they do a better job with him. As for Harley, i don't feel strongly about her one way or another.

[regg215]

It's overexposure. I feel the same way about Harley that I feel about Deadpool in that I love the actual character but they just get massively overused. Once marvel had deadpool joining the avengers and guest starring in everybook for no reason he was so far from his original purpose as a character it was impossible to feel the same about the character. Harley is the same, Harley was a great change up but once she is taking down the trinity in a fight and hanging out with heroes like she is a member of the justice league, it's just too much. Harley acting heroic in suicide squad is one thing but DC has just pushed her so much it's annoying. That push takes a once pleasant character that I was once thrilled to see and drags down any story she is in. Not to mention the impact that Harley has on how poison ivy is treated in the DC universe. Ivy basically never shows up anymore unless its to push some relationship with Harley and her character is worse off for that, it's fine they want those two to be connected but they act like that is the only thing about ivy now

I would also agree with others that there seems to be a lot of dislike for Bruce at times and that mainly seems to be that the batfamily is always in his shadow. It's almost like the majority of the forum believes that because bruce can sell 6-10 books a month, that somehow is preventing, Stephanie, Cassie, Dick, Tim, Duke, Jason etc, from getting one or multiple books themselves or that bruce is somehow the reason that the quality of those books isn't great. Much like how the batfamily treats him in the comics lately, they are fine claiming anything good from Bruce, but absolutely anything that goes wrong is bruce's fault.

[Starter Set]

This forum is weird. There's a lot of dislike for Batman himself here too. And Joker. This sometimes feels like Dick Grayson's (and to a lesser extent the general Batfamily's) forum and we all just post in it.

Well, i do love me some Dick (sorry, couldn't resist) but i must admit that i don't quite get why this particular character is so damn popular.

Anyway, let's not derail that thread lol.

It's maybe cause in my work i often are in contact with people with very real mental issues but i don't like that all "oh look at me, i'm crazy, it's so fun, hahaha" kind of way of depicting mentally ill characters. I know, comic books but still....