Suicide Squad: the sexism within

I went with a group of friends, there was six total, to see the new movie Suicide Squad. At the end the reviews were mixed. Two loved the movie, two thought it was okay (this is where I was), and two hated the movie. Yes, there is a lot of things going on with this movie: plot holes, poor editing and framing, and definitely some questionable choices. But my focus was Harley. Mainly due to the fact before the movie was released and before I had a chance to see it there was already buzz about how they messed this character up.

Since I had not had the chance to read the comic the movie was based on, I had to rely on the things I read. It boiled down that a strong character with flaws was turned into an empty bombshell. But were they right? I was eager to find out.

This is what I noticed in the movie about Harley:

-Physically strong.

-Overtly sexual.

-Was traumatized by the Joker and then again by the policemen who found her-she was victimized after she was assaulted by the Joker! (let that sink in for a moment, it was a truly terrible scene that most people overlooked).

-Female sexuality had a negative outcome

-Ditsy but strong

-Humor was based on her breaking the walls and showing masculine traits.

-Devoted lover.

Now from my understanding Harley-Quinn was the Jokers’ psychologist/psychiatrist and he messes with her head so much she goes crazy, in general, and for him. So they have this weird dynamic and not a healthy one. But her craziness has a reason, her pain has a center. The unhealthy dynamic is there and explored. But the movie didn’t do this justice. They show a smart woman, a broken woman, a victim, a ditsy psycho. But with no real reason behind it. You see some flashes and some story line but my guess is because she is getting her own movie, they didn’t show you as much as they should have for the character to have some depth.

Now there are three things I want to point out:

1. Female sexuality had consequences, males did not. Example: the enchantress would kiss men and have them turn into weird nonhuman creatures. But the Joker’s kiss brought Harley back to life. This themed is played out in a lot of movies, don’t believe me go look at the horror movie genre, it is filled with examples.
2. Humor at the expensive of woman’s masculinity. There were many times when the crowd and myself would laugh at an action or a line thrown out by Harley when she was being dominate. Example: near the end of the movie she is willing to fight and another character is not, she spits out the word “pussy”, we snicker. But why? because she’s being masculine. Would we laugh if a man said the same line? possibly. but i don’t think it would have had the same impact. I saw this happening when she decided to take charge, show her dominance that it would come off as humorous. They played it off like that. So yes, its not totally because she is female being dominate but a weird hybrid of her being strong and ditsy. So why cant we have a strong and ditsy character: because of my third point.
3. “You dumb bitch”echoed from my friend during a part of the movie where Harley was doing things her way. She wasn’t dumb, and she certainly wasn’t being a bitch. she was kicking some serious butt, and doing things her way. So why that type of response? Because of her ditsy strong personality. Or at least that’s my assumption. Any other ideas please share.

So there you have it. Suicide Squad, an entertaining, sexist, train-wreck of a movie. Did you see Harley’s character in the same light? Did you notice something I didn’t mention-please share!

 

Signing out,

-K

 

 

 

Young & Hungry: Overview

This has been on Netflix for a while now and I passed it up for the longest time thinking it was just another reality cooking show. It wasn’t until I saw a commercial on freeform for the show that I realized it was a sitcom. Supposedly about a poor wanna-be cook who is trying to make it in her industry. What is it really about? Will this chef (character name Gabi) hook up with her boss Josh? It makes the whole Ross and Rachel courtship look like a breeze. But that’s not the biggest issue with this show.

At first glance it looks like this has a nice diverse cast. Of course the main leads are white, but look they put in a Latina best friend (Sophia), a gay Asian (Elliot), and an African american woman (Yolanda) with a plus size figure. Oh, let’s not forget Elliot’s husband, a Jewish man named Alan. They got their ground covered, but all for the wrong reasons. They use these cultures, body size, and sexual identities as the catalyst for humor. They stereotype or they use these characters to be the butt of the joke. Sometimes it is so bad it is cringe-worthy and sometimes these ideas are so ingrained in our society that we just laugh.

But we need to take a moment and really look at what is going on. A woman’s shape should not be used as a running joke. I understand character’s poke fun of each other, but she is the only one with this body shape, and what type of message is it sending? Not a healthy one, that is for sure. This can be said about using Sophia’s heritage as a running joke. Example: Main stream culture has one last name, maybe three names total (first, middle, and last). But they use Sophia’s long Hispanic name as a joke-why? Because it is not “normal” in our culture. It is a normal thing for many people, of various different cultures. These jokes aren’t clever, they aren’t analyzing something, they are resting on pointing out something that’s cliche, stereotypical or not not part of the mainstream culture.

I will have to say that sometimes there is a glimmer of a redeeming quality. Like Sophia’s brother who demonstrates many masculine characters, comes out as being gay. Or when Elliot had to deal with the backlash of his family finding out he is gay because it is not accepted in his culture. These are real issues, real themes.

Another example of how they lost their focus is Gabi, the main character. A young woman who is set to try to make it in the culinary world. And what does she spend most of her time doing? Fawning over her boss Josh. She passes and screws up a lot of good chances to make her mark in the culinary world, all because of a guy.

But overall this show has a lot of work to do. Maybe it will get better in time. Maybe it will pick another plot then will Gabi and Josh get together. Maybe.