It’s notable that Birds of Prey is a film that is fascinated by its characters’ voices. Harley doesn’t know how to tell her own story because she’s never been given the space to articulate herself. It is a frustrating gimmick that undercuts the film’s pacing, but it serves a strong thematic point. “Wait, I’m telling it wrong,” she hesitates at one point. The climax of the film features an extended confrontation between Harley and Black Mask, taking her from the Joker’s headquarters in “the Booby Trap” through to a creepy and neglected waterfront landmark named “Founder’s Pier” - a crumbling monument marked by statues to the long-absent great men of Gotham.īirds of Prey is largely narrated by Harley, who tells it in an unfocused and non-linear manner that keeps doubling back on itself. These absent fathers are a major thematic undercurrent running through Birds of Prey. The version of Cassandra presented in Birds of Prey is a thief and hustler rather than a martial artist, but she still evokes another member of Batman’s extended family the second Robin, Jason Todd, was introduced stealing the wheels of the Batmobile. ![]() In comic continuity, ninja assassin Cassandra Cain would eventually become Batgirl. Helena is not the only orphaned member of the Bat-family in Birds of Prey. The character was rebooted as Helena Bertinelli, destined to have a similar origin to Batman and to join the “Bat-family,” but orphaned literally and figuratively. The continuity reboot Crisis on Infinite Earths wiped away that connection. During the Bronze Age, the Huntress was a superhero alias of Helena Wayne, the daughter of Bruce Wayne and Selena Kyle. Even to a casual observer, she evokes Batman. She witnessed the murder of her entire family and grew up to wage a war on crime. Known as “the crossbow killer,” Helena prefers to go by the name “Huntress.” Her origin story is tragic, but familiar. “You know you can’t stand on your own,” Black Mask taunts at one point.īirds of Prey offers a similar and subtle mirror to Harley in the character of Helena Bertinelli (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). While drinking at a nightclub owned by Black Mask (Ewan McGregor), the owner asks, “Will your paramour be joining us tonight?” Harley understands that her relationship with the Joker has protected her from the consequences of her actions, and that breaking from him makes her vulnerable. She soon broke out, became the focus of her own stories, and made her way into the comic continuity, but until recently she was entirely defined by the Joker.īirds of Prey literalizes this. The character was created for “Joker’s Favor,” an episode of Batman: The Animated Series, to serve as henchwoman to the Clown Prince of Crime. Harley Quinn is a character who is defined by her relationship to the Joker, in a very literal sense. ![]() Cassandra is the product of a broken home, her parents heard arguing but never seen. Harley recalls her relationship with a father who continually abandoned her. Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez) works in the Gotham City Police Department, but there’s no mention of James Gordon. Birds of Prey is aware of both - especially through their absence.īirds of Prey is populated with absent authority figures, drawn from both continuity and character. Harley makes one explicit mention of “the Batman” while recounting her life story to Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco), and the Joker appears in both a cartoon prologue and as a shoulder in a quick flashback origin story sequence. This is a Batman and Joker story, but without Batman and the Joker. This is a statement of purpose for Birds of Prey. No one gives two shits who we are, beyond that.” Harley drunkenly answers her own question, explaining, “A harlequin’s role is to serve. ![]() “Do you know what a harlequin is?” Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) asks Dinah Lance (Jurnee Smollett-Bell) early in Birds of Prey.
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