How Birds of Prey Brilliantly Uses Dark Humour to Explore Contemporary Feminist Issues.

By Jana Roumie 

DC Comic's new movie, Birds of Prey, follows the story of villain Harley Quinn, the now ex-girlfriend of the infamous Joker, as she fights foes and navigates heartbreak in the city of Gotham. The film uses dark humour to explore contemporary feminist issues, whilst being thoroughly entertaining for old and new female fans, in particular. Birds of Prey is directed by Chinese-American Cathy Yan and features an extremely talented and fierce female cast. Harley Quinn, played by Margot Robbie, takes us with her on a wild and potentially deadly adventure after recently being dumped by her on-again-off-again boyfriend, the Joker. Quinn goes through the usual break-up milestones – crying her eyes out, cutting her hair, getting a new pet and, finally, she decided to get the closure she needed by blowing up the chemical plant where she and the Joker first met. 

The movie, released this February, received mixed reviews as many people felt that Harley Quinn couldn't make it as her own character and didn't like the new, less sexualised portrayal of the character. However, English-Taiwanese writer, Christina Hodson and director, Cathy Yan, brilliantly told the story of Harley and a supporting group of women, who are trying to overcome their pasts and move forward to a better future. It's important to have strong, female stories - particularly those of women of colour - both in front and behind the camera, to contribute to diversifying the film industry and being representative of a diverse range of female voices. In Birds of Prey, the film does this extremely well, by rejecting the male gaze and allowing a variety of female voices to be expressed. Male directors will often depict women in a very sexualised manner, but a different, female viewpoint will allow the audience to view the film from a unique perspective that they aren't used too. Hodson and Yan did a great job of changing the audience's perspective and preconceived narratives of what a typical victim is supposed to look and act like.  

The film was a fun and entertaining watch, however, there were some times when you’d feel forced to turn away from certain scenes due to them being intensely and relentlessly violent. But, there’s clarity to the way the action scenes were shot, the choreography and the way it's presented is very sharp, which is a very proficient and engaging way to signify action-film making. Apart from the impressive directing and detailed camera work, the film is also accompanied by a killer soundtrack – all of whom are female artists. Some of the artists on the track include Doja Cat, Saweetie, Galxara, Meg thee Stallion, Normani, Charlotte Lawrence and Halsey. 

Throughout the film, Quinn is consistently portrayed as immature, irresponsible and childish. But, don’t be too distracted by her child-like, squeaky-voiced and over the top behaviour - the story explores how she has actually lived a lifetime of physical and emotional abuse, as Robbie shows a deeper and wiser side to the character. We see a huge transformation from her overly dependent and obsessive personality with the Joker to a lighter, independent and badass hero/villain. The portrayal of Quinn in this particular movie differs from her original version in many ways - her character positively develops and grows as the movie progresses. And, what makes Harleys power so admirable is that rather than being a victim, she is an inspiring woman who overcame her fears and feeling of worthlessness.  

Harley Quinn is joined by four other women to form the ultimate girl gang. They find themselves stuck on an emotional rollercoaster filled with guns, violence and lots of blood. Dinah Lance, played by Jurnee Smollett-Bell, is a club singer who works under the movies melodramatic supervillain Roman Sionis, played by Ewan McGregor. The film also features police officer and detective Renee Montoya, played by Rosie Perez, whose aspirations are slowly drained by the men she works with. Also, Assassin the Huntress, played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead, seeks revenge after a group of men slaughtered her family, and finally a teenager with mad skills at pickpocketing, played by Ella Jay Basco, who steals an important diamond belonging to Sionis - this causes a desperate chase which ends up uniting all of the characters together in one huge, dangerous yet hilarious conflict.   

It’s surprising how, in many ways, this film portrays many of the #MeToo movement stories. During one of the scenes at the start of the film, Dinah notices Harley drunkenly kissing a patron in the club's alleyway, and chooses to walk away. But, when she realises Harley is being persuaded into a van, she changed her mind and decides to intervene. This is the point in which the women finally start coming together, as they eventually realize that the only way they can beat the evil men around them is by forming a team and working together.  

During one of the final scenes of the film, Harley Quinn gives a hair tie to Dinah Lance in the middle of a fight to put her hair up, a scene that many people immediately took to social media to applaud. Twitter blew up with comments about how it represents true female friendship and how accurate and necessary it was to include a scene like that. Arguably, a male director wouldn't usually include something like this, especially not in the middle of a fight. It's unusual, yet it is one small detail that many women can resonate with and relate too. 

There were many elements to the film that made it a much deeper viewing experience than expected. After being stung by a setback, Roman snoops on a club patron who’s simply enjoying her night out with friends. Aggravated by his assistant, he goes into a full-frontal rage, assuming the woman is laughing at him. He then decides that she needs to be punished. She is forced to stand on a table in the middle of the club and dance, as her male companion is forced to take off her clothes. You could hear people gasping in the cinema as the scene went on - it’s disturbing, shocking and unfortunately, it's the sad reality that many women face.

If you haven’t seen the film yet, watch the trailer below!