Opinion: Birds of Prey fails to follow through with its messages of women independence
The movie does a disservice by portraying women as scantily clad, boy-crazy ditzes.
Margot Robbie in a scene from “Birds of Prey.”
March 1, 2020
Feminism in film is on the rise. Hollywood is working to have stronger storylines and characters to promote a more equal entertainment landscape.
Films with front-running female roles lead this movement. Some of the biggest blockbusters include The Hunger Games, Captain Marvel, and Wonder Woman. However, not every motion picture succeeds in delivering on its promises of female empowerment.
Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey tries to create strong messages about women’s self-reliance but instead has the opposite effect. The movie is counterproductive because it depicts women as “empowered” by wearing skimpy clothing, acting ditzy, and being so badly shaken by a breakup that they can’t control their actions.
It doesn’t matter what positive messages the film tries to promote when the actors sport nothing more than crop tops and bikini bottoms. The movie sexualizes the image of women for the pleasure of male viewers, which takes whatever positive progress it was making and brings it into the negative.
To be clear, I’m not slut shaming. The women in the film don’t have to be wearing long skirts and turtlenecks, but actual pants would be a step in the right direction. One of the sole focuses of the movie should not be on the actors’ bodies.
Birds of Prey also depicts women, especially Margot Robbie’s titular Harley Quinn, as mindless and frivolous.
The movie sexualizes the image of women for the pleasure of male viewers, which takes whatever positive progress it was making and brings it into the negative.
“Isn’t this fun?” Quinn muses. “This is just like a sleepover. We should order pizza.”
The idea that women are strong and intelligent as well as independent is lost when Harley Quinn opens her mouth. Even the tone of her voice is depicted as whiny and high pitched, which lends to the idea of the character’s ignorance. Quinn quips the above quote while amassing weapons for an imminent gunfight.
If the moviemakers really wanted to showcase female intelligence, they wouldn’t have needed to make them librarians, but relevant and thoughtful dialogue would’ve been nice.
Quinn also drastically reacts to her breakup with the Joker. The typical haircut scene is included, among other irrational and over-the-top reactions to her becoming single.
This doesn’t showcase her as an independent woman but rather as one so dependent on her boyfriend that the entire movie hinges on her overreaction.
The film could have better depicted female empowerment by making the movie not be driven by the breakup itself. It could have played a role, but the film should’ve focused more on Quinn and her strength and the breakup should have just been background noise.
Birds of Prey is desperate to make strong claims about female independence but instead it creates even more harmful themes. Women are seen in male-pleasing clothing and the lead is obsessively boy-crazy.
The main themes in this film are not that of independence but of dependence. How is that the portrait of an empowered woman?
Columns reflect the opinions of the authors and are not necessarily those of the Editorial Board, The Daily Iowan, or other organizations in which the author may be involved.
