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oswinoswalsd

Harley Quinn in the new Suicide Squad trailer

marauders4evr

I WILL THROW THIS DOUBLE CHOCOLATEY CHIP FRAPPUCCINO OUT THE WINDOW!

FORGET THE FACT THAT THIS IS ENTIRELY ABLEIST AND THAT THE WHOLE MOVIE LOOKS UNGODLY ABLEIST.

DR. HARLEEN QUINZEL DOES NOT HAVE SCHIZOPHRENIA, AFFECTIVE PSYCHOSIS, OR ANYTHING ELSE THAT WOULD CAUSE HER TO HEAR VOICES.

SHE HAS SEVERE STOCKHOLM SYNDROME AS A RESULT OF BEING IN AN ABUSIVE RELATIONSHIP. THIS STOCKHOLM SYNDROME CAUSES HER TO WILLINGLY TAKE ON THE PERSONA OF HARLEY QUINN IN AN ATTEMPT TO PLEASE THE JOKER. (You could argue that there are some versions where this persona is shown as more of a Dissociative Identity Disorder, which does have the symptom of hearing voices, but most versions show that she is still in control and willingly chooses to act like Harley.) Her story is tragic, one of the most tragic out of all of the Batman characters, but she doesn’t hear voices. I repeat: She. Doesn’t. Hear. Voices.

Don’t get me wrong - this melodramatic anger isn’t directed at the OP. I’m sure that they meant well when they made this gifset.

The anger is towards the group of fake Batman fans who ended up being in charge of this trainwreck and decided that they know how to make mental illnesses look fun and quirky and they’re completely and utterly failing and in doing so, they’re taking away everything that made Batman so great. And everything that made Dr. Harleen Quinzel so great.

flyboydamerons

this is rly fucking important and the main reason that i havent been reblogging much suicide squad stuff (well, this + the joker)

radioactivekitty-va

@missharleenfquinzel

missharleenfquinzel

Actually, Harley doesn’t have Stockholm syndrome! A lot of people think this but actually don’t know what Stockholm entails. Stockholm syndrome develops when a victim is kidnapped or held hostage and develops feelings for their captor as a coping mechanism. In order for someone to have Stockholm, they must be held against their will and develop feelings because of it.

Harley was not held against her will by Joker in the beginning of their relationship. Her feelings developed from (what she perceived as) his charm and vulnerability. Joker was incarcerated at Arkham himself, therefore Harley, as one of his doctors, was actually the one in control during this stage. There is no semblance of her being kept by Joker against her will before she develops feelings for him. The abuse (not including his prior manipulation to get out of Arkham) didn’t start until after Harley had already fallen for him.

Harley often gets branded with Stockholm because people believe it’s synonymous with “falling in love with your abuser” which is not true. The term you’re looking for is “traumatic bonding” and it’s part of the cycle of abuse. Traumatic bonding occurs as the result of ongoing cycles of abuse in which the intermittent reinforcement of reward and punishment creates powerful emotional bonds that are resistant to change. Which is what Harley experiences.

turtletot43

By definition, Harley was actually Joker’s abuser at the start of their relationship. Not only was she his doctor, but she was also the staff at the correctional facility where he was being held. She was doubly responsible for maintaining an appropriate relationship with him, and she fairly aggressively pursued a romantic relationship with him. While Joker is 100% at fault for the emotional and physical abuse that followed *after* Arkham, the manipulation he employed to encourage her bad behavior would be considered little more than a basic survival technique if this scenario was applied to any other pair of characters.

That is *not* Stockholm Syndrome. At all.

It’s difficult to come up with a single, coherent characterization (let alone diagnosis) of Harley because her characterization has been pretty inconsistent over the years. BUT a few traits have remained fairly consistent: she is extremely intelligent, she is among the best in her field and she has this burning desire to act out. She is keenly aware that people underestimate her because of her appearance, and many writers have suggested (and even outright declared) that she puts on different symptoms based on the situation/people she’s with so that she can be in control and manipulating everyone around her.

A really bad “voices are telling me to kill all of you” joke is not out of the realm of tactless humor Harley would use to establish herself with a bunch of men who are looking at her like a piece of meat. These guys don’t know the difference between bipolar and borderline, she wants them to know the rumors are true, she’s nutso, and she’s dangerous, period. That joke is a threat said in a language she knows everyone there will understand.

Does the possibility exist that this movie is going to be nothing but a stream of ableist jokes at the expense of “crazy” people? Yes, of course. And if that is that case, I will summarily retract the above and be extremely disappointed. But I don’t think they are going the Zoolander route with this. I think this is just Harley playing to the crowd.