HARLEY QUINN-- SEASON 3 (2022)

 

PHENOMENALITY: *marvelous*
MYTHICITY: *poor*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *irony*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTION: *psychological, sociological* 

In my review of Season One, I left things open as to whether the writer-producers of HARLEY QUINN really believed all of their rants about White Patriarchy, and by extension, all other such cant, such as the un-ironic use of the term "cisgender" in Season Two. It was at least possible that these raconteurs were simply trying to make a buck by playing to an audience that wanted an ultraliberal version of SOUTH PARK, with loads of naughty language and hardcore violence. But if Season 3 of this show demonstrated anything, it's that only true believers could pen a line like this one:

Harley Quinn (speaking to another female): "Congrats on freeing yourself from the chains of hetero hell!"

The showrunners make other dubious decisions-- the Riddler is gay, and Catwoman had a lesbian encounter with Poison Ivy but can barely tolerate the "hetero hell" of an ongoing relationship with boring billionaire Bruce Wayne). All these things demonstrate that the producers have goneg full tilt boogie into a trope I'll call, "Gay Always Good, Straight Always Bad." Before this, the scripts focused almost entirely on celebrating one particular lesbian hookup: the written-in-the-stars romance of BFFs Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn. Season 2 particularly burns up a lot of episode-time leading up to the inevitable union. But the apparent success of the HBO series evidently made the showrunners convinced that they could get away with anything-- just like SOUTH PARK, but with absolutely no wit or style.

From a very limited POV, Season 3 doesn't suffer from exactly the same crippling inevitability as Season 2. Once all the sexy pyrotechnics have been executed, Harley and Ivy have to deal with the pressures of an ongoing relationship. I don't mean to imply that the scripts show any logical progression of even very limited melodramatic characters; I'm only saying that the change of pace COULD have been allowed for better stories than those of Season 2. One big change comes from Ivy, who for two seasons of this show, put aside her forceful personality from other iterations and became a "shrinking violet," the better to play "femme" to Harley's "butch." Now, in order to play up the very different personalities of the lovers, Ivy starts to return to her eco-terrorist mode. Harley initially approves-- anything to make her leafy lover happy-- but at some point, even the empty-headed maniac realizes that Ivy's obsession is too extreme, even for her.

Season Two broadly implied that the main reason Harley launched a murderous campaign to take down most of Gotham's other villains was because she had no good lovin' in her life, and had never had even when she cohabited with the Joker, because well, "hetero equals hell." But once she's bumping nasties with Ivy, Harley conveniently forgets about her queenpin-ambitions and even starts making noises like a hero, which includes keeping Ivy from massacring large quantities of Gothamites. Of course, in the world of the fanatic, it doesn't matter than Harley herself has quite a few murders on her rap sheet, and not just villains-- unless we're supposed to believe that her attack on Earth with the forces of Darkseid conveniently cost no innocent lives. Being gay makes everything okay.

But in one sense Harley's dream of becoming a queenpin comes true, for in order for her to rise, the Big Bat must fall. Yes, the previous two seasons repetitively dragged Commissioner Gordon through the mud for a laugh, and other heroes were mocked, but the fanatics mostly left Batman alone. However, to him he's a straight white male hero, so he must be removed to make way for a gay (but also white) female villain with heroic aspirations. To be fair, in the comics Harley does undergo a psychological change that puts her mostly on the side of the angels. But the showrunners here have no interest in psychology except in the form of tedious bromides. "Batman has a savior complex. Bruce Wayne turns off Catwoman because his parental issues make him clingy." But in addition to all the factors that make the Big Bat a weak-ass white guy, he also belongs to the "one percent," and for that crime he must be punished, so that Killer Harley can take his place and check more boxes.

I confess I laughed at one joke that involved the Riddler running a danger room. However, the scripters lost that one point and more by making the Prince of Puzzlers gay for no reason but to create more pink representation. For TV animation, HQ is competent, particularly with respect to the violent fight-scenes. I'm aware there are two other seasons and another on the way, so I guess someone likes it. I won't be in any great hurry to review more of these turd-productions.