Thursday, August 4, 2016

Harley & Me: A Superfan Fights Through the Bitching

Idle Hands introduces our newest writer, Lily Stitches!! Lily has a particular love for a certain female maniac in red and black making her big screen debut this weekend and we thought it was a perfect opportunity for her to express that love and deliver a special message to the haters. 

My name is Lily Stitches. I'm a burlesque performer, cosplayer, and GIANT fan of Harley Quinn. I have multiple cosplays of her, issues of her comics, collectibles, and even her trademark diamonds tattooed on my leg.

While everyone fell in love with her on Batman: the Animated Series in the 90's, it wasn't until her makeover in Batman: Arkham Asylum that she called to me. From the second I saw that trailer of her in her "new uniform", that was it. I was in love. From that day on I held her on a pedestal. She was such a badass. I started identifying with her, and she helped me find the strength to get out of some darkness of my own. She helped me learn you can knock anything out if you fight hard enough and still be silly and adorable doing it!

This week we get to see Harley on the big screen for the very first time. She's being played by the gorgeous Margot Robbie and I couldn't be more thrilled. I'll be honest.. when the film and cast were announced, I was nervous. When they released the photos of her costume, I wasn't feeling it, but as trailers started rolling out and more images leaked, I grew to love her new look. I loved the torn t shirt and hot shorts. I loved her funky sneaker heels. I loved everything about, her head to toe. As nervous as I was at the first announcement, I have been chomping at the bit for this film to drop since the You Don't Own Me/Ballroom Blitz trailer. Margot is going to bring her own rendition of our favorite clown princess and I can't wait to see her do it.

The backlash of the film was bound to happen like every other comic book movie with beloved, iconic characters. Do I want to see her in her iconic suit? Of course I do! But the character had to be modified to fit a certain image for modern audiences.

With the impending release of Suicide Squad, more and more people are growing negative. I've come across multiple posts calling Harley "slutty", which makes me see red. These are the same people who call themselves fans of my work as a model and burlesque performer, but have no problem calling a girl in a T shirt showing midriff and hot pants a slut. There are also those saying that Margot will never be better than her cartoon predecessor and a knockoff of voice actor Arleen Sorkin. Of course Margot won't measure up to the original Harley... because the original Harley is two dimensional. And of course she will not sound exactly like Sorkin. Robbie is her own person, making Harley into her own character.

All of these opinions haven't swayed me a bit. Through all of the hate and anger towards this film, I've just maintained my excitement that one of my favorite leading ladies will actually be on the big screen for the first time, inspiring a new generation of young women to kick ass and take names and be as crazy as they want. The only way to keep her relevant is to keep her changing, so I'm excited to see her new breath of life on the big screen tomorrow night.

SO..I know the film has been getting a lot of negative reviews (and most of them were posted to Lily's timeline as if she wanted to see more negativity), but I remain cautiously optimistic myself. What about you? Does public opinion sway your decision to see a film? Does the combined hate of the internets squash your excitement for a movie based on a property you love or just a film you've been looking forward to? Are you tired of the bitching??!! Jump into the comments and give a shout!

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