calligraphypage:postilionstruckbylightning:the-dangerous-mute-lunatic:fandom–trash:badluckcrow1:“He’
calligraphypage:postilionstruckbylightning:the-dangerous-mute-lunatic:fandom–trash:badluckcrow1:“He’s got a million of them Harleen”DON’T ROMANTICIZE HARLEY AND THE JOKER’S RELATIONSHIPI always liked how this scene set up the Joker as someone who’d fooled a lot of people with his lies. Harley doesn’t fall for the Joker’s “tragic upbringing” routine because she’s stupid or lovestruck, she falls for it because he’s an expert manipulator who tailors his stories to whoever he’s talking to.Just feel like mentioning this real quick because the previous post started it and I wanna add on to it: Harleen Quinzel is a psychiatrist. She is educated. She is intelligent. She understands how people work and demonstrates it multiple times in the series. And the Joker got to her anyway, because that is what emotional manipulators do. When Batman laughs at her in “Mad Love”, he’s not mocking her. He’s laughing out of pity because he finally sees that Harley’s too blinded by love to see the Joker for what he really is. (Side note: The few times we ever see Batman laugh, it’s usually out of pity; see also “The Killing Joke”.) Good people get manipulated. Smart people get manipulated. What happened to Harley Quinn happens every day, sometimes to the strongest, smartest, best people you could ever meet. Emotional abuse and manipulation victims aren’t stupid, or gullible, or anything like that. And that’s what Harley’s story is meant to show people.Manipulation can happen to ANYONE. -- source link