Harley Quinn has certainly pushed boundaries in terms of profanity, violence and sex, but fans have accepted and enjoyed its mature take on Joker’s ex as she tries to rule Gotham City. That has allowed her to also enter into a romantic relationship with Poison Ivy. However, the recent revelation that a very intimate sex scene had to be cut from Season 3 involving Batman and Catwoman reflects a weird double standard DC has with its characters.
A Season 3 scene depicting Batman “going down on Catwoman” was deemed too risque, and thus couldn’t make the cut, according to Harley Quinn co-showrunner Justin Halpern. The powers that be indicated they “sell consumer toys for heroes,” and it’d be “hard to sell a toy if Batman is also going down on someone.” That’s a peculiar stance, considering the often-violent acts the Dark Knight has committed on screen.
The Snyderverse depicted Batman killing, but there’s also the animated adaptation of Batman: The Killing Joke, in which the Caped Crusader slept with a much younger Batgirl. In that scene, Bruce Wayne attempted to kick Barbara Gordon off the team, and the ensuing rooftop scuffle ended with the two sleeping together.
The creative team justified this as Barbara losing control and trying to take back the reins of her life through aggression, but Bruce had ample time to stop things. He even placed his hands on her behind, which led to her stripping down to her bra in a scene that proved controversial, in part because it wasn’t in the source material.
What made it so shocking was that Barbara was portrayed as a university scholar and Bruce as her mentor and father-like figure. It’s creepy and problematic because Batman is in a position of power, and then he ghosts her afterward.
It’s not coherent to depict the heroes like that, and then frown upon characters with a long romantic history being intimate. It’s odd to use this as a barometer for potential negative impact merchandise sales when you’ve already depicted Bruce as a predator and Barbara as some kind of damsel in emotional distress.
Harley Quinn stars Kaley Cuoco, Lake Bell, Diedrich Bader, Alan Tudyk, Rahul Kohli, Christopher Meloni, Tony Hale, Ron Funches, Wanda Sykes, Natalie Morales, Jim Rash, Giancarlo Esposito, Jason Alexander and J.B. Smoove. Seasons 1 and 2 of the series are available to stream on HBO Max. Season 3 does not have a release date but is expected to premiere in either late 2021 or early 2022.
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