Dr. Harleen Quinzel, otherwise known as Harley Quinn from DC comics, has earned herself the title of "The Clown Princess of Crime". Her multifaceted fanbase spreads wide across the internet, as her character exists throughout the DC world in various comic books and movies. The former psychiatrist who'd gone mad for her mad lover, The Joker, has become increasingly popular since their break-up, or 'emancipation' in the most recent movie Birds of Prey and the Emancipation of Harley Quinn.
One of the most popular ways her fandom demonstrates their admiration for Quinn is through Cosplay. Cosplay is short for 'costume play' and it is the act of dressing up as fictional characters. Cosplay is typically associated with Fandoms, as it is a way to bring fans together in a fun creative manner allowing them to really live in the DC world for a brief period of time. Harley Quinn is at the top of the list when it comes to female characters and cosplay and is frequently imitated by her fans. Many of them have some serious talent when it comes to cosplay and reconstructing Quinn's outfits and makeup from varying platforms. The freedom of expressivity and creativity that comes with cosplay is neat because each fan's rendition of Harley Quinn is just as good but slightly different from another considering all of the ways she's been portrayed since her character's invention.
Harley Quinn's fanbase establishes its presence across most social platforms and is definitely the most interesting fanbase I have researched. Another huge aspect of Quinn's fanbase is the roleplaying of her. Roleplay is somewhat similar to cosplay in the idea that you dress up as the character, but you also get to act like her in some sort of agreed-upon reality. A video I located on youtube targets a very specific audience- ASMR folks who also have a niche for Harley Quinn. If unfamiliar, ASMR is an acronym for Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response which has become an increasingly popular kind of sound relaxation therapy for people to access through youtube. ASMR YouTubers have specialized equipment to record sounds so clearly that when the viewer plays them they feel an almost sensory response considering how real it sounds. The video I found is an ASMR YouTuber with the screenname ASMR Shanny roleplaying as Harley Quinn who then kidnaps you the viewer while also using ASMR equipment to satisfy the ASMR aspect of the video. To see ASMR combined with Harley Quinn is really freaking cool and speaks to how popular her villainess has become and how versatile her fanbase is.
The character of Harley Quinn not only exists amongst the social fandom world, but also in the world of Academia. The strongwilled female villain has become a popular topic of discussion in academic conversations of third-wave feminism. Her past as a clinical psychologist presents her as an ideal powerful intelligent female lead who then falls victim to a man's power due to her undying love for him which makes her rather enigmatic. Her doctoral identity that's been turned criminal still utilizes many of her feminine strengths like her intelligence, her gymnastic ability, and her newfound protective mother-like instincts. All of these qualities make her an ideal feminist character to be discussed and analyzed in scholarly work. For feminist scholars, it's clear Harley Quinn gives them a lot to unpack considering her layered history and future; Quinn's emancipation from the Joker and her reinvented identity gives scholars even more reason to study her character's development. I've included a list of links to some of the scholarly research that has used her as a primary discussion point:
The Application of Girl Power Through Third-Wave Feminism in Birds of Prey
The Ascendence of Harley Quinn
'Daddy's Little Monster': Suicide Squad, third-wave feminism and the pornification and queering of Harley Quinn
Masochist or Machiavel? Reading Harley Quinn in canon and fanon
Harley Quinn's Twitter- She's Verified
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| Figure 3: Screenshot of Harley's Tweet |
DC comics recognize Harley Quinn's growing fanbase and have created a Twitter account for her to interact with her fans. The account is verified which means we can assume it is someone working for DC comics who is actively portraying the Twitter account as if it were the fictional Harley Quinn's. This is a really neat way fans get to interact with Quinn directly. As you can see in the screenshot above, the network Quinn's show is on shared a photo with a caption about Harley and Poison Ivy being girlfriends in which Harley then quotes the tweet adding "what a dreamy couple". This interaction shows that DC is not opposed to the inclusion of non-heteronormativity which demonstrates progressive action on DC's part and HBO. Quinn's verified Twitter has a following of over 70K which indicates a relative estimate of how large her following is.
Another way in which the Harley Quinn fanbase indicates its love for Harley Quinn is through the writing of
fanfiction. Her fanbase literally has hundreds of short-story fanfiction's in which they get to express their creativity and how they would frame Harley and her adventures. Out of all of the fun activities Quinn's fans do; I think the creative aspect of fan-fiction gives them the most freedom to play with Harley's character and sexual presentation. After reading some of the fan-fiction it's clear that her ultra-feminine ego while also remaining badass is the biggest reason her fans stan her. This is reinforced through the many fanfictions portraying her equally as badass as the DC world does if not more. I appreciate the inclusion of LQBTQ throughout some of the fan-fiction; I think her fans really want her to have a girlfriend in upcoming depictions of her whether it be in comics or movies.
Overall, Harley Quinn's fanbase has been the most multifaceted interesting fandom I've researched considering it exists on just about every platform I searched through. The cosplay renditions of her character never cease to amaze me, the time and effort her fans put into transforming themselves into her is remarkable. The same goes for the roleplaying of her character in the ASMR youtube video I included above. Another notable aspect of her fandom is its extension into academia; Quinn's character has become a subject of analysis in the literary feminist world and I am so here for it.
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| Figure 4: Just Excellence |
Works Cited
ASMR Shanny. [ASMR] Harley Quinn Kidnaps You {Birds of Prey}. Youtube.com, 30 Mar. 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c50rG1MeyqQ
@dcharleyquinn. "What a dreamy couple[]." Twitter, 11 Feb. 2021, 11:20PM., https://twitter.com/dcharleyquinn/status/1360081285885030400
Edited by Barba, Shelley & Perrin, Joy. The Ascendance of Harley Quinn. Mar. 30 2021, https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=rtg5DwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=harley+quinn+feminist&ots=FXJNoSmqyK&sig=-5buMwQF4u-Iqs_1DFuHRm26FHg#v=onepage&q=harley%20quinn%20feminist&f=false
Geczy, Adam & Karaminas, Vicki. 'Daddy's Little Monster': Suicide Squad, third-wave feminism and the pornification and queering of Harley Quinn. Ingenta Connect, 30 Mar. 2021, https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/intellect/ffc/2019/00000008/00000002/art00005
Ginn, Lexi. 10 Harley Quinn Cosplay That Are Both Sweet And Psycho. Cosplay Central, 30 Mar. 2021, https://www.cosplaycentral.com/topics/cosplay/feature/10-harley-quinn-cosplay-that-are-both-sweet-and-psycho
Figure 2 via brihallofficial. 10 Harley Quinn Cosplay That Are Both Sweet And Psycho. Cosplay Central, 30 Mar. 2021, https://www.cosplaycentral.com/topics/cosplay/feature/10-harley-quinn-cosplay-that-are-both-sweet-and-psycho
Figure 1 via Rottenqueen.cosplay. 10 Harley Quinn Cosplay That Are Both Sweet And Psycho. Cosplay Central, 30 Mar. 2021, https://www.cosplaycentral.com/topics/cosplay/feature/10-harley-quinn-cosplay-that-are-both-sweet-and-psycho
Roddy, Kate. Masochist or Machiavel? Reading Harley Quinn in canon and fanon. Transformative Works and Cultures, 30 Mar. 2021, https://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/article/view/259
Setianto, Angelica & Win, Maria. The Application of Girl Power Through Third-Wave Feminism in Birds of Prey. Atlantis Press, 30 Mar. 2021, https://www.atlantis-press.com/proceedings/ijcah-20/125947318
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