Harley Quinn, too cute for ya puddin'?

Harley. My baby. My sweet little girl that I will defend to my last breath.

I'm a Batman fan-girl and there's not much you can get past me on a good day.

Harleen Quinzel is often seen as nothing more than a dopey blonde airhead who should probably be dead by now - but she's much more than that. Harley Quinn bought humanity to someone where it was a struggle for even the Batman to find good. Essentially, Harley was that reminder that every now and then even the most sane, intelligent person wants to be outrageous.

The reason I have respect for this character is because she's more than what she seems. It's true, at her base Harley could be seen as a fallen woman who is the ultimate annoying fan-girl that gave everything for love. Something that is really looked down on in modern society. However, there's another side to Harley. The tragic story of how an intelligent woman was charmed into an abusive relationship that she can't leave. Harlene was a respected psychologist who was good enough to be accepted into Arkham with some of the most violent criminals in the world. What happened? She fell for the Joker's sob stories.

If anything, Harley Quinn is an ode to a woman's sensitivity and how her caring nature can be abused. Joker warped Harley's mind so much that she thought Batman was being cruel for beating him up and returning him to Arkham. The story is all too common; a successful woman is roped in by a compulsive liar or otherwise bad catch by enticing her with a story of a tragic childhood. Harley wasn't an idiot for falling in love with the Joker, she was a human who thought she could help him.

If anything, Harley is a reminder to us all that anyone can fall in love with the wrong person and it can make us do stupid things. She's not a character to be laughed at and called useless; she's a warning for girls everywhere about what happens when the wrong man gets his claws into you. So no wonder Jon doesn't like her. Harley is a victim of the manipulating characteristics of a man.

Most of all, I think Harley's fun and she brings some innocence back to the underworld of Gotham. I don't think Harley would ever really try and kill anyone with her own hands. She's more of a 'do the cutesy work' or be the entertainment kind of person. Though she is known to be violent at moments. Her wacky personality can slide between being un-realistically happy and then back into what we'd call a 'normal' attitude. In my own analysis, Harley is the everyday person. She is everything we can and could be. All of us have moments were we act stupid or 'blonde'. We all have moments where we laugh at something morbid or inappropriate and then we all have childish moments. Harley is all those things. She is unapologetically happy and won't let anyone spoil it for her, which is rare for women

She grows more confident when she becomes friends with Ivy and it's a short while before she finally learns to break away from the Joker. It's her and Red against the world, a female duo to show the sisterhood in being evil. There's no competition or bickering over men; it's a solid friendship built on the acknowledgement that they understand what it's like to be in an underworld dominated by men, for men. Most of all, their friendship shows Ivy overcoming her hatred of humans to care enough about Harley's abusive relationship. Ivy is the one person Joker can't touch and she's taking Harley with her.

So, if you don't appreciate her perkiness and the general humanity she brings to Gotham's dark side, then go soak your head.