According to Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) producers, audiences shouldn’t expect a message movie that’s primarily about female empowerment. During an interview on set, Sue Kroll and Bryan Unkeless discussed why Harley Quinn’s story in Birds of Prey differs from female-led movies like Captain Marvel and Wonder Woman.
Whereas Harley Quinn was a supporting character in Suicide Squad, she’s front and center for Birds of Prey. But despite what fans may think, Birds of Prey isn’t solely about Harley Quinn’s life as a fiercely independent woman after breaking up with the Joker, nor does it narratively connect to Suicide Squad, or even the Joker. Birds of Prey also isn’t a “team-up” movie, and not even a “Harley Quinn” movie. Instead, the iconic DC Comics character will have a revised persona in the DCEU, one that’s significantly different than female characters like Carol Danvers, Princess Diana of Themyscira, or anybody else that waves a torch branded with a specific message. Harley Quinn is her own woman, and won’t be promoting one definitive concept about female unity.
Birds of Prey was produced by Robbie, written by Christina Hodson, and directed by Cathy Yan, but the aforementioned producers told Screen Rant that it’s much more than a message movie about female empowerment. For Kroll, she hopes the inclusion of women will hopefully be an “automatic thing” moving forward, and Birds of Prey does indeed feature “incredible themes of female empowerment.” However, the Birds of Prey producer also noted that girl power concepts aren’t quite “on the nose,” and “the creativity is a very different kind of energy.”
As for Unkeless, he complemented Kroll’s thoughts by noting Birds of Prey seems to be ahead of its time, at least compared to other female-led mainstream films that are fully invested in specific messages. Unkeless stated Birds of Prey isn’t “fully encompassed” by such ideas, though the film does have “very distinct feminine ideology and undertones.” He reveals the DCEU movie is “complicated,” and the collective female characters all have different problems to deal with with. According to Unkeless, Birds of Prey is more “authentic” than “message-oriented films.” He said:
With that said, some Harley Quinn fans may be worried that Birds of Prey might take itself too seriously, or perhaps that it will stray too far from the original Harley Quinn persona. But according to the producers, there will be plenty of fun and “commercially minded” entertainment. Unkeless promises that Birds of Prey will be “a ride.”
“It isn’t like, ‘All these women come together, look, we’re putting them up on a pedestal… They all have their own interesting moral center, and they form alliances or don’t. But it isn’t as pat as ‘Oh, we’re forming this sisterhood.'”
More: Birds of Prey Shows a More ‘Personal’ Side of Harley Quinn
