Evidently there are lines that some heroes don’t cross: Harley Quinn showrunner Justin Halpern says that DC drew a line in the sand on a season 3 scene, and now it’s getting a lot of attention for all the wrong reasons.
In a new feature for Variety, writer Joe Otterson explores how the superhero genre has been “subverted” by shows like WandaVision, The Umbrella Academy and Harley Quinn, which is available to watch on HBO Max. All three shows have loyal audiences who love the series because they’re doing something different.
Harley Quinn is about a character who’s toed the line between villain and hero. Harley is unapologetically herself, which means getting into lots of scenarios that go way over the top alongside her fellow villains. But according to DC bosses, there are some places even this series can’t go.
Batman is tongue-tied in the Harley Quinn series on HBO Max
Speaking to Otterson, showrunner Justin Halpern talks about how he and co-showrunner Patrick Schumacker were told there were some things that heroes don’t do:
"It’s incredibly gratifying and free to be using characters that are considered villains because you just have so much more leeway. A perfect example of that is in this third season of ‘Harley’ [when] we had a moment where Batman was going down on Catwoman. And DC was like, ‘You can’t do that. You absolutely cannot do that.’ They’re like, ‘Heroes don’t do that.’ So, we said, ‘Are you saying heroes are just selfish lovers?’ They were like, ‘No, it’s that we sell consumer toys for heroes. It’s hard to sell a toy if Batman is also going down on someone.’"
It’s worth noting that both showrunners noted that they appreciate the support they’ve received from DC over the years, and that they’ve been able to do a lot on Harley Quinn that makes it past the censors.
But let’s get back to the meat of the issue: Batman’s bedroom endeavors. Not surprisingly, as soon as the article dropped, it started trending on social media as fans tried to wrap their minds around DC’s take on oral sex and superheroes.
If you want to take things to a meta level, it gets even funnier knowing that Halpern, author of the bestselling book $#*! My Dad Says, probably had to explain why he was trending to his legendary father Sam Halpern. I grew up with Justin, so I can imagine Sam’s response in my head: “You’re trending, that’s great. I don’t know what that is. They said Batman doesn’t do WHAT!? What kind of idiots are running the asylum, he’s the Dark Knight, of *course* he’d….”
Here’s the thing: This is one of those moments when DC realizes that this conversation and subsequent controversy wouldn’t even happen if the scene had taken place in the show as planned. It’s the omission and double standard that’s causing the controversy.
DC is no stranger to controversy over sex scenes in animated features aimed at older audiences. In 2017’s Batman and Harley Quinn, Harley has sex with Nightwing, but his consent is questionable because he’s recovering from a dose of Joker venom and he’s tied to her bed. Batman and Barbara Gordon (Batgirl) have sex in 2016’s The Killing Joke, and many fans questioned the May-November moment as Batman sleeps with his friend’s daughter.
In the case of Harley Quinn, instead of being sex-positive and depicting something that happens between consenting couples in bedrooms all around the world (except for DJ Khaled’s, of course), DC goes for the double standard and uses the excuse of not being able to sell toys when the show is geared to adults.
If Batman was here, he’d be furious. And probably blushing. But furious.
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