Batman & Harley Quinn

[Abishai100]

I've always been a fan of Batman (DC Comics) and his ongoing strange 'crime-meditation contest' with the very elusive Harley Quinn, a criminally-insane 'mayhem-artist' of great aesthetic imagination (and mischief).





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HARLEY QUINN: Did you think Arkham Asylum could hold me?
BATMAN: This is the third time your broke out of Arkham...
HARLEY QUINN: I used to be a psychiatrist.
BATMAN: That's no license for what you do now!

Batman had this small conversation with the eccentric and evil Harley Quinn on the rooftop of Wayne Tower right after Harley Quinn broke out of Arkham Asylum, the center for the
incarceration/treatment of the criminally-insane in Gotham City. Harley used to be the respected psychiatrist Dr. Harleen Quinzel before the maniacal Joker 'seduced' her into becoming the 'mayhem artist' known as Harley Quinn. The Joker had been Batman's main nemesis, even though Gotham was 'flooded' with crazies/terrorists such as Poison Ivy (an eco-terrorist), Scarecrow (a fear-toxin wielding psychopath), and Two-Face (a rogue/fanatical vigilante). However, Harley Quinn challenged Batman's sense of ethics and values, since she was so darn 'poignant' about the anarchy of the modern city.

Harley Quinn was guilty of kidnapping the Gotham mayor's daughter (so Joker could hold her for ransom), planting smoke-bombs in the Gotham library, and yanking the brakes out of Gotham Police Department cop-cars, resulting in multiple (if non-fatal) car crashes. Arkham considered Harley Quinn one of its more 'symbolic' patients/in-mates, but the fact that she kept breaking out and resuming her criminal activities with the Joker made her a target for the crime-fighting Batman (who was actually/secretly the Gotham socialite/businessman Bruce Wayne, CEO of Wayne Industries). Batman was sometimes confused about what to do about the enigmatic and elusive Harley Quinn who was as attractive as she was insidious.

Batman tracked Harley Quinn this time from the rooftop of Wayne Tower (the main office-skyscraper of Wayne Industries located in the heart of Gotham's business district) into the more seedy parts of the city where Harley was developing a new 'factory' for the manufacturing of chemical-weapons being hand-made by the orphaned/homeless children of Gotham that Joker had corralled into the factory-building. When Batman broke into the secret factory, which appeared to be just the abandoned apartment-building once known as Gotham Rent, he saw numerous children making miniature smoke-bombs that could fit easily into the underside of cars. Batman also noticed Harley overseeing the children making the weapons.

HARLEY QUINN: I can't believe you followed me in here!
BATMAN: I tracked you as you hang-glided off Wayne Tower.
HARLEY QUINN: Well, welcome to Mr. Joker's 'factory.'
BATMAN: I'm taking you back to Arkham, Harley Quinn.

As Batman chased Harley around the factory floor while the stunned children watched, Harley slipped into a hole in the floor which led to a pipe-tunnel slide that led out to the back exit of the factory-building. She then ran down the alley behind the building as fast as she could, but Batman was right behind her. While Harley Quinn was faster on foot (running) than the larger Batman, Batman was able to keep pace just enough to keep her in view. Batman knew he couldn't keep chasing her on foot, so he decided to use his rope-gun to lasso her legs and trip her up before tackling her to the ground. Harley then swung herself around to pin Batman under her, but Batman had cuffed her foot to his arm.

HARLEY QUINN: You and I are an odd pair...
BATMAN: Yes, I fight crime while you invent it!
HARLEY QUINN: Now you have my foot cuffed to your arm.
BATMAN: I'm more resourceful than you anticipated...
HARLEY QUINN: Maybe so, but you're no match for the Joker!
BATMAN: Perhaps you and I have more in common than you think.
HARLEY QUINN: How's that?
BATMAN: Well, for one thing, we're both costumed freaks.
HARLEY QUINN: You dress like a man-bat, and I dress like a clown!
BATMAN: There're parallels...we both admire urban labyrinths.
HARLEY QUINN: That's true; but you're more of an 'idealist.'
BATMAN: I care about Gotham hygiene...that's all.
HARLEY QUINN: If I remained a psychiatrist, we'd be dating!
BATMAN: What if I told you I was actually Bruce Wayne?
HARLEY QUINN: The prominent socialite-businessman?

When Harley Quinn surmised that the argumentative Batman was being facetious and complex with her, she decided that his nifty suggestion (that if he were the Gotham socialite/businessman Bruce Wayne, they might've courted a 'relationship' had Harley remained the respected psychiatrist Dr. Quinzel) alluded to the real fact that Batman was good and Harley was pure evil. Harley realized that Batman only thought of her as a patient and Arkham in-mate and not as an 'intellectual rival' or gender-discussion 'provocateur.' Otherwise, Harley might've seriously considered courting someone like Batman who was obviously a Gotham man of 'great inventiveness.'

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[Abishai100]

The Knights, the Witches, and the Drama



This addendum addresses a storytelling focus on the 'mystical' contextualization of the Batman and Harley Quinn 'duality.'

It's inspired by The Serpent and the Rainbow (in terms of metaphysics biases/preferences).


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Two Medieval knights who were otherwise rivals decided to work together on a special mission ordered by the wizard Merlin. The knights were Lancelot (silver-knight) and his rival Mordred (gold-knight). Lancelot and Mordred were told by Merlin that in the future, a place called 'America' would be host to a flock of witches who would flood a highway called 'media' with poisonous words of sweet-sounds veiling a mischievous heart. Lancelot and Mordred accepted the mission. They obviously had to contend with these 'witches' who were 'flooding' what would be known as the 'media.'

Merlin sent Lancelot and Mordred to the year 2018 in a place called Hollywood (California) where countless fantasy-themed films were being made, presenting fantastic 'avatars' (or characters) arrayed in storied about heroism, darkness, adventure, myths, and nightmares. Lancelot and Mordred noted that these movies were a legacy of Walt Disney art as well as 'comic book' characters such as Phantom, Scarlet Witch, Spider-Man, Black Manta, and Aquaman. Lancelot and Mordred also noted what Merlin meant when he said that the 'media' (Internet, radio, TV, movies, etc.) were 'flooded' by the poisonous 'words' and tones placed stealthily by secret witches who had 'corrupted' motion pictures and art and comic books. Lancelot and Mordred quickly found a flock of 'good witches' who were contending with these 'bad witches' by placing more 'sane' and pedestrian images/words of courage, optimism, fairness, and special 'dark magic.' The two Medieval knights observed a pair of witches, one bad and one good, talking about a Wizard of Oz fantasy-journey film sequel and decided to debate with them.

LANCELOT/MORDRED: We're here to observe Disney, Marvel Comics, and Harry Potter films.
GOOD WITCH/BAD WITCH: Have you noted all the splendor, dark magic, and strange themes?
LANCELOT/MORDRED: Yes, we have!
GOOD WITCH/BAD WITCH: What is your mission?
LANCELOT/MORDRED: We're sent by a powerful wizard named Merlin to analyze storytelling.
GOOD WITCH/BAD WITCH: So, you see that there is a 'mix' of sweetness and poison.
LANCELOT/MORDRED: Yes, we do, and we want to know what you two witches make of it all.
GOOD WITCH/BAD WITCH: We're currently studying Batman and Harley Quinn (DC Comics).
LANCELOT/MORDRED: Are these two comic book characters rivals or friends?
GOOD WITCH/BAD WITCH: That's what we're evaluating; normally, they're rivals.
LANCELOT/MORDRED: We imagine Batman is good, while Harley Quinn is mischievous(?).
GOOD WITCH/BAD WITCH: That is correct; we're curious about their potential romance!
LANCELOT/MORDRED: It seems to us that what you're really studying is 'aesthetics-context.'
GOOD WITCH/BAD WITCH: You two are clever knights and require a serious challenge.

Lancelot and Mordred got off their horses and stood on a grassy field across the good witch and the bad witch. The two knights ran towards the witches with their shields, attempting to use their shields to confuse the two witches and potentially compel them to embrace one another. However, the bad witch predicted such a clever tactic and pulled out a poisonous glowing apple and threw it on the ground in front of them, causing the apple to explode and give off a terrible fume which made Lancelot and Mordred gasp. The good witch was amused but also concerned and comforted the two knights and told them, "It's obvious that the bad witch has seen your keen sense of bravado and chose to confound you with her fuming apple so you'd consider the value of restraint...Perhaps you should proceed with your mission with a sense of urgent self-control and restraint as you measure this progression of themes in modern media (Disney, Marvel, etc.)!"

Lancelot and Mordred understood what the good witch meant when she instructed them to proceed on their modern-civilization mission in a certain manner. The witches departed from them, and Lancelot and Mordred headed towards the DC Comics film studio to investigate a new film featuring a surprising/ironic romance between Batman and Harley Quinn. The two knights disguised themselves as comic book critics and spoke to several film studio executives and concluded that this Batman-Harley romance film (directed by Penny Marshall and starring Guy Pearce and Amy Adams) was a clear media/entertainment symbol of theme hybridization and storytelling inventiveness. Lancelot and Mordred advised the studio executives to use restraint to ensure that this new inventive Batman-Harley romance film would offer the right balance of sensuality and comedy; and then they returned to their own time period (using the portal-device Merlin gave them). The two knights explained to Merlin, "We received 'commands' from two witches we contended with, and then we advised a 'comic book film studio' to approach a layered and ironic romance film with great erudition."

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