Halloween is finally here and a new kind of clown sighting has been found. Pictures of kids dressing up as Joker's girlfriend, Harley Quinn, has been popping out everywhere.
Harley Quinn is one of the most-talked about characters in the latest movie, the Suicide Squad. She portrayed a dysfunctional psychiatrist who eventually fell into an abusive relationship with the Joker. She charmed the audience with her different characteristics and for portraying "survivor strength". She may represent all of this but her character was a result of a whirlwind romance with the Joker and his messed up activities.
This year, the Harley Quinn was trending as the best halloween costume on Google, followed by the Joker. Some people say that dressing up as this overly dramatic villain, will not only offend those who have mental illness but also the people who are treating them.
Harley Quinn is showing obvious symptoms of a histrionic personality disorder which leads her to being shallow, over estimating intimacy and being dramatic. Her character exemplifies all of these traits and thus leads her to do all the crazed things that she does with the Joker. She may bad-ass but, definitely not a good role model for the kids.
In the current issues from DC comics, she is portrayed as a goofy kind of character but the kids are not imitating that. The Suicide Squad version is the number one hit and parents can only do so much editing her history. They are now questioning how they can explain her tory with the Joker to the curious kids.
According to the American Counseling Association President, Catherine Roland, portraying characters like Harley Quinn or the Joker is disrespectful. The character is giving a negative and producing fear to the people who are actually suffering from a mental illness. This could be hurtful for them and it is natural for people to feel this way if they are being made fun of.
The girlfriend of the the Joker has indeed caught a lot of people's attention. According to Fran Walfish, a Beverly hills Psychotherapist, it may indeed start negative stereotypes about mental illnesses but those with severe cases like psychosis and schizophrenia, will most likely not be offended. They are already in a distorted perception of reality to they may not have the mental capacity to feel offended by it all.
Other sources say that people are only being overly sensitive and halloween is the time for kids to role play. They say we all need to learn how to have fun and to ease up on the issue.
