This manifesto by Julie Jordan was originally posted at the ship_manifesto community on livejournal. Julie has since disappeared, along with her eljay, and this manifesto is reproduced without her permission. If she comes across this, I would love for her to get in touch with me to let me know if she's happy for her manifesto to remain on the website.
Mad Love: The Joker and Harley Quinn
Title: Mad Love: The Joker and Harley Quinn
Author: Julie Jordan
Fandom: Batman: The Animated Series/Batman: Gotham Knights
Pairing: The Joker and Harley Quinn
Disclaimer: Don’t own ‘em, just borrowing for non profit fun.
Warning: Spoilers for several of the 84 episodes.
Unlike most fans, I never got into Batman: The Animated Series during its original run. I was a late comer, discovering the show sometime in around 1999. I’d always been a Batman fan, though, having watched episodes of the Adam West series as a child and I’d grown up with the Burton/Schumacher films. It wasn’t until I had home internet access that I was really introduced to the Animated Series from the 1990s and after reading about it, and being introduced to Harley Quinn via screen captures, character biographies and fanfiction, I had to see it for myself. I was just so intrigued by the idea of the Joker having a girlfriend I couldn't not check it out. So I went to my video rental shop and found a few tapes with some Harley centric episodes on them. The first I saw was “Harley and Ivy”. What an introduction for a newbie! I was hooked instantly. I was shipping the Joker and Harley before I even knew what shipping was. They were one of my original OTPs, I suppose you could say.
I’ve got to say, I’m a little unsure of how to approach this. To write an essay that supports what is essentially a very violent and damaging relationship makes me a little nervous. I have to stress, that while I may enjoy, for lack of a better word, fictional relationships like this, I would obviously never support violent relationships in reality…but I like to think that people here are wise enough to realise this. And honestly, while I do ship the Joker and Harley Quinn I will be the first to say that their relationship is probably the most screwed up, unhealthy, dangerous one in existence in the world of fiction. But then again, that's why I love it.
Something about the pairing just works. In the hands of lesser writers, the plot device of the Joker having a girlfriend could have been cringe worthy, unfunny and disastrous but Paul Dini and co were able to take the idea and pull it off quite beautifully. Joker/Harley is exciting, funny, wild and unpredictable. It’s also demented, dark, tragic, poetic, and hideous and yet there’s something about the relationship that makes me smile.
This essay is going to focus only on the animated Bat-universe. There were 60 episodes of Batman: The Animated Series, and 24 episodes of Batman: Gotham Knights. The only real difference between series was the animation, which became much cartoonier in the GK episodes.
Now, an introduction to the players.
The Joker
The Joker. Once upon a time, the Joker was a normal man. According to the episode ‘Beware, The Creeper’, which briefly tells the story of the Joker’s origin, the Joker was born after falling into a vat of toxic waste during a fight with Batman at the Axis Chemicals plant. Before he became the Clown Prince of Crime, the Joker was a gangster. Little else is known about his past, including his real name, which, if the Joker himself can remember, he isn’t telling.
His insanity a result of the chemicals he fell into, the Joker was also psychically scarred from his accident. Thanks to the toxins, his mouth has been twisted into a permanent smile and his skin bleached white. His hair was turned green and his lips blood red.
Where as the Joker was a regular criminal before, the transformation turned him into a sadistic monster who, when not roaming the streets of Gotham, spends his time under lock and key in Arkham Asylum. He developed an obsession for Batman, who the Joker blamed for his transformation, and enjoyed luring the Dark Knight into insane cat and mouse style “games”. But for all his torture of the crime fighter, there was one thing the Joker never managed to do to Batman and that was kill him.
I’m of the opinion that the Joker never killed Batman because he didn’t actually want him dead. If Batman was dead, who could the Joker torture? What would be the point of holding Gotham City hostage if there was no Bat to swoop in and save the day? In ‘The Man Who Killed Batman’, when the Joker learns the news of Batman’s apparent death at the hands of someone other than himself, he actually seems quite sad, and even holds a funeral service with his henchmen to remember the fallen protector. The Joker appears to be genuinely regretful that Batman is gone, not just because it was someone else who “killed” him, but because it means the game is over. I even feel like going so far as to claim that the Joker’s reason for living is to “play” with Batman. He revels in it, he’s never happier than when he’s cooking up a new scheme to set Batman off balance.
The Joker’s only enemy isn’t just the Bat. Other villains dislike him as well, or at least, don’t respect him. Some may fear him, but fear and respect aren’t the same. The Joker doesn’t have friends, he has henchmen. If he ever teamed up with another villain, it wouldn’t be too unlikely that the Joker would try and screw his team-mate over. The Joker is out for himself and himself alone. He cares for nothing or no one, only himself and his games with Batman.
Or does he?
Harley Quinn
Once, Harley Quinn was an intern working at Arkham Asylum. A criminal psychologist, Harleen Quinzel was attracted to her chosen profession because she believed she could make a name for herself by writing a ‘tell all’ book about some of Arkman’s most high profile inmates. Like the Joker.
It took Quinzel months of constant pleading, but eventually she was granted private sessions with the Clown Prince. She listened intently as the Joker told her heartbreaking stories of a childhood filled with runaway alcoholic mums and abusive fathers. She fell for everything the Joker said hook, line and sinker and before she knew it, she’d fallen in love with her patient.
The heights of Harleen’s obsession were realised one day when the Batman returned an escaped Joker to Arkham. Seeing her precious love physically hurt at the hands of Batman pushed Harleen over the edge and she feld to a store where she stole a clown costume and other supplies. She returned to Arkham, busted the Joker out and drove away with him into the sunset. All of this is documented in the episode ‘Mad Love’, which greatly details Harley’s origin story and her relationship with the Joker.
We first see Harley Quinn in the episode ‘Joker’s Favour’. Here, she seems (to me at least) a little more subdued than in later episodes, so maybe she hasn’t been around the Joker too long at this point. There’s no explanation as to why Harley is there, she just appears. We don’t get her back story until the final season of Gotham Knights.
The first episode to really detail Harley's relationship with the Joker is ‘Harley and Ivy’. The episode starts with Harley blundering a robbery and the Joker kicking her out of the gang in a fit of frustration. Determined to prove her worth, Harley breaks into a museum with plans to steal the Harlequin diamond for him. While looking admiring the gem as it sits in its glass case, Harley ponders the idea of keeping it for herself…”maybe”. She manages to get the diamond out of the case, when suddenly an alarm goes off. But it’s not her that triggered it. Someone else is robbing the museum at the same time. As Harley tries to flee the scene, she runs right into none other than Poison Ivy. They become friends instantly and Ivy loathes the Joker for his treatment of Quinn, asking her “Why do you put up with that clown?” and telling Harley that she’s a doormat (“if you had a middle name, it would be Welcome”).
It’s a popular belief in the fandom that Harley and Ivy are lovers, or at least have sexual relations when Harley’s hiding out from the Joker with her. I’m not sure where I stand on this issue, but I will say I’ve rarely seen so much canon subtext as there is whenever the two ladies share the screen. Ivy’s very vocal disapproval never stops Harley from always running back to the Joker in the end, though (she’s ecstatic when she thinks the Joker has come to take her back in ‘Harley and Ivy’).
For most of the series, it seems Harley’s mission in life is to win the Joker’s love. There are, however, times when even she snaps at his treatment of her. In 'Harley’s Holiday' she tries to live a live without the Joker, but still ends up back in Arkham after a misunderstanding with some department store staff causes her to overreact and ruin everything. In 'Harlequinade', Harley teams up with Batman to stop the Joker from destroying Gotham City in exchange for her freedom, but when push comes to shove she finds herself unable to betray her beau.
Harley may play the part of a dumb blonde, but she’s anything but stupid. She is intelligent, and could be even more dangerous than the Joker if pushed. She hates Batman and is convinced that if he wasn’t around, she and the Joker could be happy together and live a normal life. It’s safe to say that Harley will never be able to live her dream, but she’s so obsessed and deluded when it comes to the Joker that she’ll always cling onto the hope.
Together
No episode better documents the Joker and Harley’s relationship than ‘Mad Love’. The episode is centred around Harley’s determination to capture Batman so that she and her Puddin’ can be have some peace and be happy once and for all. Taking one of the Joker’s abandoned plans, she finds a way to make the idea work and believes that it will truly impress the Joker. Unfortunately, her plan backfires. While she does manage to capture Batman, the Joker is not happy when he learns that Harley has him tied up, because if anyone's going to capture and kill Batsy, it'll be him. He rushes over and is furious at Quinn. So furious is the Joker that he actually releases Batman, apologising and asking him to just forget the whole thing. Then he turns on Harley, telling her that a joke isn’t a joke if you have to explain it, before pushing her out of a window.
The incident badly psychically injures Harley puts her back in Arkham, and it looks like she’s actually realised what a monster the Joker is. Until she sees a little vase of flowers on her nightstand, with a note saying “Get better soon – J”. She then happily sighs and proclaims that the Joker is an “angel”.
And thus the cycle goes, on and on and it will probably only end when one of them dies.
But do we, the fans, really want Harley to permanently break away from the Joker at the end of the day? Fanfiction and shipping communities say "no". So what is it about them together that makes the fans happy? Why do we enjoy watching an abusive relationship? I honestly don’t know. Maybe it’s the way that no matter how angry the Joker gets with Harley, he never actually kills her. He keeps her around. In ‘Harley and Ivy’ when she leaves him, he has a terrible time just trying to dress himself without her there. He can’t find his socks and calls for Harley, then seems down when he’s reminded by his henchmen that he kicked her out. Does this mean, then, that the Joker could feel something for Harley other than annoyance deep, deep down? Probably not, but he does seem to have moments where he actually values her presence, and from someone who is basically no more than a monster, it’s interesting that he can, in his own unique way, appreciate Harley like that.
In ‘Harlequinade’, the Joker is actually HAPPY after Harley tries to kill him; respecting her for being bold enough to pull the trigger on a gun she thought was real and loaded. He tells her “Baby, you’re the greatest!” and welcomes her into his arms.
However, when faced with serious competition for Harley's love from another man in ‘Beware, The Creeper’, when Harley is being harassed by the Creeper, the Joker doesn’t get jealous. When the Creeper follows Harley back to their lair, Harley insists “I didn’t encourage him”. The Joker replies “I know you’re a one-man loon” and seems to find the Creepers hopeless pursuit of Harley amusing more than anything else (especially when Harley hits the Creeper over the head and sends him flying!).
But then again, if the Joker really values Harley, why does he choose to get a new henchgirl in ‘Joker’s Millions’ rather than just pay for her ticket out of Arkham? And if he doesn’t feel some kind of attraction for Harley, why is it that when he selects his new henchgirl, he chooses the one who is almost an exact Harley look and sound alike? And then, when Fake Harley becomes so annoying he nearly shoots her (only not going through with it when a henchman intervenes), the Joker mourns the real Harley by saying “Who’d ever think I’d miss the real one?” He’s also thrilled to see her at the end of the episode disguised as a police officer when he’s being driven away in the police van…until Harley shows him her wrath by beating him with her truncheon, angry that he left her in the nut house. Speaking of the Joker's possible physical attraction to Harley, something I do find amusing, is the framed photograph of Harley shown very briefly on the Joker’s desk in ‘Harley and Ivy’. Hmm.
In ‘The Laughing Fish’, Harley is devastated when it looks like the Joker is lost forever after falling into the ocean but would the Joker mourn Harley if he thought her to be dead? If he misses her when she temporarily leaves in ‘Harley and Ivy’, would he feel any sincere emotions over her death at all? It’s hard to say.
Does the Joker return Harley’s love? No. I don’t think the Joker is capable of love. But I do think he appreciates her, and I think that even though he has nearly killed her in fits of rage and abuses her on a daily bases, I think there will always be something about Harley that stops him from really pulling that trigger.
Title: Mad Love: The Joker and Harley Quinn
Author: Julie Jordan
Fandom: Batman: The Animated Series/Batman: Gotham Knights
Pairing: The Joker and Harley Quinn
Disclaimer: Don’t own ‘em, just borrowing for non profit fun.
Warning: Spoilers for several of the 84 episodes.
Unlike most fans, I never got into Batman: The Animated Series during its original run. I was a late comer, discovering the show sometime in around 1999. I’d always been a Batman fan, though, having watched episodes of the Adam West series as a child and I’d grown up with the Burton/Schumacher films. It wasn’t until I had home internet access that I was really introduced to the Animated Series from the 1990s and after reading about it, and being introduced to Harley Quinn via screen captures, character biographies and fanfiction, I had to see it for myself. I was just so intrigued by the idea of the Joker having a girlfriend I couldn't not check it out. So I went to my video rental shop and found a few tapes with some Harley centric episodes on them. The first I saw was “Harley and Ivy”. What an introduction for a newbie! I was hooked instantly. I was shipping the Joker and Harley before I even knew what shipping was. They were one of my original OTPs, I suppose you could say.
I’ve got to say, I’m a little unsure of how to approach this. To write an essay that supports what is essentially a very violent and damaging relationship makes me a little nervous. I have to stress, that while I may enjoy, for lack of a better word, fictional relationships like this, I would obviously never support violent relationships in reality…but I like to think that people here are wise enough to realise this. And honestly, while I do ship the Joker and Harley Quinn I will be the first to say that their relationship is probably the most screwed up, unhealthy, dangerous one in existence in the world of fiction. But then again, that's why I love it.
Something about the pairing just works. In the hands of lesser writers, the plot device of the Joker having a girlfriend could have been cringe worthy, unfunny and disastrous but Paul Dini and co were able to take the idea and pull it off quite beautifully. Joker/Harley is exciting, funny, wild and unpredictable. It’s also demented, dark, tragic, poetic, and hideous and yet there’s something about the relationship that makes me smile.
This essay is going to focus only on the animated Bat-universe. There were 60 episodes of Batman: The Animated Series, and 24 episodes of Batman: Gotham Knights. The only real difference between series was the animation, which became much cartoonier in the GK episodes.
Now, an introduction to the players.
The Joker
The Joker. Once upon a time, the Joker was a normal man. According to the episode ‘Beware, The Creeper’, which briefly tells the story of the Joker’s origin, the Joker was born after falling into a vat of toxic waste during a fight with Batman at the Axis Chemicals plant. Before he became the Clown Prince of Crime, the Joker was a gangster. Little else is known about his past, including his real name, which, if the Joker himself can remember, he isn’t telling.
His insanity a result of the chemicals he fell into, the Joker was also psychically scarred from his accident. Thanks to the toxins, his mouth has been twisted into a permanent smile and his skin bleached white. His hair was turned green and his lips blood red.
Where as the Joker was a regular criminal before, the transformation turned him into a sadistic monster who, when not roaming the streets of Gotham, spends his time under lock and key in Arkham Asylum. He developed an obsession for Batman, who the Joker blamed for his transformation, and enjoyed luring the Dark Knight into insane cat and mouse style “games”. But for all his torture of the crime fighter, there was one thing the Joker never managed to do to Batman and that was kill him.
I’m of the opinion that the Joker never killed Batman because he didn’t actually want him dead. If Batman was dead, who could the Joker torture? What would be the point of holding Gotham City hostage if there was no Bat to swoop in and save the day? In ‘The Man Who Killed Batman’, when the Joker learns the news of Batman’s apparent death at the hands of someone other than himself, he actually seems quite sad, and even holds a funeral service with his henchmen to remember the fallen protector. The Joker appears to be genuinely regretful that Batman is gone, not just because it was someone else who “killed” him, but because it means the game is over. I even feel like going so far as to claim that the Joker’s reason for living is to “play” with Batman. He revels in it, he’s never happier than when he’s cooking up a new scheme to set Batman off balance.
The Joker’s only enemy isn’t just the Bat. Other villains dislike him as well, or at least, don’t respect him. Some may fear him, but fear and respect aren’t the same. The Joker doesn’t have friends, he has henchmen. If he ever teamed up with another villain, it wouldn’t be too unlikely that the Joker would try and screw his team-mate over. The Joker is out for himself and himself alone. He cares for nothing or no one, only himself and his games with Batman.
Or does he?
Harley Quinn
Once, Harley Quinn was an intern working at Arkham Asylum. A criminal psychologist, Harleen Quinzel was attracted to her chosen profession because she believed she could make a name for herself by writing a ‘tell all’ book about some of Arkman’s most high profile inmates. Like the Joker.
It took Quinzel months of constant pleading, but eventually she was granted private sessions with the Clown Prince. She listened intently as the Joker told her heartbreaking stories of a childhood filled with runaway alcoholic mums and abusive fathers. She fell for everything the Joker said hook, line and sinker and before she knew it, she’d fallen in love with her patient.
The heights of Harleen’s obsession were realised one day when the Batman returned an escaped Joker to Arkham. Seeing her precious love physically hurt at the hands of Batman pushed Harleen over the edge and she feld to a store where she stole a clown costume and other supplies. She returned to Arkham, busted the Joker out and drove away with him into the sunset. All of this is documented in the episode ‘Mad Love’, which greatly details Harley’s origin story and her relationship with the Joker.
We first see Harley Quinn in the episode ‘Joker’s Favour’. Here, she seems (to me at least) a little more subdued than in later episodes, so maybe she hasn’t been around the Joker too long at this point. There’s no explanation as to why Harley is there, she just appears. We don’t get her back story until the final season of Gotham Knights.
The first episode to really detail Harley's relationship with the Joker is ‘Harley and Ivy’. The episode starts with Harley blundering a robbery and the Joker kicking her out of the gang in a fit of frustration. Determined to prove her worth, Harley breaks into a museum with plans to steal the Harlequin diamond for him. While looking admiring the gem as it sits in its glass case, Harley ponders the idea of keeping it for herself…”maybe”. She manages to get the diamond out of the case, when suddenly an alarm goes off. But it’s not her that triggered it. Someone else is robbing the museum at the same time. As Harley tries to flee the scene, she runs right into none other than Poison Ivy. They become friends instantly and Ivy loathes the Joker for his treatment of Quinn, asking her “Why do you put up with that clown?” and telling Harley that she’s a doormat (“if you had a middle name, it would be Welcome”).
It’s a popular belief in the fandom that Harley and Ivy are lovers, or at least have sexual relations when Harley’s hiding out from the Joker with her. I’m not sure where I stand on this issue, but I will say I’ve rarely seen so much canon subtext as there is whenever the two ladies share the screen. Ivy’s very vocal disapproval never stops Harley from always running back to the Joker in the end, though (she’s ecstatic when she thinks the Joker has come to take her back in ‘Harley and Ivy’).
For most of the series, it seems Harley’s mission in life is to win the Joker’s love. There are, however, times when even she snaps at his treatment of her. In 'Harley’s Holiday' she tries to live a live without the Joker, but still ends up back in Arkham after a misunderstanding with some department store staff causes her to overreact and ruin everything. In 'Harlequinade', Harley teams up with Batman to stop the Joker from destroying Gotham City in exchange for her freedom, but when push comes to shove she finds herself unable to betray her beau.
Harley may play the part of a dumb blonde, but she’s anything but stupid. She is intelligent, and could be even more dangerous than the Joker if pushed. She hates Batman and is convinced that if he wasn’t around, she and the Joker could be happy together and live a normal life. It’s safe to say that Harley will never be able to live her dream, but she’s so obsessed and deluded when it comes to the Joker that she’ll always cling onto the hope.
Together
No episode better documents the Joker and Harley’s relationship than ‘Mad Love’. The episode is centred around Harley’s determination to capture Batman so that she and her Puddin’ can be have some peace and be happy once and for all. Taking one of the Joker’s abandoned plans, she finds a way to make the idea work and believes that it will truly impress the Joker. Unfortunately, her plan backfires. While she does manage to capture Batman, the Joker is not happy when he learns that Harley has him tied up, because if anyone's going to capture and kill Batsy, it'll be him. He rushes over and is furious at Quinn. So furious is the Joker that he actually releases Batman, apologising and asking him to just forget the whole thing. Then he turns on Harley, telling her that a joke isn’t a joke if you have to explain it, before pushing her out of a window.
The incident badly psychically injures Harley puts her back in Arkham, and it looks like she’s actually realised what a monster the Joker is. Until she sees a little vase of flowers on her nightstand, with a note saying “Get better soon – J”. She then happily sighs and proclaims that the Joker is an “angel”.
And thus the cycle goes, on and on and it will probably only end when one of them dies.
But do we, the fans, really want Harley to permanently break away from the Joker at the end of the day? Fanfiction and shipping communities say "no". So what is it about them together that makes the fans happy? Why do we enjoy watching an abusive relationship? I honestly don’t know. Maybe it’s the way that no matter how angry the Joker gets with Harley, he never actually kills her. He keeps her around. In ‘Harley and Ivy’ when she leaves him, he has a terrible time just trying to dress himself without her there. He can’t find his socks and calls for Harley, then seems down when he’s reminded by his henchmen that he kicked her out. Does this mean, then, that the Joker could feel something for Harley other than annoyance deep, deep down? Probably not, but he does seem to have moments where he actually values her presence, and from someone who is basically no more than a monster, it’s interesting that he can, in his own unique way, appreciate Harley like that.
In ‘Harlequinade’, the Joker is actually HAPPY after Harley tries to kill him; respecting her for being bold enough to pull the trigger on a gun she thought was real and loaded. He tells her “Baby, you’re the greatest!” and welcomes her into his arms.
However, when faced with serious competition for Harley's love from another man in ‘Beware, The Creeper’, when Harley is being harassed by the Creeper, the Joker doesn’t get jealous. When the Creeper follows Harley back to their lair, Harley insists “I didn’t encourage him”. The Joker replies “I know you’re a one-man loon” and seems to find the Creepers hopeless pursuit of Harley amusing more than anything else (especially when Harley hits the Creeper over the head and sends him flying!).
But then again, if the Joker really values Harley, why does he choose to get a new henchgirl in ‘Joker’s Millions’ rather than just pay for her ticket out of Arkham? And if he doesn’t feel some kind of attraction for Harley, why is it that when he selects his new henchgirl, he chooses the one who is almost an exact Harley look and sound alike? And then, when Fake Harley becomes so annoying he nearly shoots her (only not going through with it when a henchman intervenes), the Joker mourns the real Harley by saying “Who’d ever think I’d miss the real one?” He’s also thrilled to see her at the end of the episode disguised as a police officer when he’s being driven away in the police van…until Harley shows him her wrath by beating him with her truncheon, angry that he left her in the nut house. Speaking of the Joker's possible physical attraction to Harley, something I do find amusing, is the framed photograph of Harley shown very briefly on the Joker’s desk in ‘Harley and Ivy’. Hmm.
In ‘The Laughing Fish’, Harley is devastated when it looks like the Joker is lost forever after falling into the ocean but would the Joker mourn Harley if he thought her to be dead? If he misses her when she temporarily leaves in ‘Harley and Ivy’, would he feel any sincere emotions over her death at all? It’s hard to say.
Does the Joker return Harley’s love? No. I don’t think the Joker is capable of love. But I do think he appreciates her, and I think that even though he has nearly killed her in fits of rage and abuses her on a daily bases, I think there will always be something about Harley that stops him from really pulling that trigger.