On last week’s episode, we delved into the world of classic literary character Hercule Poirot and his cultural significance across multiple iterations. This week, we go in the exact opposite direction. Recorded at the exact same time as last week’s show, Wayne and Mav are joined by returning guest Andrew Deman and first time guest, Laura Grafton to talk about quite possibly the most popular female superhero character being published today, Harley Quinn. On this episode we walk through her many various incarnations across several media types and try to figure out why she is so popular after all. From the comics to live and animated TV, movies and video games, Harley Quinn is ubiquitous. But why? We try to figure it out by talking about her history, her characterization, the male gaze, her trauma, her queerness, her insanity… all the things that make her her. Did we get everything? Well, listen and let us know what you think in the comments.
Citations and Links:
- This episode’s Call For Comments
- “Harley Quinn’s Sexuality: A Tale of Three Lusts” by Laura Grafton and Andrew Deman
- Submit an abstract to the Call For Papers for Mav’s new academic book: Batman… Also Starring…
- Thank you to Maximilian’s thoughtForm Music for our theme
- Follow Laura on Twitter: @llgrafton
- Follow Andrew’s on Twitter: @ClaremontRun and @SeqScholars
- Also hear Andrew on Oh Gosh, Oh Golly, Oh Wow (with Mav!)
- Follow Mav on Twitter: @chrismaverick
- Follow Wayne on Instagram: @tetroc2017
- Follow us on Twitter: @voxpopcast
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She is so ingrained in the popular culture and the Batman mythos that I forget sometimes that she was introduced in Batman: The Animated Series.
That show did so much to codify so much of what was considered “Batman” after that point.