By Ryan Louis Mantilla

In celebration of women around the globe who strived to make a name in the male-dominated industry, watching films with women protagonists is one perfect choice. Plenty of movies would come to mind when coming up with movie choices. Good thing the movie streaming platform Netflix recently added ‘Birds of Prey’ to their media library. The film screening in the Philippines suffered due to the COVID-19 outbreak, affecting the new movie releases in 2020. Fortunately, Harley Quinn and her girl squad are back to tell their action-packed and rebellious stories. 

One deal-breaker, though, the clown princess of crime is an anti-hero.

Birds of Prey (And The Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) is now streaming on Netflix, and her story is as crazy as the title suggests. 

The story revolves around Harley Quinn being a target after breaking up with the Joker until she hooks up with an all-women superhero group to fight a crime boss. The former psychiatrist is out of control and does unimaginable things like breaking a man’s limb or owning a hyena as a pet. Just expect anything extravagant and weird. And, yes, you read it right, she has a bachelor’s degree in Psychology. A woman can be educated and demented at the same time.

Proving her profession, she once advised about love, stating, “If you want boys to respect you, show them you’re serious. Shoot something, blow it up,” if that’s not inspiring enough for you, I don’t know what is. 

Just put it this way, imagine what you’ll see if Uma Thurman in “Kill Bill” met Ryan Reynolds in “Deadpool,” you’ll get a vengeful and deranged woman as a result.

“Psychologically speaking, vengeance rarely brings the catharsis we hope for,” said Harleen Quinzel, Ph.D. 

Birds of Prey is the eighth film in the DC Extended Universe, following the standalone success of Joker. Cathy Yan, a WOMAN, directed the film, which made the whole movie more fabulous, excluding the appearance of the male gaze. You’ll remember in Suicide Squad, the evil-doll that is Harley wore tight costumes that are not fitting for battling enemies. The director of Birds of Prey ensured that all of the costumes were realistic. 

Birds of Prey exhibited Harley’s soft side, showing us that Harley can be good sometimes with the right group of people. Harley proved that she is more than just Joker’s girl, and she didn’t need immunity from any men. 

After the release of Suicide Squad, Harley Quinn became the crowd’s favorite. And her fans are lucky enough to get a movie that revolves around her in the most feminist way possible. 

Margot Robbie portrayed Harley Quinn in the film. Mary Elizabeth Winstead played Huntress, Ella Jay Basco as Cassandra, Jurnee Smollett as Black Canary, and Rosie Perez as Renee Montoya. The film didn’t do well when it first premiered on Jan. 25, 2020, due to the whole pandemic thing, but it is receiving new life and appreciation upon its launch on Netflix.