MovieChat Forums > Batman: The Animated Series (1992) Discussion > The Irony in the Episode "Mad Love"

The Irony in the Episode "Mad Love"

posted 8 years ago by Takedi21
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I find it ironic in the episode "Mad Love" that Harley didn't believe Batman when he told her that the Joker played her for a fool during their early interactions together. Maybe Harley did realize that Batman was telling the truth, and she was just consciously forcing herself to deny it? The reason why I find irony in it is because by that point in canon Harley actually DOES know fully well how the Joker thinks & operates (the episode "Harlequinade" was all about this), so she should believe everything that Batman is telling her about the Joker. I can understand Harleen being in denial, but Harley Quinn has intimately been with the Joker for years. She's been an intimate part of his personal life & professional life of crime, she has years of experience being with him & working alongside him all under her belt, and even Batman himself knows that she's literally the only person on Earth who knows how he thinks ("Harlequinade"). So again, I just find great irony in the fact that Harley doesn't believe something that she had found out about the Joker when she knows him very well in contrast to how Harleen had easily believed & took everything that she had learned about the Joker at face value despite barely knowing the guy at all. It's great writing btw, such a fantastic episode on all levels.

[–] rosepetals334 8 years ago

Good observation. Her former psychologist self (Harleen Quinzel) knows Joker, but the other side of her brought to life by joker (Harley Quinn) knows Joker better.

If we pay attention to her body language and facial expressions, it is painfully obvious that she is fully aware of the truths batman is telling her, she probably knew years ago...but she is denying it because, well..by this point she probably feel it is too late to fully go back to her old life. I sensed that harleen thought she was already 'in too deep' as her harley persona, and maybe...even if deluded by obsessions and the dire need to break away from the mundane and boring, the rules, the organization..maybe she truly felt she was in love with the joker? Let's not forget Harleen has daddy issues, and she has been dragged through some mess growing up, or so it says in the comics.

If we listen to what she says, motive to write a tell-all book aside, she genuinely thought she was able to help joker, she thought he could trust her and vice versa, maybe there was a twisted kinship between them? In Mad Love it showed Joker listening to Harley for a change and he made her laugh, those are two things she had been missing out on. And in Harleguinade (i think), Batman asked Harley what's with the attraction to the Joker, to which she responds' When I was a Doctor, i was all the time listening to peoples problems without anyone to listen to mine, then Mistah J came along and made everything fun!" So the short version: Harley was unhappy with her life but too stuck in a rut to even be aware of this fact, and she needed to meet a psychopath and have her mind twisted to break away from it all.

Maybe Harley loved being free just for the sake of being free to have fun and play crazy, no more having to work at a lame ass 9-5 *beep* where the pay sucks and the work she does probably doesn't even help anyone.

But why DID she pick Arkham Asylum to intern at? Had she already known the Joker was there?

The more personalities you have the less boring you are!

[–] [deleted] 7 years ago

I agree with your points.