Suicide Squad Director David Ayer Responds to Harley Quinn Criticism With a Surprising Apology

Suicide Squad director David Ayer fielded some criticism about how he used Harley Quinn in the movie and gave a surprising apology. If you ever want to find people complaining by the truckload, all you have to do is find Ayer’s mentions on Twitter. He recently came under fire for how he decided to use Harley in the film. Ayer argued that political forces were why she came out as she did. He apologized and ruminated on the words the commenter gave him. It’s a far cry from some previous moments involving the filmmaker. Ayer has grown a lot since the time of Suicide Squad and he’s trying to open up to other ways of thinking. A lot of fans are upset that Birds of Prey pivoted from where he took the character. On the other side, some fans are thrilled by that change.

The Notorious LHB argued, “A female character in an abusive relationship is already political, my dude. The way your camera looked at her was political. The way you used her was political. You treated her as an object and she still rose above it. That was political too.”

Ayer sincerely wrote on Twitter in response, “Retweeting because this is very thoughtfully written. Thank you for this. I am growing and learning in a changing world.”

This all comes after the question of politics in the film was raised by the director. “Sadly her story arc was eviscerated. It was her movie in so many ways,” the director shared. “Look I tried. I rendered Harley comic book accurate. Everything is political now. Everything. I just want to entertain. I will do better.”

The question of politics in every facet of life now is so fraught on the Internet. People see things one way or another and are reluctant to change. It sounds like Ayer is turning over a new leaf and trying to learn from some of his past missteps. Fans were pretty quick to dismiss that argument against his use of Harley in Suicide Squad, but if it is good enough for the creator, then shouldn’t it be a little bit more well-received on their side. Needless to say the debate about how Suicide Squad went over won’t even stop after James Gunn’s version hits theaters next year.

Do you think Harley was done just fine in Suicide Squad? Let us know in the comments!