The Representation and Evolution of Abusive Relationships: Harley Quinn and the Joker

This thesis The Representation and Evolution of Abusive Relationships: Harley Quinn and the Joker takes a psychoanalytic, gender, and media studies approach to comics such as Mad Love, The Batman Adventures, Suicide Squad and the film Suicide Squad and The Suicide Squad (2016) Drawing on the work of Lenore Walker, Scott McCloud and other various scholars, this thesis will explore the distinctions in how the comics and film confront, disguise, or conceal the abuse. An analysis of the increasingly romanticized representation of abuse in the comics and film, where audience support for the couple and merchandizing were core concerns, reflect increasing audience participation in responding to and making demands upon narratives of toxic relationships and intimate partner violence.