Thirty years ago, DC created Harley Quinn as a comic relief henchwoman. But its creators didn’t expect Quinn to be this popular or have such a cultural impact. She was a wild, energetic, charming woman, who hid her deranged mind behind a childish attitude, and she was pretty aware of her attractiveness and will use it to get what she wanted.
Margot Robbie played the final version of Harley Quinn, who has had more than 25 incarnations in 30 years. They had a hard time building the character that would become one of the most loved images of Harley Quinn for Suicide Squad. Robbie was given the opportunity to work with the costume team on the character’s appearance. The anticipated inspiration came from the rock scene, and it was love at first sight for Robbie.
Maybe if you think about it a little bit, you will connect the dots very quickly and have an ‘a-ha moment.’ Yet without forcing you, let us tell you that great inspiration was Blondie’s punk-rock queen, Debbie Harry. The winner for the outlook was immediately apparent when costume designer Kate Hawley showed Robbie the iconic photo of Harry from her youth in a torn t-shirt, studded belt, and shorts.
Talking about the process of choosing this outlook in an interview with 2DAY FM’s Rove And Sam in 2016, the young actress revealed that they had seen many different alternatives before Debbie Harry. Still, the singer’s costume won her over the moment Margot saw it.
The actress said, “I tried on like 100 different variations of the costume, but when I saw a picture of – we found this picture of Debbie Harry – and I was like, ‘That’s it, that is dope.’”
While Suicide Squad was indeed a commercial and critical failure when it came out, the character Harley Quinn emerged victorious from that fiasco. In the same movie, Joker, inspired by another rock giant, David Bowie’s ‘Thin White Duke,’ managed to draw nearly all of the criticism. Many problems were found in the narrative and character construction of the movie, but Harley Quinn managed to get rid of these criticisms.
It was not just a costume, as Robbie was also highly appreciated for her performance. One of the reasons she could add such beautiful touches to the inspiration she received from a rock goddess on stage was probably because this character was always a part of the young actress. Robbie had very, very rebellious and ‘dark’ teenage years and was one of the biggest punks, even if it might surprise you now. In 2016, she recalled these years in an interview with Jimmy Fallon.
“I had a real like heavy metal phase,” she said, revealing how big a metalhead she was. Margot also noted, “I was like 14, and I dyed my hair black, and I cut it with a razor blade, and I’d only wear like band shirts and go listen to the heaviest of heavy metal. It was a really weird phase, but like Silverstein and Bullet for My Valentine and bands like that.”
The character of Quinn was very popular overall. However, some criticized this punk-rock goddess’ signature outfit as insulting. Margot Robbie’s answer was simple: she wore ‘hot pants because they’re sparkly and fun,’ not because ‘she wanted guys to look at her ass.’ Whatever the case, there’s no doubt that this outfit from Debbie Harry 40 years ago has been used again and again by thousands of people and probably will continue to be worn for a while in the Halloweens that follow.
