Birds of Prey is the breakout film for DC’s Harley Quinn. It also stared an array of characters, the majority of those characters being women of color. The film was directed by Cathy Yan, a Chinese-American woman, which allowed for more representation to be shown on screen. The story follows four main protagonists: Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett-Bell), Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez), and Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco). Three of those being women of color.
This movie centers around not only Harley Quinn becoming her own woman after splitting up with the Joker, but also the other women coming into their own. Black Canary is taking back her voice from being bound to Black Mask’s night club. Renee Montoya is fighting to get her work recognized after her male counterpart took credit for her hard work and got the promotion she deserved. Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead)—who is not as prevalent in the film as the others—is avenging her family.
All these women were fighting to be recognized and heard. The great thing about this film is that it allows women to be at the forefront and to show female relationships that don’t feel forced for diversity. When they finally came together at the end, it was organic. It wasn’t like the scene in Marvel’s Endgame where all the women come together in a very cool, but forced manner. One of my favorite parts of the big fight scene was when Harley casually just asks Black Canary if she needs a hair tie. Who else but a woman would put in such a minor but relatable problem of hair getting in the way?
Overall, I personally enjoyed the film and would give it 9/10 because nothing is ever perfect, but this movie comes close with a phenomenal cast, great diversity both race-wise and sexual orientation-wise, and an outstanding soundtrack featuring some of the biggest names in female rap right now. To anyone wanting to watch a good movie about female empowerment or just want to watch a funny movie for a girl’s night with friends, Birds of Prey should definitely be on that list.