.png)
Controversy in movies is nothing new as it follows nearly anything and everything in pop culture — most notably when such media is based on comic book characters like those in Suicide Squad. One of the longest-running controversies is when a character gets a more sexually charged design. It's usually a female character taking on the role of a sexual icon for no other reason than because the studio chooses to do so for the intrigument and interest of their commonly majority male audience.
The fact of the matter is that we are in a culture that sexualizes characters because let's face it — they can. People (myself included) will read it, watch it, and obsess over it. It's become so ingrained in our psyche that it's become a part of our culture and society. The over-sexualization of pop culture characters isn't anything new as it has been going on for decades, but for example, here are some characters that have become over-sexualized icons.
Starfire (DC Comics)
Starfire is most well known for the Teen Titans cartoon, which led to her main demographic being young boys and girls. Originally, Starfire was an awkwardly hopeful and shy girl that just wanted to experience Earth life and make friends. The new Starfire is nearly a polar opposite of the cartoon Starfire, as she has been recreated as an emotionally detached amnesiac who is sexually driven.
Psylocke (Marvel Comics)
A mutant from Marvel Comics, Psylocke is the most sexually charged Asian-body-swapped-telekinetic-samurai in the history of all comics. In the story, she is subsequently abducted by a Japanese crime lord, then underwent a genetic merge and swap with a brain dead ninja. At that point, Psylocke's full powers were revealed and ultimately her costume seemed to have become more revealing as well.
Wonder Woman (DC Comics)
You would think that one of the characters of DC's Trinity would be a hero that would shy away from the sexualized stereotype of female comic characters. But, that is sadly untrue, as Wonder Woman went through her own transformation in the '90s as the most sexualized woman in the DC universe.
Harley Quinn (DC Comics)
Harley Quinn has undergone countless redesigns over the years, mostly losing fabric with each iteration (Suicide Squad version included). The sad part is that as popular as she has been over the years and the positive steps that Harley has been taking recently in the comics, that didn't seem to matter to Warner Brothers. The version of Harley that we see in Suicide Squad is over-stylized and turned into a sexual icon.
References
Commentaires