Harley Quinn’s Infatuation (Original Sin)

Dr. Harleen Frances Quinzel is the intern psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum who works with the Joker as he is detained there. She works honestly and hard. She wants to aid all the inmates and help them to recover. However, this one inmate, the Joker, is different from the rest. He is crazy and unpredictable. He is wild, but not stupid. She cannot figure him out. She then begins to fall for the Joker and all of his mysterious danger. She is enticed by her lack of understanding of him. She needs to know and understand him. She needs to be with him. Finally, she gives in and helps him to escape.

            The Joker successfully escapes and Harleen’s nerves are set at ease. However, not long afterward Batman finds the Joker and they duke it out. The Joker is returned to Arkham Asylum, but not before receiving quite the beating from Batman. Seeing the Joker beaten and bruised pushes Harleen Quinzel over the edge, so far over the end that she then dons the costume and persona of Harley Quinn.

Harley Quinn quickly earns her status as one of the most dangerous villains in all of Gotham City. She accompanies the Joker from then on as his trusty and trigger-happy sidekick and sometimes even as his girlfriend. She has totally fallen for him, beyond the point of no return.

She works her very hardest to destroy the Batman for her lover, the Joker. She is taken advantage of by the Joker one plan after another, but she does not mind. She is totally bonkers for the Joker. She would do anything for him! If he wants the world destroyed, she would be delighted to destroy it for him. The Joker has no goal, other than to cause the world to fall. Harley Quinn is more than happy to help him trip it.

            At one point in their crime filled careers together, the Joker is captured and placed back into Arkham Asylum. Harley Quinn, being totally devoted to her evil clown, quickly makes way to save him. She disguises herself as a psychiatrist to sneak in and visit the Joker. What she does not know is that the Joker was anticipating this for his own gain. She sneaks in and sees him. The Batman finds out what is going on and rushes in to stop their supposed escape. However, no one would have guessed how untrustworthy the Joker truly is. He never intended for them both to escape. He grabs Harley Quinn and prepares to slit her throat so that the Batman can watch. Just before the knife slices, the Batman makes quick moves to free Harley Quinn from the clutches of the mad clown. Joker just looks at Harley as simply a tool to use instead of a human being. The Joker and Batman tangle while the Joker delivers a rambling rant on why he cannot kill Batman when suddenly, Harley shoots Batman in the shoulder and says... "You gotta’ stop ignoring me, Mistah Jay." In the end Batman wins the fight and places the two lunatic jokesters behind bars.

            Like Harley Quinn was drawn into the evil unpredictability of the Joker, we as humans and as individuals are drawn into the enticement of sin. We often know what is right and what God commands, but ignore it to chase after the enjoyment of sin. Adam and Eve were no different.
            “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.” Genesis 3:6 They both ate even though they knew that this was the one and only tree that God had commanded them to never eat from.

            We were made perfect in the beginning by a perfect God, but soon after fell to the lure of sin. Harley Quinn also started out good. She was an honest psychiatrist working to help those in need, but was drawn into evil.
            However, God did not leave us to die as fallen men. Just as Batman saved Harley Quinn when the very man that she devoted her entire life to attempted to kill her, He sent His one and only Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our salvation against the very sin that we devoted our lives to so that we may live with Him for eternity in heaven. John 3:16 says “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” When we were at our lowest, God sent His good son Jesus to die for us. Jesus is truly a superhero!
            Christ saving us from our sin was not a one time event! We are all harlequins. When Harley Quinn was saved by Batman, there was no “Thank you”. No, rather, she waited for Batman’s back to be turned and shot him through the shoulder to help the Joker escape. We do the same to Christ. When sin had its cold blade to our necks, Christ came and died on the cross, rescuing us from certain death. Did we stop sinning, though? No! We repaid Christ and His love in the same way Harley Quinn repaid Batman. We sinned again. Thankfully, Christ did not stop loving us. Even now, He forgives us for the sins that we continue to commit. He says in 1 John 1:9. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
            We can be little more than harlequins on this earth. We cannot stop sinning, but we can live in the knowledge and the thankfulness that Christ has died for us and forgives us of our sins. We are His children and we will be living with Him in heaven for all of eternity through His grace, mercy, and love. Amen.

--Logan Landes

This has been part of the Dark Knight Series