e286. The Legend of Harley Quinn

On last week’s episode, we delved into the world of classic literary character Hercule Poirot and his cultural significance across multiple iterations. This week, we go in the exact opposite direction. Recorded at the exact same time as last week’s show, Wayne and Mav are joined by returning guest Andrew Deman and first time guest, Laura Grafton to talk about quite possibly the most popular female superhero character being published today, Harley Quinn. On this episode we walk through her many various incarnations across several media types and try to figure out why she is so popular after all. From the comics to live and animated TV, movies and video games, Harley Quinn is ubiquitous. But why? We try to figure it out by talking about her history, her characterization, the male gaze, her trauma, her queerness, her insanity… all the things that make her her. Did we get everything? Well, listen and let us know what you think in the comments. Citations and Links: * This episode’s Call For Comments * “Harley Quinn’s Sexuality: A Tale of Three Lusts” by Laura Grafton and Andrew Deman * Submit an abstract to the Call For Papers for Mav’s new academic book: Batman… Also Starring… * Thank you to Maximilian’s thoughtForm Music for our theme * Follow Laura on Twitter: @llgrafton * Follow Andrew’s on Twitter: @ClaremontRun and @SeqScholars * Also hear Andrew on Oh Gosh, Oh Golly, Oh Wow (with Mav!) * Follow Mav on Twitter: @chrismaverick * Follow Wayne on Instagram: @tetroc2017 * Follow us on Twitter: @voxpopcast * Follow us on Facebook: http://facebook.com/voxpopcast * Subscribe to our YouTube channel * Make sure you subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever podcasts are found and please leave us a review!

Om Podcasten

Vox Populorum is a blog and podcast devoted to pop culture criticism. We believe that the best way to understand culture is to discuss it. But we also believe that it's a lot more fun to have these conversations throwing back a couple beers at the bar rather than in a classroom. Please join our weekly round table of media critics, academics, creators, artists, professors, students and fans for an engaging discussion about movies, novels, comic books, television, video games, music or whatever else we happen to think of! Nec audiendi qui solent dicere, Vox populi, vox Dei, quum tumultuositas vulgi semper insaniae proxima sit.