I rewatched Birds of Preyand the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn and had some thought about its use of sexual violence against women, or more specifically, its lack of it. I've seen a lot of people talk about the costuming and the cinematography and how both explicitly avoid sexualising the women (like the notably sexual cinematography of the sandwich being made is such a glaring contrast I love it). We see no real slow-motion shots of them or pans up their legs and how they're all dressed stylishly and beautifully, but it's all practical and in character at the same time. I'm rehashing things people have already said, but it pays to point out how carefully the film treats women throughout.
And in contrast we have the scene in Sionis's club where he forces Erica to dance on the table almost naked. The film had this perfect victim woman naked on a literal pedestal dancing for a man's bruised ego and it still didn't show off her body, choosing instead to show everyone else's discomfort.
I don't think almost any other film would have handled this scene so carefully and tactfully.
Because not only is it not comodifying Erica's body and allowing us the audience to violate her too, its specifically and explicitly condemning Sionis' use of sexual violence along with the comodification of sexual violence in film. This film which doesn't shy away from gore (they explode a man and peel faces) won't show a woman in a state of undress without her consent and I really like the care they take in a time where films often happily portray graphic SA scenes "for grit and realism". It puts an especially dark note on Sionis beyond the comic book violence whilst calling out those other types of films.
Anyway, someone might have already said this and said it better but I've not seen it, and I just thought it was a great and underappreciated scene.
