The first Batman movie with Michael “Mr. Mom” Keaton came out when I was just starting high school.  Jack Nicholson played the Joker, and while he definitely drew on some of his “Here’s Johnny!” creepiness a la The Shining, his performance now seems almost innocent in the wake of Heath Ledger in The Dark Night (awesomely brilliantly creepy) and Jared Leto in Suicide Squad (just plain make-your-skin-crawl creepy).  Apparently, Jared Leto even sent his co-stars gifts like a live rat and a pig carcass in furtherance of his method acting, which makes me think this game of upping the derangement level of the Joker has to stop before someone gets seriously hurt.

Fortunately, along came The Lego Batman Movie!  It might feature a Joker with razor-like teeth along the lines of Jared Leto, but this Joker also has some heart, like when Batman is calling it quits to their superhero-villain relationship.  Joker’s face just gets sadder and sadder with each sentence out of Batman’s mouth, and you can’t help but want to give him a hug because … well, let’s face it … we’ve all heard that speech before and know exactly how it feels.

He’s also not the worst villain out there.  That award goes to the Eye of Sauron (from Lord of the Rings), followed by other baddies like the Wicked Witch of the West, Lord Voldemort, the Gremlins and Medusa.  It’s a great pop cultural mash-up, with battle scenes that are unforgettable because every character voices a “pew pew pew” gun sound in place of a true sound effect, just like you would if you were playing at a Lego battle at home (although judging by my ex-husband, my son and the boys in my son’s school, the male genetic code seems to allow for the making of more sophisticated gun sounds than just “pew pew pew”).

So after getting won over by the Lego Batman Joker, I thought I’d have my Harley Quinn moment in this red and black striped, stretch-silk satin shirt dress by Ann Demeulemeester that I got off of Net-a-Porter (http://www.net-a-porter.com).  It has a loose fit, so I cinched it with a black belt from Vince.

And while Harley Quinn is definitely more on the unstable side of the scale, I do have to agree with one thing she said … “I’ll never understand why Superman wears the same outfit every damn day.”  That would put me in Arkham Asylum for sure.