Barbie: Margot Robbie Fans Can't Unsee These Harley Quinn Similarities

Director Greta Gerwig's "Barbie" has turned out to be a billion-dollar success, reaching an incredible monetary milestone thanks to several factors. The story is engaging and thought-provoking, the songs featured throughout are unforgettable, and the performances are solid all around. Margot Robbie is especially well-cast as she takes Barbie on a journey of self-discovery that ends with her becoming a fully realized person. Surprisingly — or unsurprisingly, seeing as they're both portrayed by the same actor — some of Barbie's mannerisms look similar to those of Robbie's other most famous role: Dr. Harleen Quinzel, better known as Harley Quinn.

As pointed out by @its_ivanmars on TikTok, there are several shots in "Barbie" that either intentionally or unintentionally call back to Harley moments from both 2016's "Suicide Squad" and 2020's "Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey." Barbie and Harley's embarrassed expressions while getting their mugshots, their wide smiles while looking over their sunglasses, and their desperate escapes from their enemies are just a few of the snippets that look familiar, with some of them even utilizing similar camera angles to top it off.

Despite their visual similarities, though, many of these Barbie and Harley scenes are designed to elicit entirely different emotions based on the characters and story.

In addition to the fact that they're both played by Margot Robbie, they emote similarly, and are shot in similar ways during their films, Barbie and Harley Quinn have some shared traits. They're both strong, independent women who come to recognize that inequality and mistreatment based on gender in society are problems worth addressing. Outside of all of that, though, their personalities don't overlap a whole lot, and their presentations, as well as the films they're a part of, are vastly different. Thus, even though their mannerisms are similar, they bring with them contrasting tones.

For example, in the "Barbie" scene where the title character slowly pulls down her glasses and winks with a smile, moviegoers are meant to feel welcomed and somewhat in awe of the woman behind the shades. However, in the "Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey" equivalent, Harley revealing her face in a similar way strikes a different cord. Viewers are meant to feel intrigued by her reveal, and her sly smile creates anticipation, indicating that she has something devious in mind. This tonal difference is evident in Barbie and Harley's waves, too, with the former's being a genuine greeting and the latter's presenting as an act of smugness and defiance.

It's a testament to the minds behind "Barbie," "Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey," and "Suicide Squad" that they're able to take pretty much the same set of camera angles and Margot Robbie's expressions and emotes and utilize them uniquely. It also just goes to show how skilled Robbie is as an actor, being able to use the tools in her artistic toolbox in multiple ways depending on the role in question.