For certain people, comic books are more than a hobby, they are a way of life. One of those people is filmmaker Kevin Smith. I am not using hyperbole here. When he first set out to make Clerks, Kevin sold his comic book collection to raise the necessary funds. After meeting success in his film career, he went on to contribute to several comic books, including his own, Chasing Dogma. Plus he has a reality show, Comic Book Men, set in his NJ store, Jay and Silent Bob’s Secret Stash, which sells comic books and merchandise. It probably will not shock you to know that Kevin and his wife Jennifer named their 16 year old daughter after the Joker’s best girl from the Batman series, Harley Quinn. Supervillain shenanigans aside, Harley Quinn Smith is a really cool name.
With the Suicide Squad movie coming out, Harley Quinn Smith must have been primed to see her name in all kinds of lights. So what do you get the person with her name emblazoned on everything from shot glasses to t-shirts? As a thank you for hosting the Dawn of the Justice League special, Warner Bros. gave Kevin Harley Quinn’s bat from the movie. Cue Father of the Year Award:
Harley Quinn Smith, the daughter of filmmaker and DC fan Kevin Smith, received a gift that brought her to tears. That gift was the bat wielded by Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad.
Kevin posted a photo to Facebook of Harley with tears of joy after opening her gift, which was given to the Tusk director by Warner Bros. for hosting the Dawn of Justice League TV special on The CW.
“Asked ‘You know what a totem is? It’s a powerful, mystical object that wards off evil and gives the bearer strength and power. Before you begin your journey where I started my adventure 22 years ago, I wanted to present you with this powerful totem,” he wrote.
Smith continued, “She opened the tube to discover the bat and immediately started bawling. Harley cried tears of joy for the next 2 hours. Like her old man, the kid goes to pieces over this comic book stuff. It’s not just in her name, it’s in her DNA. Regardless, I’ve never seen anybody so overjoyed to receive a gift.”
By the way, yes, Kevin named his daughter after the fan favorite DC villain.
Harley Quinn stars next in her dad’s film, Yoga Hosers, with another famous offspring, Lily-Rose Depp. Look at her face in the Instagram. She knew Harley Quinn was going to be everywhere and yet received the one thing that could still make this whole experience unique. Bless her. When I look at this I wonder what Kevin’s face must have looked like when he gave it to her. I expect this was as as big a deal for him as her. It’s a dynamite gift and I love that he presented it as a totem.
I love name connections. I recently bought my female progeny several books in which the protagonists bear her name. She is excited to have her own little army of like-named literary friends.
Photo credit: WENN Photos and Getty Images
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