The Appeal of the Birds of Prey


I think Barbara Gordon and Dinah Lance both represent self-empowerment. Each character has had external sources remove their ability to do something they want to do, and they've each taken the initiative to create their own agency in response.

Barbara Gordon:
  • Disempowered physically and prevented from fighting crime by being shot and crippled by The Joker.
    • Empowered herself by mastering technology, becoming an expert capable of helping the entire superhero community.
Dinah Lance:
  • Disempowered by her mother preventing her from becoming a superhero.
    • Empowered herself by training in secret and becoming Black Canary anyway.
  • Disempowered by the trauma she suffered during Longbow Hunters -- torture is an extreme example of powerlessness, and it also literally depowered her by removing her Canary Cry.
    • Empowered herself by continuing to fight crime by using gadgets (Canary Bombs) to replace her ability.

I would also add that the general notion of disempowerment turning into empowerment is ingrained in the Black Canary's superpower: a scream is typically a cry for help, but for Dinah it's a source of power. And it initially manifested when Dinah was arguing with her mother, felt powerless and unheard, and thus shouted in frustration, causing the ability to develop. Feeling powerless actually created her power.

Persevering through depowering experiences to empower themselves is a major factor that connects the Birds of Prey, and one that makes them independent, self-sufficient characters in the truest sense. Seeing characters like this can inspire us to take initiative in our own lives -- to exercise more to build our physical power and to study more to build our intellectual power.
 


Appendix A: Parallel Canaries

Dinah Lance shares a similar self-empowering origin to her mother, Dinah Drake, who was prevented from becoming a policewoman, so she instead empowered herself by creating a vigilante alias. Dinah Drake also developed her Canary Cry in a moment of powerlessness -- when the Justice League was criticizing her minimal power as a reason for her not belonging on the team, and she screamed in frustration. I think the self-empowerment appeal actually applies to both Black Canaries because of their parallel origins.


Appendix B: Huntress

According to the 1989 Huntress series, Helena Bertinelli, who eventually joined the Birds of Prey, was molested as a child, and later resolved to learn martial arts to gain a sense of independent protection over herself. She was made to feel powerless, so she empowered herself through learning and training, fitting the theme of self-empowerment. However, I don't think molestation was mentioned in the updated Huntress origin, Cry for Blood, which preceded Birds of Prey and was her status quo at the time.

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