Heath Ledger’s Death and His Joker
I will write a full review of The Dark Knight later with a bunch of spoilers, but I just saw the movie last night and I just have to write these paragraphs about Heath Ledger. There are people in the world who have done great things and something comes along that puts a stain on their life. At that point, everything they were known for gets lost. Often, these people disappear from the prying eyes of the public, and they are forgotten along with all their good deeds, no matter how much and how good.
Heath Ledger couldn’t have died at a better moment in his life. That sounds terrible to say and completely insensitive. Should his family and friends read, or maybe even just you, reader, you probably want to rip my heart out and let vultures feast on my body.
In his death, he left behind The Dark Knight, a movie that is as much about Batman as it is about the Joker, maybe even more about the Joker. Heath Ledger left behind a masterpiece in which he gave an outstanding performance. On the news of his death, I am sure people said that he will be remembered and he will be. There are people whose life sink at some point and when they die, it’s the sinking that is remembered.
In Ledger’s case, there simply is no sinking. He will be remembered as a great actor who would probably have contributed so much more to the world. Now, we can only content ourselves with his last masterpiece, his last outstanding performance as an insanely twisted Joker. Frankly, I don’t find the Joker twisted at all, he makes total sense. His character was the only one throughout the movie who was straight, free of conflict and confusion. It was the only truly free man, the man without a plan to worry about.
Jack Nicholson was an incredible Joker, but Heath Ledger has raised the bar so high that it’s difficult to see.
