The highly anticipated movie The Dark Knight just hit theaters last week and impressed audiences from start to finish. As far as we were concerned, though, it should have just been called The Joker. Indeed, the amazing new installment in the Batman series was all about one character — the crazy, snarling, laughing madman that is known to all in the Batman universe as The Joker… and is known to me as one of my favorite young male character actors of the past decade, Heath Ledger.
As a matter of fact, I was originally weighing whether or not I wanted to watch the movie at all simply because I could not accept that this was going to be the last Heath Ledger movie I saw. I guess I figured if I didn’t see it, there would always be at least one more Ledger movie for me. Fortunately curiosity and a natural love for comic book movies overcame all and I went to see the flick. As expected, Ledger did not disappoint. His Joker took the character to a whole new dark and demented level. He was truly disturbing. Now his predecessor Jack Nicholson was also quite impressive as the clown-like villain, but Heath took this Joker in a completely different direction. In Ledger’s own words his Joker was “a psychopathic, mass-murdering, schizophrenic clown with zero empathy.” For the first time I was actually scared of him despite his painted-on smile and crazy antics. I had my hands covering my eyes the first time he held a knife to that gangster’s mouth and asked “Why so serious?”
It’s a completely different take on The Joker than what existed before. Even the makeup is new — looking more unplanned, less complete, even deranged. Instead of the signature perfect-looking clown/mime makeup of past Jokers, we have a haphazard slap of white paint, some black around the eyes and this evil lopsided red-painted mouth with the scars clearly visible. It really looks like some crazy person had just slathered it on in a hurried manner without caring about the outcome. It looks chaotic. In short — terrifying.
Not to mention that the film stays true to the original Batman plot, making The Joker a formidable — heck, maybe even the strongest — of the Caped Crusader’s foes. We see how it’s so difficult to catch a madman who has no plan and no agenda, just flying by the seat of his pants. We see a villain who doesn’t care about anything — life, money, power. He would just as soon see the whole city burn. It made it believable that Batman was so hard-pressed to fight someone like Joker, who has no rules, which, as a superhero, Batman would be bound to follow. I must admit I really liked the film’s take on that and the chemistry between the two actors was electrifying and undeniable.
And this, again, brings me to how sad I was as the movie began to end; knowing that this scary/crazy Joker would never again grace the silver screen left me feeling dull and aching inside. I have always been a Heath Ledger fan, ever since his early days doing lesser known movies like the crime thriller Two Hands which is what earned him a role in 10 Things I Hate About You — the movie that made me really fall in love with him. What I really liked about Heath was his aversion for safe or stereotypical roles. Beginning his career in Australia, Heath started acting because in high school he had a choice between cooking class or drama. Since cooking class held no interest for him, he chose drama. And the rest is history.
He didn’t get a break right away, though. It took a lot of auditions and tryouts before he even got bit roles in movies and television. He even did brief stints on stage including playing a gay cyclist. After the commercial success of 10 Things I Hate About You, though, Heath was finally getting noticed in Hollywood. Unfortunately, at the time he was being labeled as the next teen heartthrob and he didn’t like it (very much, actually, like his co-star, non-traditional teen actress Julia Stiles). To veer away from those kinds of roles, Heath went in a completely different direction, accepting a very serious role in the Mel Gibson movie The Patriot.
Several more movies followed after that including Monster’s Ball, The Four Feathers, The Order, and my personal favorite, 2001’s A Knight’s Tale. This is probably the movie that endeared Ledger to me forever. I loved his portrayal of William Thatcher, the young peasant who changed his stars and became a knight. This is probably ranked right up there as one of my favorite movies ever. His honesty and depth made this character come to life for me and I will always remember this role with fondness and admiration. I must admit I had a bit of a crush on this Aussie actor in this flick.
And, of course, who can forget Ledger’s most famous movie performance? When Brokeback Mountain premiered the Oscar buzz around him was palpable, and rightfully so. Through this film, his acting prowess was finally fully appreciated and people could finally see what a serious and multi-talented actor he was. Though he didn’t win the trophy, Heath was nominated for an Oscar, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA award, a SAG award, and he won an AFI Award for Best Actor and a New York Film Critics Award for Best Actor all for Brokeback Mountain. People now knew that they could expect great things from him.
More movies followed and more international awards as well. It’s painful to realize that Heath was at a perfect point in his career where he could experiment and find all different kinds of characters to play. While his personal life may not have been as successful (he and Michelle Williams had decided to call it quits), he still had a beautiful baby daughter and an unbelievably bright future ahead of him. That is, until January 22, 2008.
I remember getting a text message about it that day and thinking it was someone’s idea of a sick joke. When I found out it was true I was genuinely sad and couldn’t help but think that he died at the same age that I was. There has been much speculation about the true nature of his death, but I won’t get involved in conversations like that. Friends always say that he had trouble sleeping since he was always thinking, thinking, thinking. To me, his death was an accident — a terrible waste and an unbelievable loss, but an accident. One that took away one of the most promising young actors in the world today. He even posthumously shared an Independent Spirit Award for his work on the 2007 film I’m Not There which was presented in February 2008. And there are even rumors of a possible posthumous Oscar, and if you ask me, that award would not only be overdue, but well deserved.
So as I closed the chapter and watched my last Heath Ledger movie, I realized that it is not truly the end of my admiration for this brilliant young thespian. While there won’t be any new movies — the work he’s done will continue to entertain audiences, including myself for many years to come. I know I could be old and senile and still enjoy A Knight’s Tale or The Dark Knight. Heath was, in many ways, like a shooting star, burning strong and bright and gone too soon. Wherever he is, I hope he was found peace at last.
