Heath Ledger's Joker is Nothing New - The Dark Knight is Just Another Remake
A Posthumous Oscar is an Insult to Award Worthy Performances
At the epicenter of the film's success lies Heath Ledger's interpretation of the legendary comic book villain. Ledger's performance has been hailed with every awe inspiring adjective critics could muster in their swoon over Ledger. That the actor died of an overdose January 22, 2008, just two months after The Dark Knight wrapped up filming and six months before its release on July 24, 2008, has fueled the film's frenzied success.
Much has been made of the "chilling" makeup lathered on Ledger to make his face look marred and ugly. His hair is greasy and the character has the look of a psychotic bum (only with a shopping cart full of C4). Ledger personalized his Joker with an especially evil licking of lips. The tic gives the Joker a fragility not previously seen. While Ledger's Joker is a formidable Hollywood villain who mixes dark humor "heh heh ho ho he he. And I thought my jokes were bad" with the drive of a man that has no morals and nothing to lose, there is little a decently educated audience hasn't seen before. The Joker's anarchist moldings aren't new. It brought to mind the comic book and recent movie V for Vendetta. Even Glenn Close's classy villainry as Patty Hewes in Damages (TV) is a more multi-dimensional evil than the Joker.
Ledger's plot material is not his fault. But even the way the character is played, while grimy and clearly disturbed, did not scare me into nightmares like Schwarzenegger's Terminator. (More chilling than the Joker's one liners was Schwarzenegger's naked butt, giving me the unsettling knowledge that I was watching my governor nude on the screen). At two and a half hours the Dark Knight ran itself into repetition. The Joker became less fresh and more of the same lip licking and one liner stabs.
That Ledger died months before the movie's release only guaranteed his canonization in the people's heads. But Ledger's death was hardly as tragic and unforeseen as is reported. Ledger had half a dozen prescription drugs in his system. They weren't chilling in his system for no reason. Six drugs at one time is hardly accidental. Ledger was an addict. His death was premature but not unexpected. Addicts die every day of overdose. Bums die of exposure, alcoholics die of liver failure.
A junior at a local high school died of a particularly strong trip on ecstasy. His death was premature, sure. He did not die like a hero.
Why, then, is Ledger seemingly an automatic Hollywood hero? Critics are acting terrified to slip in a wayward opinion of the film or its villain. Any criticism of a dead man would be slander. Posthumous fans, wowed over the dead man's performance, are left with the sentiment that "If I had been a fan before, it would have saved his life." This bubble keeping Ledger in the sky and ballooning the Dark Knight to success is all hot air.
I might see the Dark Knight again. Not for the acting, but to decipher the plot which was at crucial times enigmatic.
For all its hype, the Dark Knight is running on the performance of a hot young actor (Christian Bale), the tragic death of its star, and the millions of audiences dazzled by adrenaline and a few macho 2008 special effects.
Published by PinchPoke
I am a 20 year old fledgling who dallies in poetry and creative writing. I like to write about my life and entertain people with the random craziness that my head spews out to my fingers to the page. http://... View profile
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15 Comments
Post a CommentI totally agree with you on this one. A great article, and I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one who thinks that this was probably the most ovverated movie of the year.
I can't tell whether you're lamenting posthumous awards altogether, or whether you just don't think Ledger's Joker portrayal was deserving. If it's the latter, I agree to disagree. If the former, the death of the nominee should be completely irrelevant. A great performance is a great performance, no?
I'd agree canonization is going a bit far, but you're going a bit far in implying(again, I can't tell exactly what you mean) that an addict shouldn't be rewarded. Samuel Taylor Colerdige was an addict, so he shouldn't be included in university textbooks, right? Hemingway committed suicide, so he shouldn't be regarded as one of the great writers of the 20th century, eh? I'm not sure what you're on about here.
Just saw this movie yesterday and I enjoyed reading your analysis of the Joker. I agree, I'd like to see it again because at several points I was a bit confused on exactly what was going on ...
I think the real morons are those buffoons that think a negative review of the Dark Knight is an automatic sign of mental retardation. Can't anyone have a different opinion anymore?
You are a moron. Anyone who has a negative opinions on this flick and heath's performance probably has horrible and stupid taste.
Comparing all comicbook films, especially the old batman films. There is no better villain portrayal than heath's. Heath's joker was just well done. Period. The way the joker twisted the plots and mind boggled the audience is something not even jack nicklson's joker did. Oh, it's just the script that should get the cred though, right? don't make movie reviews anymore. The actor is the one that brings the script to life, the actor is blessed with the ability to have people feel the script. During the movie, you would seriously forget that it's heath acting as the joker, you would just see the joker. Non batman fans were so turned on to the villain because he was realistic, diabolical, un exaggerated compared to other comic book villains.
You are an idiot.
Calling me an idiot for disliking a film? Really?
I came back from the grave.
You're an idiot.
Kill yourself, please.
I will admit I enjoyed the film more the second time I saw it, mainly because watching it at midnight with a bunch of screaming fans is rather distracting. It is an intricate plot that actually requires you to think a little bit. They don't water-down the story or the complexities of the crime world. Personally, I love the fact the movie was long and packed so much into the storyline. As a life-long fan of the Batman comics, I think this film did great justice to the characters, especially the Joker and Harvey. And while Heath's death was far from graceful and heroic, it doesn't change the fact that it was tragic and Hollywood lost a great talent. But as you said, agree to disagree.
Pedro Falci: I wasn't bored necessarily with the movie on the whole but rather certain directorial and plot aspects. I would see it again to understand the plot better (perhaps this would help me enjoy the movie as a whole more). I agree to disagree that The Dark Knight was intelligently made. I believe the movie could be greatly improved with an earlier more coherent ending and better handling of both The Joker and Dent's (as Two Face) characters.
Davie: I made a mistake in allowing my criticism's of Ledger's personal life to focus the article. However, you don't take 6 drugs and not have some responsibility in their effects/results. I do believe that his overdosing was overhyped and artificially ballooned into a "worldwide/hollywood" tragedy.
I concur; it is nearly impossible to see Ledger in The Joker, however how much of that is due to the makeup department I remain skeptical.