R.I.P. Heath Ledger

The company I work for used to be a division of Time Warner. We still maintain a relationship with Time Warner and its movie and music studios. Part of this relationship translates into getting cool kickass movie posters, which are framed and hung on the walls and periodically rotated. A new one appeared a few weeks ago in a place of prominence: a crazed, bedraggled, clown-like figure, seen through what appears to be a greasy pane of glass, draws what looks like a manic grin in what appears to be blood. Above, the words "Why so serious?" loom menacingly. Below, the movie title: The Dark Knight. The new Batman movie. Featuring Heath Ledger as The Joker, in what is being widely acclaimed as a stunning, original characterization of the old favorite villain.

Gone, now. Dead.

I first heard the news pretty early in the cycle yesterday. I only caught the tail end: "...Ledger was found dead in his apartment..." Immediately my pop-ups came on. Ledger? Heath Ledger. Brokeback Mountain. Batman? Maybe. Maybe it was the other guy.

It wasn't the other guy.

I checked the IMDb entry for Heath Ledger and didn't see a date of death. It hasn't happened yet, then. I confirmed that, yes indeed, he was The Joker in the new Batman film. Back out to CNN to listen for more, and the story repeated and repeated. No two ways about it. Heath Ledger was dead.

Britney Spears. Lindsay Lohan. Amy Winehouse. Keith-freaking-Richards. All alive. And Heath Ledger is dead.

The first person I thought to contact was Immora. (Immora's a camgirl; do you have a problem with that? 'Cause I don't.) I've been reading Immora's blog for several months now, and she has been very excited about Heath Ledger's performance in the upcoming Dark Knight, even using "Why so serious?" as a personal tag for a while. She would want to know.

Several hours later I got in touch with Ashley as soon as I saw her online. She had just gotten home from work, so I figured she wouldn't have heard the news yet. As a fan of both comic books and movies, I knew she would also want to know.

Heath Ledger let the world know what sort of range he had as an actor with his performance in Brokeback Mountain. But I truly feel that, with his portrayal of The Joker, he would now let the world know that he was capable of anything.

Gone, now. All gone.

While others are comparing his death to other celebrities who died too young of excesses of alcohol or drugs, to me his death is on a level with the stupidly tragic death of Brandon Lee. Rather than being a showcase for his talents, The Dark Knight will now be one of several sad, final notes in Heath Ledger's life, reminding us of what could have been.