LUCIDMEDIA

Heath We Hardly Knew Ye

Written by Adam A. Donaldson Friday, 25 January 2008 12:15

What happened? I don’t know. Some reports say he was found amongst a scattering of sleeping pills, some say a rolled up bill was found near his body. The New York coroner had to suspend a ruling on cause of death until more tests were complete. Does it really matter though?

Ledger, an Australian by birth, came to the attention of American audiences when he was cast as the lead in Shaun Cassidy’s Fox series Roar, a series that combined Celtic mythology with a swords-and-sorcery setting. It was made at the height of the hype around Xena and Hercules and was quickly burned off by the network in the summer of 1997. Ledger’s next shot at fame was through playing the sardonic malcontent that had to tame the shrew in the Shakespeare High flick 10 Things I Hate About You, and even an hetero-male was incapable of denying the guy had charisma to spare even in spite of the contrived High School High material. He was further done no favours in The Patriot, a pompous, loud and overly simplistic look at a father/son relationship against the backdrop of the American Revolution. Ledger notably stood his own against the then movie star might of Mel Gibson, and if there was a good that came out of the cinema after The Patriot, it’s that it opened the doors for an emerging talent that deserved better than the condensed history lesson provided by the guys that made Independence Day. Ledger found himself leading man material in A Knight’s Tale, while in the same year taking a supporting role in a provocative little film known as Monster’s Ball. After that he had his share of bombs; The Order, The Four Feathers, The Brothers Grimm, but you can’t keep a good actor down, law of averages says that better parts are always just around the next turn of a screenplay’s title page.

Not many actors would have taken the part of Ennis Del Mar in Brokeback Mountain, the sad truth about Hollywood is that it’s not always as open-minded as it personally likes to think it is or as right-wing pundits believe it to be.

Brokeback was stunning not because it was a about a gay couple, it was stunning because it took a romantic relationship between two men so serious and gave it proper respect. You felt the passion, the longing, the love and commitment from both Ledger’s Ennis and Jake Gyllenhaal’s Jack.

Ledger had the more difficult task, Ennis was a man conflicted, a man whose deep emotions reside in the well of his soul and barely ever play to the surface. While you see Jack toy with a greater degree of openness with their relationship, Ennis would always stop himself well in advanced of ever daring to dream as high as Jack, for Ennis had once witnessed the ignorant cost of being openly different.

Both men try to live a normal life, but fail, only to find each other once again. Jack wants to leave, he wants to go to a place where they can both be free to exist as who they are, but Ennis was never sure that such a place existed. Always the one playing emotion close to the chest, Ennis is often seen suffering in silence although it is interesting to see in the initial sexual encounter that it’s Ennis that leads after Jack puts out the signals.

The film climaxes with the death of Jack, and the film leaves ambiguous the possibility that he met the fate the Ennis feared for them both. Jack’s wife tells Ennis it was his wish to have his ashes scattered on Brokeback Mountain.

When Ennis arrives at the home of Jack’s parents to collect the ashes, he visits Jack’s boyhood bedroom and in the closet sees his bloody shirt, the one he injured himself in that first summer on Brokeback, hidden under one of Jack’s own. Removing the shirt from the closet, he smells it and begins to silently weep. It’s a scene of so many complex emotions conveyed in a single action. You just get it, whether you’re gay, straight or bi, you feel his pain, it’s yours and that’s the mark of a great actor – he puts you there in the moment, making you a part of it.

Interestingly, Ledger’s next starring role was as the legendary lothario Casanova. But the fact of the matter is, by that point Ledger had outgrown the romantic leads he’d started his Hollywood career being. Brokeback showed such great complexity that Ledger found himself with award recognition and a license to do as he please. His forward portrayal of Ennis also helped the film escape a lot pointless punditry making it neither a ‘cause’ picture for the left or an example to revile for the right.

Last year, Ledger picked a role that would help him stand out even more: The Joker in the Batman Begins sequel The Dark Knight. Far different from any Joker before, Ledger took a walk on the dark side reportedly working himself to the nub to create his performance and frightening himself in the process.

The portrayal of a Bat-villain has always had a Midas-effect on a career (unless you count Batman & Robin, which had the opposite effect). You get recognized for it as the character is universal known, as is the Bat-franchise, which remains one of the most beloved and the most profitable in Hollywood’s portfolio. This was going to open doors for Ledger, a man that skirted convention with aplomb. In a Hollywood, for the person with the right frame of mind and direction, nothing is more freeing than success.

Of course, success can be a trap too; is this the fate that befell a man with such promise. John Allston once said that “The only thing you take with you when you're gone is what you leave behind.” In this regard, Ledger has left a rich though unfortunately short-lived legacy in his work.

He had a two year old daughter through his former partner Michelle Williams; they met on the set of Brokeback. This little girl will grow-up never knowing her father. She’ll only have his stories through friends, his films, his mementos and something else. It disturbed me to no end to see the veritable feeding frenzy that stemmed from the announcement of Ledger’s death. Worse still was when my local news cut to live tape of the New York Coroner removing Ledger’s remains in a body bag. “How sick is this?” I thought as I watched a million flashes go off at once. This little girl will never have her father, but she will have thousands of pictures and videos of her father being taken away in a hearse. I never understood the fervour over the death of Anna Nicole Smith last year; what did she do for us? Why was she famous? Why was CNN’s supposedly venerable Wolf Blitzer squandering hours of airtime on the subject of her demise?

But you have to admit that the death of Smith was not entirely unexpected. Some celebrity deaths are merely the final word in a movement of descending action as we watch them tumble from glorious heights to the very pit of self abuse and self degradation. For example, if Amy Winehouse were to be found dead tomorrow I’d hardly be surprised; or even Britney Spears for that matter.

Is the death of one actor worth the weight attached to it by the bottomless maw of the 24-hour media machine? Probably not, but we never get over the idea of young talent gone too soon before its fruit had fully blossomed whether they’re Marilyn Monroe, John Lennon or Heath Ledger.