Fan Rant: Ledger's Drug Use Has No Place in Oscar Talk
Filed under: Action, Awards, Celebrities and Controversy, Fandom, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Oscar Watch, Fan Rant
An editorialist named Eric P. Lucas says in Friday's Los Angeles Times that since Heath Ledger's death was the result of his own recklessness, he therefore should not win an Oscar for his performance in The Dark Knight. "It's time to stop the canonization of Heath Ledger," Lucas begins. "He's just a pretty good actor who did away with himself and broke the hearts of his family and friends, and he shouldn't get an Academy Award to memorialize his death. ... Each year more than 100,000 Americans die of alcohol or drug abuse. It would be madness to commemorate one such death with the greatest honor in cinema. Please give the Academy Award to someone who's had the courage to stick around."
Lucas asserts that Ledger's performance isn't all that great anyway -- "a can-can dance of snuffling pseudo-psychopathia," he calls it -- but that's irrelevant to his larger point. It would seem that even if Ledger's Joker truly did represent the finest acting of the year, his personal behavior should disqualify him from Oscar consideration.
To Lucas I say this: Wanna watch me make this pencil disappear?
I actually agree with a lot of what he writes about how certain people's drug- or alcohol-fueled deaths make them more iconic than they would have been otherwise. Did Kurt Cobain's suicide rob my generation of its greatest poet? Nah. I think the only group that really suffered a major loss when Cobain died was the heroin industry. And I think it's silly when people talk about getting emotional when they see Ledger in The Dark Knight, as if the death of someone they never met still makes them misty-eyed all these months later. So let it not be said that I am not a heartless bastard.
My beef with Lucas is his ludicrous assertion that the manner of Ledger's death should have any bearing whatsoever on his Oscar-worthiness. Here's what should be taken into account when you consider acting awards: the acting. What's up there on the screen is all that matters. The Academy Awards aren't meant to be seals of approval on people's personal lives. Even if Ledger had died in the act of machine-gunning a busload of American-flag-draped orphans, it would have nothing to do with the quality of his film performance.
Roman Polanski is a convicted rapist. Frank Sinatra was a two-fisted drunk with Mafia connections. Lewis Carroll was probably a pedophile. Henry Ford hated Jews. Thomas Jefferson owned slaves. Do none of them deserve the praise they got for their professional work? Just how flawless does a person's life have to be for their creative efforts to have any merit?
Furthermore, when Polanski won an Oscar for directing The Pianist, nobody said, "Well, I guess that means the Academy endorses the drugging and sexual exploitation of 13-year-olds!" What people said was, "I guess that means the Academy thought Polanski's work merited an Oscar." Giving Ledger an Academy Award isn't going to send any message other than "he gave a great performance," period.
Lucas believes that people are praising Ledger's performance only because he's dead. The problem with this theory is that people were talking about Ledger's work as the Joker before he died, too. When Entertainment Weekly's Benjamin Svetkey visited the set last summer, Ledger was "all that anyone working on the movie want[ed] to talk about." I don't doubt that Ledger's death has tinted some people's analysis of his performance, but it's arrogant and presumptuous to insist that those of us praising him have somehow been deluded or misled by the facts of his demise.
Like I said, I'm a cold, insensitive jerk who has no personal connection to Ledger's death whatsoever, and I think his performance is brilliant. I'd think the same thing if he were still alive, or if he had punched my mother in the face, or if he had once married Paris Hilton. None of that matters. What he does in The Dark Knight is what matters, and that's the only thing the Academy should consider.
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Reader Comments
(Page 2)22. he licks his lips because of the cut he has and he murmurs to himself because he is a psychopathic killer who either cut him self or was abused as a child both very possible reasons to be a psychopath so he portrayed his character well I'm not sure if its oscar worthy but i don't believe that he should get the oscar just because he died but because of his performance.
Posted at 2:35AM on Aug 4th 2008 by Ray
23. Can someone teach Lucas to draw logical conclusions? Cause "you can't give someone an oscar for his acting skills cause he made mistakes in his personal life" doesn't sound very logical to me. Fact of the matter is, that he did a great job as the Joker, and then died of an overdose. The two are not linked (can't believe I'm spelling that out, cause you'd think a rational person would've drawn this conclusion himself, but alas, no.), no matter how you twist it to fit this asinine judgemental rant.
Lucas is one of those losers who only use the facts that work for his story, and leave out the rest. Not impressive. Maybe he's upset at the thought that he could overdose, and nobody would give a shit.
Posted at 7:55AM on Aug 2nd 2008 by Faye
24. I agree. . .I mean it was a friggen batman movie. I thought he was good as the joker, but no "best actor" or what? best co-star good. . .
Plus, recognition is wasted on the dead.
Posted at 8:40AM on Aug 2nd 2008 by chris
25. Just curious...the next time Mel Gibson directs another Braveheart or Passion, will we hear "so he's a misogynistic, jew-hating drunk...it's what's on the screen that counts!"
Posted at 8:58AM on Aug 2nd 2008 by Cincinnati Mike
26. It's called the "best actor" not "best person" award.
Posted at 2:06PM on Aug 2nd 2008 by eugene
27. Sure, give it to him. Who cares?
He won't have another chance, since he made a 150 million dollar top-selling flick, and then shove a thousand pills down the shaft.
Besides, it's just another oscar. Everyone has one.
Except Bruce Willis.
Posted at 10:22AM on Aug 2nd 2008 by cough
28. Suicide? Ledger's death was determined an accidental overdose.
Posted at 11:00AM on Aug 2nd 2008 by garfinkel
29. Unfortunately, Oscars are far from what they should be. It's all B.S. and politics now. So, it's no surprise that Heath might get judged for his drug use. He shouldn't, he should be purely judged on one performance that was exceptional in his career and above his norm. Example, Scorcese. It's politics. He was "owed." Departed was good, but not exceptional for Scorcese. (of course, that's my opinion.)
Posted at 11:07AM on Aug 2nd 2008 by Mr_A
30. I'm pretty sure my father (who is a member of the academy and votes for who wins what oscar)would have to disagree with your comment about it "all (being) B.S. and politics now". He votes for who he thinks was the best thats why every singe nominee send him their movie to watch so that he knows who the best is.
Posted at 2:35AM on Aug 4th 2008 by ray
31. "I think the only group that really suffered a major loss when Cobain died was the heroin industry"
That is just a ridiculous comment. I generally agree with the point you make in your article, but it is difficult to take it seriously after you drop the Cobain remark. Perhaps you do not deify Kurt Cobain, and that is fine. But to suggest that only drug dealers have missed him following his death, is just a juvenile attempt at humor.
It's like saying that the only people that suffered a major loss when Tupac died were his jewelers and baby-mamas.
Silliness.
Posted at 12:04PM on Aug 2nd 2008 by Absurd Hero
32. Eric P. f***ing Lucas should take a leaf out of those actors' (whom he has absolutely no right to criticise) books.
Heath Ledger, not that it is any of anyone's business save his own, his family's and his close friends', did not kill himself. He had a daughter who meant the world to him- I find it extremely difficult to believe that he just "did away with himself" as Lucas so eloquently put it.
Wanna watch me make this pencil disappear?
Totally agree.
Posted at 12:13PM on Aug 2nd 2008 by Hannah
33. i would make my foot disappear for lucas lol...it has nothing to do with him dieing in my opinion he just did an amazing job in his role.....all that guy wants is attention hes a total douche
Posted at 3:06PM on Aug 2nd 2008 by vega
34. This analysis is total bull crap! He'll get the AA for one reason and one reason only: he deserves it. I could care less about what he did when he went home or how many pills are in his body. That doesn't take away from the fact that it is one of the most memorable performances ever to appear on the silver screen!
Posted at 3:35PM on Aug 2nd 2008 by Jay Berg
35. All i will say is if any one saw TDK they know Ledger was F-ing genius and more than deserves a nomination and in my opinion should hands down win for his spectacular performance. As great a movie as TDK is it wouldn't as great without Ledger's brilliant performance.
Posted at 4:34PM on Aug 2nd 2008 by Brandon Barbin
36. As I believe, Ledger's death was accidental. Heath's death should have nothing to do with winning the Oscar. Well maybe if he pull a Benoit.
I think Heath did a fantastic job as The Joker. A lot of the time I didn't even notice it was Ledger in the role. And to say ''because he was wearing make-up duh''. Well Nicholson wore make-up and all I saw watching that movie was Nicholson. Ledger was in hit and miss films, but he hit it out of the park with The Joker role. Do I believe he will win the Oscar? No. Academy doesn't give a shit for superhero films. It's always the artsy fartsy stuff that get picked.
Posted at 11:12PM on Aug 2nd 2008 by Film Spunk
37. I agree 100%, and he does 'deserve' an oscar -- what other breakthrough performances have there been this year? I think The Dark Knight itself deserves to be nominated for an Oscar, why not Best Film? It's definitely among them, but I know it won't. I still hope that it is nominated even though it won't win because it would be an accomplishment and milestone for comic-book-films, super hero movies and... Batman. Then... maybe.... just maybe... we'll have someone like Ridley Scott pick up a Comic-book-movie script and say: i'll do it"...
Posted at 1:24PM on Aug 3rd 2008 by Kalibur
38. Lucas is crazy... duuno what does he eny? n why that comment... i mean... heath ledger as joker, or in different movies as in borkeback mountain, or as in lords of dogtonw, etc... he always did a vrey very very good job, donest matter if he took or not drugs... or alcohol, and it doesnt matter if he was in personal life what he was, his job as an actor is 100% acceptable, i dont know if you pple saw the other batman movies, joker wasn´t good i mean those movies were horribles!!!! joker was an @sshole i mean, heath ledger was superior as actor in joker... so if acaddemy conssiders that he deserves the oscar.. i think is fine... is acceptable... n i would be happy for him, n his last job... price hsa nothing to do with drugs man, why to focus on bad things if u can focus on good ones... ?? envy??
Salut
Posted at 1:44PM on Aug 3rd 2008 by diego
39. I agree with the second half of this discussion. Heath Ledger's death should have no effect on whether or not he recieves an oscar. I think that nobody else in the world could have done a better job of portraying the joker than him. If I could have the final and deciding say in the matter, I would definitely say yes. Robert Downey Jr.'s, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Jeff Bridges' acting in Iron Man deserved an oscar as well and if anybody says that those people don't, then they should not be commenting on these things.
Posted at 3:30PM on Aug 3rd 2008 by kristian
40. I love how when someone does an amazing performance in a movie, then dies, assholes accuse us fans of only finding their performance great because of their untimely demise. It's not even about his personal life, it's about the character he played in the movie. if you watch this movie you can see that he put his heart and soul into this film. For one compare his joker to any other comicbook movie villain. Actually, compare his joker to any other movie villain and see how they stack up. If he isn't even "worthy of a nomination" who the hell is?
Posted at 7:27PM on Aug 3rd 2008 by Chris
21. Finally one person who actually says Ledger's performance wasn't that brilliant. I think it's very over-hyped. It's so much easier to play a legendary character who is a psychotic villain (who licks his lips a bit more than David Archuleta and murmurs weirdly) than play the character everyone thinks is a joke (like, Batman) and do it well. But nobody is saying how good Christian Bale was.
Ledger's performance was not Oscar-worthy, it was traditional. But, unfortunately, the Academy tends to be sensitive andn go with the buzz so I'm almost certain he will get a nod.
Posted at 4:03AM on Aug 2nd 2008 by Maria