Heath Ledger - there it is.
By Burbanked on Jan 23, 2008 in Celebrities, Gossip, Movies | 1,122 views |
“What you can’t change, you’ve just got to ride out.” - Ennis Del Mar
It seems strange that upon the death of a young promising actor that we’ll hear so much talk about a wasted future and the impact on box office grosses, but there it is.
I am utterly amazed by the thought that someone, somewhere, is contemplating what they’ll do with all of those new Joker action figures, either designed or sculpted or molded or perhaps even rolling off the assembly line right now. And that someone will likely consider things like investments, stakeholders, marketing and other things equally unimportant, but there it is.
And there will be a toy collector who either buys or sells such a thing for an exorbitant price. And someday there will be a little girl - she’s two right now - who sees a toy crafted in her dead daddy’s image and there it’ll be.
Should it be revealed as a suicide, it’s difficult - and, from my standpoint, impossible - to contemplate the course of action of a man who, despite the pressures of fame, above the constant scrutiny of parasitic photographers, beyond the difficulties of a troubled, breaking marriage, could not somehow be comforted by the hope and the potential and the joy that is borne from the love of one’s little child.
And there are Dark Knight posters still to be printed and TV spots to be cut and dialogue to be looped and all manner of Studio Blockbuster commitments to have been made, but there it is.
The deaths of young celebrities is nothing new or old. But it’s still surprising somehow, jarring. Bizarrely sad.
Somewhere teams of publicists - not just for Ledger, but for others as well - are mobilizing. This is what they prepare for. This is their Super Bowl. It’s a tragedy, but there it is.
Tonight the Pittsburgh air is cold - brisk cold not biting cold
with the huge, snow-filled clouds moving fast across the sky
like they’ve got somewhere to be.
They shift, break and you see it
- there it is -
a full, bright moon,
stunning with light and promise.
Dedicated screenwriting 101 here: From an interview with Harrison Ford on the MTV Movies Blog in which the inevitability of another Indiana Jones movie is mentioned:
How do I get out of this? I love going to the movies with my boys, opening up their minds to the great pleasures of cinema and all that, but this is a hard one. Please help me: do I suck it up and just go, or can anyone out there provide me with a plausible, kind-hearted, permanent way out? (
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MC | Jan 23, 2008 | Reply
You certainly captured an element which I didn’t even see when I first heard this story, and it is food for thought.
Liz | Jan 23, 2008 | Reply
It is stunning, isn’t it. It’s hard to know exactly what to think about the whole thing.
Tina | Jan 23, 2008 | Reply
Excellent post.
Ray | Jan 23, 2008 | Reply
Exactly, Alan. Fucking Alex Billington of firstshowing.net casually mentioned in his article about Heath’s death that “the most important question is what happens to THE DARK KNIGHT now.”
What a fucking fat, self-absorbed douche bag. No, Alex, that is NOT the most important question. The most important question is why can’t Heath be resurrected so he can beat your shallow ass?
I woke up this morning hoping that somehow this guy’s death was just a figment of my inebbriated imagination. Unfortunately, it’s still true.
The Jay | Jan 24, 2008 | Reply
Well done, sir.
Burbanked | Jan 24, 2008 | Reply
Thanks for the kind comments, everybody.
Megan | Jan 25, 2008 | Reply
Cheers from me too.