All the glitz and glamor that surrounded the Golden Globes, or any Hollywood event for that matter, was at full force this evening. They had to double it up since last year’s ceremony was canceled due to the screenwriter’s guild strike (Whatever happened to that, anyway? It was all the rage at the time; everyone was doing it!). 
Tears and champagne flowed, but an extra tear was in the eye of award recipients and onlookers alike as the late Heath Ledger received that all too rare posthumous award for his supporting role in Dark Knight, as the maniacal Joker.
Heath Ledger was a young man of 28 when he passed this time last year, January 22nd to be exact, which ironically enough is the day that the Academy of Motion Pictures and Sciences announces nominations for the annual Oscars ceremony. Now death and coincidences never guaranteed anyone of an Oscar, but I do have to admit that the members of the Academy may look more villainous than the Joker to the American public if they don’t at least nominate Ledger for the award.
But let’s get to the heart of the matter. Is Heath Ledger this generation’s James Dean? Some say yes, some say no. I say maybe. They had a lot of common. They both were nominated and won Golden Globes posthumously, they both passed away before their time, and they both were in a movie where they played cowboys.
However, James Dean is still revered to this day. Posters of him and Marilyn Monroe abound. They wrote movies about his untimely death. One in particular is close to my heart: September 30, 1955, starring a young Dennis Quaid. One factoid I’d like to mention is that I had a friend who was in that movie. He probably wouldn’t want me to say his name; if you watch the film you’ll know why, but I digress.
Will Heath Ledger be remembered like James Dean? Honestly, for many years, Ledger wasn’t one of my favorite actors. I liked him in a couple of films I saw -Monster’s Ball in particular – but I don’t think myself or anyone else considered him to be one of the greats, that is until Dark Knight. I remembered the first time I had ever heard he was going to play the Joker, I thought to myself how was he ever going to top Jack Nicholson’s performance in Batman? Not the Nicholson didn’t do a great job, but Heath Ledger really outdid himself and redefined how maniacal a comic book villain should behave, on the big screen at any rate.
As far as the Oscars go, I hope Ledger gets some sort of nod for his performance. Posthumous or not, Heath Ledger crafted an inspiring role that will be talked about for years to come. Maybe there’s a barstool for him in the cafe of Boulevard of Broken Dreams. The real question I would pose to the reader of this article, and your answer may determine whether or not his status will be as legendary as James Dean’s, is would you paint Ledger in, or the Joker?
Whatever the case, it may have to remain in our imagination, for if someone tried to sketch him in, the artist might get pissed. I wouldn’t do it.
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