Heath Ledger: Death of an Insider

As is the case with all artists, we will measure the magnitude of Heath Ledger's accomplishments according to how long his art lasts and how many people remember him. By this standard, Ledger will live for another decade or so across this country and he will never die in Hollywood. Ledger did all of the things that an actor should do in order to curry favor with the Hollywood In-Crowd: he sought roles in Oscar-type movies, played a homosexual character in a movie, spoke out publicly about the need for America to normalize homosexual conduct, and did his mandatory stint with drugs and rehab. When he heard that West Virginia had banned "Brokeback Mountain," Ledger informed all of us for the first time that the West Virginians had been lynching black people in the 1980s. None were more surprised at that than the historians.
Why do such rich and famous people grow so dissatisfied with life and throw everything away doing drugs? After the last two weeks or so, the autopsy has been ruled "inconclusive" at least for the present, but drugs clearly played a part.
As to his legacy, no one outside Hollywood born after the year 2000 will know his name. I read an Entertainment Weekly article recently about young and promising actors who died untimely deaths. I had not heard of most of them because their movies are no longer popular. For Ledger, "A Knight's Tale" may maintain a certain cult following, but his teen movies, namely "10 Things I Hate About You" will soon enough be a source of mirth due to how "so '90s" they are. "The Patriot" was a hit, but its historical inaccuracies prevent the buffs from embracing it, not to mention that he played a rather silly part. In time, the buffs are the only ones who watch period films and we do not watch that one. Not many people saw "Monster's Ball" the first time, and those who saw it couldn't remember him for all the Halle Berry eye candy. The same can be said for his most recent works, "I'm Not There," "Candy" and "Casanova:" all gained some critical and insider acclaim, but none brought home box office money.
"The Brothers Grimm" is a genre movie that can hope for at best a cult following, but such a fate is unlikely. "Brokeback Mountain" grossed $80 million, but it was a passing fad. There will be more movies about homosexuals and only Hollywood insiders will memorialize "Brokeback" as a courageous trailblazer. "Brokeback's" fans will remember it as the first movie to express some degree of authenticity or relevance until the next movie comes along to be the first authentic and relevant movie. Does anyone else notice that every big movie with a strong liberal political message is the first of its kind? In a way, then, it is fitting that his posthumous movie will be the biggest success of his career. "Dark Knight" will likely gross $100-200 million, so Ledger will live behind the mask of the young Joker's paint for a little while longer.
Rest in Peace, young man. In a few months I will reach the age at which you departed this life. I wish you had found the love of Jesus Christ, who gives me a reason to want to live.