Heath Ledger Found Dead in NYC at Age 28

were they finished filming?

Man. This is really awful news.

Yeah, Dark Knight is in post-production. They're just tidying it up before it hits theatres. Apparently Ledger was in two other movies, though, one of which was in pre-production (which means they might have wanted to do reshoots), and one of which was still filming.

Sad though it may seem, my first thought when I heard the news was whether he had wrapped up The Dark Night. Still, that kind of puts a hurting on sequels.

And it looked like he was going to be the perfect Joker.

Sad, sad news.

This is one of those out of right field type of things. I am not one to care about the daily lives of stars since they are no more important than the rest of us, but this was not someone you would expect to turn up dead since his career has been very good for the last 10 years. Usually, these dead stars are washed up.

Sad though it may seem, my first thought when I heard the news was whether he had wrapped up The Dark Night. Still, that kind of puts a hurting on sequels.

Yeah, any sequels including Joker would have to be re-cast...That's too bad. I've really like the clips I've seen so far.

A serious shame!

No offense, but isn't it a bit callous to bemoan there will be no more Batman sequels when a man is dead?

Well...no, not really.

Yes, a man is dead, and that's very sad. But on the other hand, for the vast majority of us, our only connection to that man was through his work -- work that we enjoyed, looked forward to seeing, and hoped to see more of -- so it is right and appropriate that we discuss that work, and that we speak with some disappointment that there will be no more of it, because the man is dead.

We were not personal friends of his, so we cannot speak about how his loss affects us as a personal friend's loss would. Some people have pointed out that it's a shame that now his daughter will grow up without him...and that, too, is sad, but in an abstract way for most of us. We don't know his daughter, so we can only point out that it's sad for any child to grow up without a father.

When any person dies, the rest of us are left discussing how that person affected us. An actor or singer affected us by his work, and how he entertained us. That is the way in which that person was part of our lives, or made us laugh or cry, or participated in our conversations. Far from being callous to bemoan the fact that Heath Ledger won't be able to play the Joker again -- that's a reasonable way for us, the people who have been excited to see him on-screen, to mourn him.

It does make sense to you that his humanity trumps his work, right? I'm disappointed that his talent won't grace a screen again either. However, I'm disturbed that his absence from the Hollywood scene is the one and only thing that some people are lamenting and that, to me, indicates how shallow our society has become. A man dies and most shed tears because he cannot be re-cast as The Joker in the Batman movie series? I'm sorry, but that just strikes me as inhuman and wrong.

I dunno Scott. People grieve in different ways and so long as there is grief, and not callousness (like that which you see from Leftist in this thread) I think there's nothing bad about it.

Part of Ledger's humanity was his work, and it's how we knew him. If anyone in this thread were asked to give a eulogy, it would have to be based on how they knew him from his work.

For me, at least, another "This is so sad" comment wasn't really necessary. Yes, it's sad. Not more to say about that...So, some of us were discussing the implications for the future of his work.

Let me put it another way, Scott.

I just checked my local paper's website. In the obituary section, looks like there were about 85 men and women who died yesterday. I can lament the loss of humanity for all of them...but it seems a little shallow to do so. I didn't know them. I empathize with the loss their families must be feeling, but it is in no way callous for me to acknowledge that the passing of those 85 people in my local town doesn't affect me directly.

An actor whose work I enjoyed affected me through his work. I can lament the loss of humanity, or empathize with his grieving friends and family, but it seems a little shallow to do so. I don't lament the passing of every human. I speak of this one, whose work I enjoyed. I will not have the opportunity to enjoy his work any more. It's sad that he won't be able to contribute any more to the future of film, because I think he had a lot left in him.

For the vast majority of us, we're discussing the death of a stranger who impacted us only through his work, not through his humanity or his personal interaction. It's appropriate that we use our experience of his work and our disappointment in the knowledge that there will be no more of it to react to his death.

Pev, very well put. Thank you for putting into words what I feel every time an artist or public figure who affected my life in some way dies.

It's no different than the sadness I feel still, after 12+ years, that Jerry Garcia will no longer be making music.

Or that Alec Guinness won't be making any other movies or perform in plays, for me.

We could probably make a hell of a list, Faruk.

Yep.

Alas, it'd be a bit redundant. Death is the one intrinsically linked part of life… it's good to remember and mourn, but eventually you're just gonna have to move on. There's other people whose lives you can touch and vice versa.

Pev:
I'm not trying to be hard on them, but it looked to me like he/she was basically bummed out that there weren't going to be any more Dark Knight sequels, end of story. People can be okay with that level of involvement if they want but I try to consider that Ledger was a father, an ex-husband, a son and a friend to many people as well... not just the latest actor to play The Joker in the Batman franchise.

I guess what I'm trying to point out to you is that his response was perfectly reasonable. He -- like most of us -- didn't know Heath Ledger as a person, a father, an ex-husband, a son, or a friend. He knew Heath Ledger as an actor who was about to play a role that he was looking forward to watching. It's entirely reasonable for him -- or any of us -- to be sorry that Ledger's death means that he won't be able to play that role again.

The point that I'm trying to make is that this -- a movie fan expressing sorrow at the loss of an actor whose roles he enjoyed because that death means that there will be no more roles, much like a music fan expressing sorrow at the death of a rock star because that death means there will be no more music -- is an honest, genuine reaction. It is the reaction of someone who is genuinely affected by the man's death.

Expressing sorrow at Ledger's loss because it is sad to lose a father, an ex-husband, a son, and a friend is abstract. It's something that we do out of politeness whenever any stranger dies: oh, such a terrible thing for his family to go through, how sad. But we aren't speaking from a place that genuinely affects us. We are not affected by this person as a father, an ex-husband, a son, a friend. We didn't know him that way. We knew him as a movie actor. To express sorrow at the loss of a movie actor is genuine, not abstract; honest, not simply polite.

I'm not trying to diminish your response, Scott. I'm just trying to encourage you not to diminish someone else's.

Pev:
I understand. I was just trying to encourage others to think outside their immediate perspective. Yes, to them he was a great actor. I'm sad that he won't make any more movies either because I enjoyed his work as well. I just try to keep my own sadness in perspective when I think about how Michelle Williams lost her former fiance, how Matilda lost a father and how Heath's family lost a son and brother.

Link to the Times

www.marykatedidit.com?

www.marykatedidit.com?

Either her, or Lindsay Lohan is to blame.

I kind of wondered when he separated from Michelle what was going on with him. I didn't expect them to part after they had the little girl.

Seeing the awful shot on TV of his body being removed in the bag brought back memories of Anna Nicole.....and Marilyn Monroe. I don't now what went wrong with his relationship with Michelle Williams.....they apparently broke up just last fall. I remember thinking they were so cute together last I saw them together on the red carpet. No point in speculating.....just so sad.

A Knight's Tale. Thoroughly enjoyed that too.

A Knight's Tale, that was it. Thank you Morwynd. I appreciate the help very much. :-)

He was good in the remake of The Four Feathers too although the movie itself left a lot to be desired.

I've been a fan since I first saw his TV series Roar. My sympathy to his family and friends.