by Monty Cliff

Created on: May 15, 2009

As sad as it is, the best advertisement for a work of art is the death of someone involved. After they were both killed, Biggie and Tupac's records shot to the top of the charts. When John Lee Hooker died, he achieved the iconic status that had always eluded him during his decades long career. That isn't to say that none of these artists deserved their posthumous fame, it just goes to prove the point that once someone dies it is by reaction that we heap honor and praise upon them, just in case we screwed up while they were alive.

And in Heath Ledger's case, there was a rather macabre interest in seeing his last role. It was not long after Ledger's accidental overdose that rumors began circulating that it was the strains of The Joker role that killed him. And when the first trailers of The Dark Knight first showed, with Ledger's Joker looking and acting every bit the demented mad man that he should have, the rumors seemed to gain a new strength and credibility. So, the closer Dark Knight's July 18 release came, the greater the interest to see what, if any, effect this madman character had on the actor portraying him.

I have no doubt that when The Dark Knight opened, there were throngs of comic book fans ecstatic to see what Chirstopher Nolan had done with his next Batman installment. I know, because i was one of those people. Conversations about the Batpod, new Batsuit, the fates of Harvey Dent and Jim Gordon were everywhere. The most passionate discussions focused on whether or not Batman and The Joker's symbiotic relationship would finally get its proper treatment on screen, whether The Joker's identity would come from classics like The Killing Joke or The Man Who Laughs. But even in all these most geek of conversations, there was the unspoken thought that The Joker had killed Heath Ledger, in no uncertain terms.

When first viewing The Dark Knight, it is impossible to not make the film entirely about Heath Ledger and The Joker. And it's a rather easy thing to do; The Joker is the driving forced of everything in the movie, the other characters (and the audience) are never quite sure of what will happen next and are just trying to hold on and make sure they're all still in one piece. And Ledger's performance is brilliant. Ledger gave comic book fans The Joker they had always wanted, a demented totally insane killer who wants nothing more than destroy everything around him. All traces of Nicholson's campy gun-toting clown and Romero's face painted buffoon are gone as quickly as that pencil, and from there there is no going back.

Upon second (or third or fourth) viewings however, one sees the movie as if Ledger were still alive. Instead of focusing solely on The Joker, one sees a extremely well acted, directed, shot and written movie done by professionals at the top of their game. Aaron Eckhart and Gary Oldman give Christian Bale's Batman the perfect backdrop of a hero straddling the line of vigilante, Maggie Gyllenhaall gives Rachael Dawes a more human aspect than her predecessor Katie Holmes and Micheal Caine and Morgan Freeman once again prove they are impossible to miscast. And all of that is due to Chirstopher Nolan's direction, which is as tighter and well paced as one can get.

But even with all that, can you really see a $1 billion worldwide gross and Oscar considerations for all involved had not Heath Ledger met his untimely end? As much as it pains me to say it, the answer is a definite no. Perhaps one day we will learn to fully appreciate our artists while they are still here to work. Sadly though, nothing brings in money so well as paying tribute to fallen souls.

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