I was incredibly pleased to see Heath Ledger win the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor last evening. Put quite simply, his portrayal of the Joker was a tour de force. I don’t think most people realize, or even wish to realize how good Ledger’s performance was. People have said, “he was wonderful, very disturbing, very real.” Yet I think many are reluctant, and quite frankly scared to assess exactly how real it was. Mr. Ledger flailed in a sea of psychotic decadence.
I imagine the role was as indulgent as it was painful. Who of us has not wanted to stand broken before the world, as every eye traces our pain, our delusion, our decomposition? There is a glorious vanity there, is there not? One can ask for nothing more than a legacy, Leger has cemented his.