Heath Ledger Wins Posthumous Oscar

I did not watch the Oscars last night (I was out studying), and to be honest, I haven’t watched them in a couple of years now because life has become too busy and I often think that Hollywood is out of touch with reality and creates an artificial bubble that is so removed from everything happening in our world.

I was, however, happy to learn that the late Heath Ledger won for ‘Best Supporting Actor’ for his role as the Joker (his final role before his untimely death) in The Dark Knight. Heath is only the second actor to ever win a posthumous Oscar and his win, ironically, came exactly 13 months after his death. His Oscar will go to his daughter when she turns 18.

As a fan of the Batman franchise that was resurrected and revamped by Christopher Nolan (he not only directly but co-wrote as well), I thought that Heath was the perfectly cast to play the Joker. While watching the film (I saw it three times), I did not once correlate the character to the actor. Instead, I saw the twisted, demented, crazed Joker before me the whole time. Now that is a sign of an excellent actor.

May he rest in peace.