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Posthumous Awards for Heath Ledger
In the aftermath of The Dark Knight, and his death last year, Heath Ledger has received or been nominated for several posthumous awards. Were they based on merit, or given out of pity?
I have a question, and no, it’s not “Why So Serious?” My question is more along the lines of, “Did Heath Ledger deserve all his posthumous awards?”
Now, I am not writing to bash the late Mr. Ledger’s performance as the Joker in The Dark Knight. No, I do believe that he did a fantastic job portraying the role of the Clown Prince of Crime. Ledger’s skill, in my opinion, peaked in this film, so much so that he has left an impact on the character in any incarnation. Before, people thought of Ricardo Montalbon’s goofiness, or Mark Hamill’s bone-chilling and villainous – if not easily recognizable – voice, but whoever next dons the purple suit and make-up has even bigger shoes to fill.
My argument isn’t whether or not Ledger’s acting was good. Rather, I really would like to know if the awards he received were out of respect for his acting, or respect for his death.
The best example to illustrate my being puzzled is the Academy Awards.
In the past, superhero movies seemed to be shunned by the Academy Awards. Tobey Maguire was never once nominated for any sort of category for his role in the Spider-Man franchise. Hugh Jackman has yet to see an Oscar as well for X-Men. However, Ledger was officially nominated as Best Actor in a Supporting Role this past year. Though he did not win, the fact that he is nominated is amazing, seeing as how the Academy has shunned comic book-based films.
So anyone could surmise that Ledger’s performance really wowed the Academy, I’ll admit that. But look at some other evidence:
In his time as an actor, Ledger has been nominated for a total of 30 awards. Out of that 30, Heath only won 16. But out of that 16, 10 were posthumous for his role in The Dark Knight. So Heath won the majority of his awards only after his death. Were he still alive today, would the total be the same? I say not.
Though Ledger’s performance in The Dark Knight will be hard-matched in any other film in the superhero genre, it is my guess that the powers-that-be allowed the posthumous awards and nominations out of respect for his death more than his skill. Were he alive today, Ledger would take home the “Award for Best Actor” – though at the VMAs rather than the Academy Awards.
