I’ll be honest and say that I’m avoiding The Dark Knight until the crowds die down a little and the creepy-morbid fascination with Heath Ledger is older news. I think the attention paid to his acting is warranted; I thought (and still think) that Ledger was a phenomenal actor getting better by the day. He should be mourned, absolutely. By family, friends, fans, an entire industry, Brooklyn. But I don’t like gawkers. I can’t get behind the kind of post-tragedy, upside down version of fairweather fandom that leads to his action figures from TDK selling like hotcakes on eBay or theaters flooding with newly declared fans itching to get in on his final performance. I fully believe the movie is amazing, I believe most people who went to see it were genuine, and I fully intend to see it myself. But hopefully without the feeling that I’m swept up in a crowd rubbernecking at a bad accident.
Archive: July 22, 2008