Bye Heath.

I met Health Ledger a few years back when I was living in Sydney, Australia. He was filming a movie in the downtown core two blocks from where my flat was. While on a break he came over to us on the street and chatted. He was young, pleasant, fresh-faced and a movie away from making it big in America…who’d of known?

After hearing of his passing I felt a deep sadness. A sorrow I’ve been struggling to understand. I didn’t know him and while I enjoy his films and found his personality likeable, I wasn’t fanatical about the guy. He was talented and I admired him. So why has it been gut wrenching to watch or read anything about his passing?
Every now and again this happens…I hear of celebrities or world leaders or athletes or anyone in the public eye… who’ve passed away and it hits me so hard it might compare to the loss of a family member… and I’ve never met these people… and I can’t explain it.
It doesn’t happen all the time… maybe once a year, if that, but when it happens I am in distress for days and days. There is no closure for it either, it remains an open gash and it makes me feel like I am crazy.

The next installment of the Batman movies is getting set for release in July and I am cringing at the thought of all the publicity that is going to surround it because Heath’s portrayal of the Joker was one of his last. It will not only take focus away from the film, it will also bring up his death and any mystery surrounding it. The media loves to beat dead horses.

If you ever want to see one of Heath’s better films get yourself a copy of an Australian movie called ‘Two Hands’. He made this film right before his big break with 10 Things I Hate About You. It’s a classic.

Death makes angels of us all
& gives us wings
where we had shoulders
smooth as raven's claws

JIM MORRISON, An American Prayer