Heath Ledger Oscar Buzz - Publicity Stunt?

[Tori]

With the release of The Dark Knight many people have been speculating about a possible Oscar nomination for Heath Ledgers terrific performance as the Joker. Fans and fellow actors alike believe that although a superhero villain is not typical academy award nomination material this year the unfortunately deceased actor will be in the running. Actor Peter Finch is currently the only person to win an Oscar for Network (1976) despite his death a few months prior.
Meanwhile others such as director Terry Gilliam who was working with Heath on The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus shortly before his death think of all the Oscar talk is for publicity - "That's what Warner Brothers are saying, but they'll do anything to publicize their film".
Personally I think Heath made the Joker into one of the greatest villains I have ever seen and I hope he will get some kind of recognition, but lets be honest as horrible as it is hes dead and cant enjoy it. Maybe someone could do some kind of honorary award but an Oscar win would be depressing. What do you think?



Source Gilliam info: telegraph.co.uk

[Gremmi]

I wish to court controversy and make a wild, unfounded assumption that there would nary be such buzz had he not misread his prescription labels.

[Sheridan Passell]

Gremmi's only 10 posts in and already on the thinnest ice on the internet.

I don't see what Gilliam is upset about. And he's boxed himself totally into a corner for when his Ledger film comes out.

If Catherine Zeta Jones can win it for her high school performance in Chicago then they can give two goddamn Oscars to Heath Ledger.

[Tori]

I agree. (not with gremmi)
The only thing that bothers me is if he was to win what they are gonna do? He wont be there to receive it smile and give a speech and all that shit. It would be a very empty stage. A tribute might be nice though..... who knows but Heath deserves it no doubt there.

[Gremmi]

Oh, it wasn't anything against his performance (which I admittedly haven't seen and I'm sure is fantastic), more that it's a fairly common theme for unmitigated praise to flow in posthumously. I'd argue that it's a combination of hype and the mainstream press bandwagon jumping.

Anyway, Oscars became irrelevent after Uncle Marty finally won his overdue one in 2007 for Departed. Finally awarding him that shiny golden manstatue meant that I could no longer get furiously annoyed at him being shunned by the commitee, and a lot of the drama of the whole rigamarole was lost for me. Good for Uncle Marty, bad for my rage duct. It almost resurfaced when I heard talk of Will Smith being put forward for I Am Legend, but anger at someone (potentially) winning something they shouldn't just isn't the same as anger at someone not winning something they should. I say they should take Uncle Marty's Oscar away, just to bring back the tension.

[dalmatianjaws]

This performance deserves all the accolades it gets, even if the Oscar is meaningless (for me, after Titanic won for best picture).

The Ledger hype peaked early, seemed to fade by early this year. It just wasn't as intense as people thought it was going to be. I didn't think once about Ledger being dead until someone else brought it up after the movie, and his face wasn't used much more than Bale or Eckhart in the ad campaign.

[Stephen]

if you haven't seen the film yet. you might think its just a publicity stunt. but watching his performance will change your mind. i thought that it was heath ledgers best role. he did an excellent job at playing the joker. so i think he deserves the oscar for this year. he really got into this role. you sometimes can't believe its heath ledger.

[Tyler Lovemark]

I think his portrayal is completely deserving of all the praise he's getting.  During the movie, I never thought of the Joker as "the Joker, as played by Heath Ledger".  It simply was Joker.  This rarely happens.  Hell, even Daniel Day-Lewis performances make me say "oh, that's Daniel Plainview, as played by Day-Lewis".  Even though he stole the show, I would say his performance was without ego, simply because if his name wasn't on the posters everywhere, nobody would ever guess that it was Ledger under the makeup.  This role will be one remembered for the ages, and it should get the recognition as such.

On kind of a sidenote, I'm kind of surprised that Oldman isn't getting any recognition.  I thought he was exceptional in the movie.  Granted, he's just Gordon and not Batman or Dent or anyone iconic like that, but he really helped ground the movie.

[Gremmi]

if you haven't seen the film yet. you might think its just a publicity stunt. but watching his performance will change your mind.

True enough, which is why my initial post clarified it was an unfounded assumption. I'm willing to bet I'll eat my own words once I finally get around to meandering cinema-wards.

But still, with all due respect for the deceased, the circumstances surrounding his tragic death couldn't have been more perfect for the redtop press. It was vague enough for them to make any conclusion they really wanted, whether it was accidentally mixing prescription meds, accidental overdose by drug abuse, or outright suicide. "HEATH LEDGER, KILLED BY THE PAINS AND STRESS OF CELEBRITY - WHAT A SHIT SOCIETY WE LIVE IN" cry the rags. "ALSO, LINDSAY LOHAN NIPPLE SLIP ON PAGE 4", they continue, oblivious to the irony.

I agree about Oldman based on the strength of the first movie, though. Him and Cillian Murphy were the secondary highlights to Chris Bale's rendition of Bats for me.

[hanchan]

NORBIT GOT AN OSCAR

pls create a shrine to heath ledger made out of loads of oscars stuck together

[Champagne]

I would say that he most definitely deserves the Oscar for Best Actor.  No other performance even comes close.  The fact that "he's dead and can't enjoy it" is a terrible argument, because the reward is not for the purposes of making someone happy.  It's an accolade to a performance which is outstanding.  I'm sure someone with a wheelbarrow will go up on stage to accept his trophies.  Assuming the academy isn't completely out of touch, he deserves it, dead or not.   

[MissyVonDoll]

I thought Heath was amazing as the Joker, but all this post humanous bum licking needs to stop.
I am very certain that if the guy was alive, there wouldn't be a mention of an Oscar.  And if he was nominated, and he does win, what is the guy going to do it the statue??

[Mahmoud El-Azzeh]

The way I see it - I can't think of anyone this year so far who has come close to Ledger's performance in the Dark Knight - hence therefore, why the hell not give him the Oscar?

[Champagne]

I thought Heath was amazing as the Joker, but all this post humanous bum licking needs to stop.
I am very certain that if the guy was alive, there wouldn't be a mention of an Oscar.  And if he was nominated, and he does win, what is the guy going to do it the statue??

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess that you meant "posthumous".  People aren't talking Oscar because he's dead, they're talking Oscar because he gave one of the greatest performances I've seen period.  Not to mention that nothing else in this year even comes close.  I'm willing to bet that even had he not died, he'd still receive it.  His death doesn't make his performance any less deserving of the award.

[vystral]

This performance deserves all the accolades it gets, even if the Oscar is meaningless (for me, after Titanic won for best picture).

bingo