I'm glad Warner Brothers did that. I'm getting a little sick of all the news channels falling in line with tabloid programs and heightening this tragedy with inventions, speculation and misstatements. With how slimy news has gradually gotten it's hard to tell if you’re watching CNN or TMZ. It's interesting considering how little non-industry footage and knowledge anyone really has on Ledger. He stayed away from this side of the industry. It also appears that his colleagues really enjoyed his work and company.
The Dark Knight link you provided summed things up perfectly and succinctly.
Thanks, Jamie.
I think a lot of the "coverage" over Ledger's death has been disgusting. I don't watch trashy tabloids like TMZ, but some morning shows have had "exclusive" clips, direct from TMZ, such as papparrazzi shoving a camera into a teary Anne Hathaway's face, and asking how she feels, etc.
One such program had a guy from some entertainment website, who began bashing John Travolta of all people, for publicly stating the loss he feels over Heath Ledger. The "journalist" said something to the effect of, "Travolta has no right to mourn Heath Ledger, because he never worked with him, and barely knew the guy. Also, if you listen carefully to his statement concerning Ledger, it eerily mirrors Travolta's words when he spoke of Princess Diana's death."
Then you have Larry King, who the night after Ledger's death was reported, had a panel consisting of someone from
Entertainment Tonight, People Magazine, Pat O'Brien, CNN's medical correspondent, director Catherine Hardwicke (who made
Lords of Dogtown) and Eric Roberts, who is appearing in
The Dark Knight. As usual, a lot of Larry's questions were abysmal and somewhat morbid, and he did quite a bit of fawning over Eric Roberts, whom he called "one of my favorite actors" twice throughout the segment. When Roberts brought up losing an Oscar, the following exchange took place:
King: What movie were you nominated for?
Roberts:
Runaway Train.
King: I loved that movie! That was a wild movie!
Then Larry asked Eric about
The Dark Knight:
King: Do you think this [Ledger's death] will give even more attention to the Batman movie?
Roberts: I haven't thought about it.
King: Don't you think so? I think it would be a bonanza!
[Later...]
King (to Roberts): This seems ridiculous, but do you play a bad guy?
Roberts: I always play a bad guy, Larry.
King: So we don't like you in this movie?
There are rumors that the role of The Joker was so intense, it caused Ledger to go insane, and it led to his death. I think this is complete nonsense. Again, a rumor started by the tabloids.
Another "insider" claimed that the media circus surrounding Ledger's death wouldn't be so intense if he didn't have an upcoming blockbuster, that "[the majority of the public] didn't know who Heath Ledger was. But the interest in Batman is so high, it has propelled his death to front page news."
I did hear that Warner Bros. will probably change their marketing campaign, which up until now, has focused heavily on The Joker. The studio may instead start advertising Aaron Eckhart's Harvey Dent/Two-Face.