[Despanan]

Originally Posted by Grausamkeit

I actually liked him better in Brokeback Mountain. He made a much more believable gay man than he did a psychopath.

Wait, so the great Heath Ledger role that people were sadly unaware of was Brokeback? The groundbreaking gay romance that won 8 academy awards and was the 10th highest grossing romance movie of all time? The one that inspired countless parodies and almost got his funeral picketed by the Westboro baptist church. People who saw the Dark Knight didn't know he'd played a gay cowboy, and thus were "Sadly ignorant" of his career and lauded acclaim on his final "lackluster" performance?

Bullshit. People were aware of Brokeback - That movie is a huge part of pop culture and easily worked it's way into the national consciousness.

Do better.

As Joker he only reminded me of those poor schizophrenic homeless people in downtown Houston. Homeless crazy dudes aren't scary, most of the time. They just need meds and therapy.

Man, the homeless people in downtown Huston must be freaking PHILOSOPHERS. Also oddly coherent.

Seriously, you're telling me This is a scarier, more convincing performance than this?

Are you HIGH? Nicholson's performance was good, and groundbreaking for the time, but MAN oh MAN does it pale in comparison to Ledger's joker. I could write whole academic essays devoted to that character, and as for acting, it's one of the most subtle, nuanced performances I've ever seen. Notice how everything the joker says is either a lie or a half-truth? Notice how batman's and Joker's goals are pretty much the same? (To prove people are like them, either civilized or savage - noble and good or a product of their environment?) Notice the constant "Dog" motif? TDK is brilliant. Honestly, it's already going down in history as one of the best movies of all time.

There's just no comparison.

I think that there is a lot of emotional attachment because of his death for some people and that probably colors most people's opinion of his role in TDK. It would be a terrible tragedy for an actor to die with a boring role as their last, it must therefore be hyped up and no one is allowed to question its greatness!

Wait, so I like this, simply because Ledger died? All the subtext: the intellectual, philosophical, and political intrigue, the clash of archetypes in a post 9/11 world is just grief over losing the guy from 10 things I hate about you?

There are things wrong with the Dark Knight, and there are weak performances Maggie Gylinhall and Christian Bale spring to mind. but your criticisms are obviously based on nostalgia, ignorance, and contrarianism.

Stop it.

I'm not going along with the cult of personality. Boohoo.

No, you're being an moron and making yourself look both stupid and arrogant. To dismiss the massive critical, academic, and popular response to this film as irrational, ignorant "hype" over an actor's death and subsequent "cult of personality" is the HEIGHT of self-involved, brain-dead douchery.

You're allowed to not like the film, but don't pretend you actually know anything about batman, acting, film, or story-telling in general because you clearly don't and are admittedly basing your judgment of the film on what you liked as a kid.

Quit being a stupid, dismissive, contrary, dickhole.

Edit: also, as a comparison between the two films This is Relevant