Heath Ledger & Hollywood Clout

I wouldn't normally post something like this—I'm none too keen on celebrity culture—but I wanted to note that I find the passing of Heath Ledger unaccountably saddening.  Many an underreported (and likely undeserved) panegyric will echo through the media in the days to come, but few (if any) will address much more than the personal nature of this tragedy for those who knew him well or our hypothetical loss as consumers of contemporary cinema. 

But how hypothetical is our loss?  Depends on how powerful the lost actor or actress is.  Consider other selective stars who, like Ledger, leveraged their clout such that they only appeared in films they believed in:

• Had Johnny Depp died at 28 (in 1992), he would be remembered as Private Gator Lerner, Wade Walker, Officer Tom Hanson and Edward Scissorhands.
• In 1986, the 28-year-old Daniel Day-Lewis would have starred in My Beautiful Laundrette and A Room with a View.
• A 28-year-old Ralph Fiennes would be remembered as the "star" of a made-for-television movie about Lawrence After Arabia (1991).

Now consider all the movies that would not have been produced had these three not thrown their weight behind the pet projects of talented directors.  Where would Tim Burton be without Depp?  Would Scorsese have been able to reestablish himself after Casino and Kundun had Day-Lewis not unretired to star in Gangs of New York?  Would Harry Potter ever hit the screen had Fiennes not committed to play Voldemort?  (Maybe.)

Point being, the loss of talent with little clout (River Phoenix) has no real impact on what movies get made, whereas losing talent of Ledger's clout alters the Hollywood landscape.  There will be no more gay cowboys.  (There would have been none had not Ledger signed on.  Studios were not feeling favorable to Ang Lee after the smashing success of Hulk.)  The fate of the film Ledger was currently shooting, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, directed by the infamously hounded Terry Gilliam (who never would have brought Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas to screen had it not been for Depp) is darker today than yesterday.

Movies already being as bad as they are, I can't help but wonder whether much of my inexplicable sadness is explicably selfish: I would love to've seen what Ledger could've forced the studios to release. 

Now I never will.

Comments

[PSlaven]

Good post, fairly put, but I have one quibble: "Would Harry Potter ever hit the screen had Fiennes not committed to play Voldemort?"

...ummm, yes. He didn't appear until the fourth one, and I don't think his agreement to work in "Goblet of Fire" for ten minutes would have served as the lynchpin to secure funding for the first three.

[The Necromancer]

Thought-provoking homage. You remind of the essential tension between studio and star systems. Somehow, Brokeback Mountain becomes all the more sombre as a result.

[alkau]

This death is sad for people of all ages because of who he was and what roles he played. We must not forget that his death is more difficult for his family and his close friends because they knew the "real" person. His daughter will now grow up not having an important person is her life and will not have the guidance a father can provide. For those of us with children about his age it brings a pause and a prayer and a thought "What if it had been my child". We can empathize with his parents and also say thank God it was not me and mine.

[SEK]

Pat, if you can't see me winking and nodding there, I fear no one can.

[Jake]

Well it is just text. Maybe you should try out some [sarcasm][/sarcasm] tags for added emphasis and less dignity.

[L. E. MacDonald]

I was sad yesterday. Today, I was merely weary of the exhausting media coverage. Thank you for making me feel sad again.