01.26.08
Heath Ledger
When I was 15, I thought it would be cool to be a film snob. It’s hard to be a 15 year old girl and be a snob about anything - if you want to have any friends, which I did want. Actually, I needed friends, because I couldn’t drive yet and didn’t want to hang out with my parents basically ever. So, when I couldn’t convince my dad to drive me to the Egyptian theatre in Denver, I would go to the movies with my 15 year old friends. This is how I saw gems like Bounce and Forces of Nature (hmm…Ben Affleck doesn’t have a drug problem, does he? Too bad.) However. This is also how I saw 10 Things I Hate About You and how I fell in love with Heath Ledger. Everyone mentions the swoon-worthy moment of Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You on the bleachers while Julia Stiles‘ Kat plays soccer, but that’s not the moment I replay. Kat and Heath find themselves at one of those wild high school parties that seem to only happen in movies. She drinks too much, dances on a table and eventually barfs. But even though up until this point, Heath was only seducing her because he was getting paid, he takes care of her. And he is so fucking charming and beautiful. I still want that.
I was too young and unhip to really be affected by the deaths of other young luminaries like River Phoenix or Kurt Cobain. I am old enough now and I feel affected. What makes me so sad is the knowledge that he will never be in another movie (who is going to take his roles? Josh Hartnett? Please!). His resume is so short when I know that he would have kept getting better and better (not to mention hotter and hotter). It’s my understanding he was even going to venture into directing. It’s so tragic, it really is. So let’s just watch one of his movies, weep and say no to drugs. Well, at least two of those things.