Firstly, I just wanted to say that I love The Dark Knight as well as Batman Begins. Not only because of Heath Ledger, but for the entire film in general. People who say that they only like the Dark Knight because of Heath Ledger, should try and appreciate the entire film. However, why I do believe that the hype about Heath Ledger greatly increased due to his death and may have been slightly overrated, I do feel as though you are completely underrating it. I feel as though Heath Ledger was well known before his death. His film, Brokeback Mountain, received an enormous amount of media attention both for the actor's performances (Jake and Heath) and for the controversy of the film. In addition, he also has played in many great movies such as The Patriot (a personal favorite), The Brother's Grimm, and 10 Things I Hate About You. So to say he was known to 'hardly anyone' is, in my opinion, flat out incorrect. Besides receiving attention due to his death, there were several other major reasons why Heath Ledger received a lot of attention during the filming and release of The Dark Knight. Firstly, it was due to his way of acting during this film. He choose the less popular, yet highly acclaimed route, of 'method acting'. In case you do not know, method acting is when an actor creates in themselves the thoughts and emotions of their characters, in other words 'becoming' their characters. It is said that only truly great actors are able to successfully harness 'method acting'. Some actors who have been known to use this are James Dean, Paul Newman, Al Pacino, Dustin Hoffman, Alec Baldwin, Robert De Niro, Jane Fonda, and Dennis Hopper. As you can see, these are 'big' actors…so, for Heath Ledger (who was still young in the acting business) to be able to successfully pull off 'method acting' was a 'big' deal within Hollywood. Due to his 'method acting', his attention to minuscule details, and his personal devotion he was able to create 'The Joker' and create a "legendary" character. So calling Heath Ledger's performance as the joker 'pretty good' is an understatement. His acting in the film was top notch and in the case of the Dark Knight, the best performance (again, in my opinion). Now, I do agree that Heath's Ledger's grandeur frequently allows people to overlook the greatness in other aspects of the film including other the director, the actors, the plot, the script, etc. Personally, I believe that Christopher Nolan did an absolutely fantastic job directing and creating this film. Without him, this film would not have been so great. The plot and the script were well thought through. I also believe that the performance given by Arron for Harvey Dent is often overlooked. It was great! The scene at the end of the film where he sought revenge was one of the best scenes in the film and his character development was just fabulous. I believe that he is a fairly close second regarding best performance. However, I feel as though Arron and Heath's performances definitely out-shined the other actors such as Christian Bale. Their performances were just not comparable (not blaming Bale, he is also very talented). So (concluding rant), it is easy to see why people often immediately think of Heath Ledger upon hearing "The Dark Knight". He was a great actor, and it was a great performance. No need to get "pissed off" when people mention how great he was, that the pencil trick was their favorite scene, and that they only like the Dark Knight because of Heath Ledger. They have a right to their opinions, as do you. The only question remaining is….'why so serious?'. Source(s): jut me and my opinions…. 3 weeks ago 1 person rated this as good You're a fanboy just like everyone else
