Holy Poop Heath Ledger Dead At 28

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SUMMARY

Heath Ledger, the acclaimed actor known for his roles in "Brokeback Mountain" and as the Joker in the upcoming "The Dark Knight," tragically passed away at the age of 28 due to an accidental overdose of sleeping pills. His family reported that he had been suffering from pneumonia and insomnia, which may have contributed to the overdose. The discussion reflects on Ledger's promising career and the impact of his death on fans and the film industry, while also critiquing the direction of recent superhero films, particularly the new Batman installment.

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  • Understanding of Heath Ledger's filmography, including "Brokeback Mountain" and "The Dark Knight."
  • Knowledge of the impact of celebrity culture on public perception and mental health.
  • Familiarity with the themes and character development in superhero films.
  • Awareness of the effects of substance abuse and addiction in the entertainment industry.
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  • Research the impact of celebrity deaths on public discourse and media coverage.
  • Explore the evolution of superhero films and their cultural significance.
  • Investigate the mental health challenges faced by actors in Hollywood.
  • Learn about the portrayal of addiction and its consequences in film narratives.
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Film enthusiasts, mental health advocates, and anyone interested in the intersection of celebrity culture and societal issues will benefit from this discussion.

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Holy Poop Heath Ledger Dead At 28!

OD on sleeping pills. A shame. The new Batman looks really good.
 
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I have been hearing about this all day and I have absolutely no idea who Heath Ledger was. :confused:
 
Math Is Hard said:
I have been hearing about this all day and I have absolutely no idea who Heath Ledger was. :confused:

Me neither.
 
Math Is Hard said:
I have been hearing about this all day and I have absolutely no idea who Heath Ledger was. :confused:
Make that three.
 
For those of you who don't know, he was in Brokeback Mountain and here he is as the joker in the new batman

 
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I'd heard of him but never seen anything he was in.
 
Didn't he play Mel Gibson's eldest son in the Patriot?
 
larkspur said:
Didn't he play Mel Gibson's eldest son in the Patriot?

Yup. He was also nominated for an Academy Award for his role in Brokeback Mountain. He was just really starting to kick off his career.
 
gravenewworld said:
Yup. He was also nominated for an Academy Award for his role in Brokeback Mountain. He was just really starting to kick off his career.
Guess he should have kicked the drugs. What a waste of a life.
 
  • #10
The new Batman looks awful. They finally got it right in Batman Begins and instantly turned it to poop with the new one. Since Heath Ledger has died perhaps they could remake it with Crispin Glover as the Joker. Get rid of the silly yellow belts and ridiculous motorbikes.
 
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  • #11
Evo said:
Guess he should have kicked the drugs. What a waste of a life.

Yip should have kicked the drugs before he kicked the bucket. Commiserations to all the Ledger fans here.
 
  • #12
Shame about Heath Ledger... he seemed like a nice guy. Stupid way to go. And at that age, just starting a family.

The new Batman looks awful. They finally got it right in Batman Returns and instantly turned it to poop with the new one. Since Heath Ledger has died perhaps they could remake it with Crispin Glover as the Joker. Get rid of the silly yellow belts and ridiculous motorbikes.

Am I the only one that thinks that superhero movies are supposed to be silly?
That's why my all time favorites are the Spiderman movies, especially the second one; that has to be the greatest superhero movie of all time. It just embodies everything a comic book superhero is! "the power of the sun... in the palm of my hand!" :smile: awesome stuff! ... and he puts out a 20-foot sun by throwing it into the sea! that thing would've boiled the waters and melted half of manhattan! — beautiful.

That's also why I hated Batman returns and the new James Bond... God, those movies took themselves way too seriously. ... I don't want to see 007 fall in love! I want to see him screw around with gorgeous spy women who are out to kill him.
 
  • #13
moe darklight said:
That's also why I hated Batman returns and the new James Bond... God, those movies took themselves way too seriously. ... I don't want to see 007 fall in love! I want to see him screw around with gorgeous spy women who are out to kill him.

That's the thing about James Bond though. He's betrayed by the woman he loves, so he just ends up having flings here and there and being the ultimate bachelor.


As for the spiderman movies, I never really enjoyed them. Too silly. I loved the Punisher though. I don't like wimpy male leads like spiderman.


Shame about Heath Ledger though. I can't imagine slipping into drugs far enough to want to off myself, but I can imagine accidentally taking too much.
 
  • #14
it was accidental according to family. he had pneumonia.
 
  • #15
If you were in one of the awkward situation where one of your family members who was a drug addict died, would you admit the drugs killed them or would you blame natural causes?
 
  • #16
joeyar said:
If you were in one of the awkward situation where one of your family members who was a drug addict died, would you admit the drugs killed them or would you blame natural causes?

if you were the news media and found a bottle of sleeping pills near the dead body of a celebrity, would you do any actual investigating or would you immediately jump to conclusions?
 
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  • #17
joeyar said:
If you were in one of the awkward situation where one of your family members who was a drug addict died, would you admit the drugs killed them or would you blame natural causes?

Honestly, I pay some attention to celebrity stuff (yeah yeah criticize me all you want, but I love movies) and I never heard of Ledger ever being a drug addict. Maybe it was just a terrible accident, we'll see.
 
  • #18
I heard about it on the radio today. Too bad, he didnt seem like one of those types of actors. He was really young (28).
 
  • #19
Wow. This is sad. He had his whole career ahead of him. This is why I'm glad I'm not a celebrity. I am really beginning to think that Hollywood drives people to things like this.
Kurdt said:
The new Batman looks awful. They finally got it right in Batman Returns and instantly turned it to poop with the new one. Since Heath Ledger has died perhaps they could remake it with Crispin Glover as the Joker. Get rid of the silly yellow belts and ridiculous motorbikes.

I agree that Batman Begins was a great film and will be hard to live up to, but at least wait until the new Batman is out Kurdt. Give it a chance. Personally, I thought that, by the trailer, The Dark Knight would at least be close to Batman Begins in quality.
 
  • #21
moe darklight said:
Am I the only one that thinks that superhero movies are supposed to be silly?
Yes, except Batman. Batman is the only superhero with no actual powers. That makes him unique - more human(no pun intended), more real. The first (modern) Batman and Batman Begins were by far the best of the series. The others did poorly precisely because they were too silly. And they were silly even for superhero movies - they were more like their 60's B-movie ancestors than modern superhero movies.
That's why my all time favorites are the Spiderman movies, especially the second one; that has to be the greatest superhero movie of all time. It just embodies everything a comic book superhero is! "the power of the sun... in the palm of my hand!" :smile: awesome stuff! ... and he puts out a 20-foot sun by throwing it into the sea! that thing would've boiled the waters and melted half of manhattan! — beautiful.
No one said the physics had to be real. Part of what makes those movies good and the Batman movies bad is the villans in the Spiderman movies are real people too. A villain with no depth is just useless. Arnold in a metal suit with icicles?? Dumb. Just dumb.

In both the pro and antagonists, the best movies (those two Batman movies and the Spiderman movies), what makes them good is character development. (not that it hurt having Tim Burton directing the first one)
 
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  • #22
What sad news, I thought he was just one of the most beautiful people to grace the films in quite some time.
 
  • #23
Batman? Who needs batman? I hear there is a new Star Trek on the way.
 
  • #24
I read an article that said he was having severe insomnia, sleeping only about 3 hours a day. He was under stress from family situations including the breakup with his wife and their young daughter. Also, as an actor he spent a lot of effort getting into the mind of a psycopathic killer. Several of his other roles were dark and brooding or socially faux paus. I can't see how a person can, completely, remove themselves from association with negative thoughts or the opinion of the public.

He was taking sleeping pills for some time. With the combination of stress and sickness and perhaps addiction, I think it is entirely possible that he has mistakenly overdosed. That is what I will assume unless there is new evidence, such as other drugs in his system at the time of death.

Sometimes I wish this stuff never made the news. I think the public puts too much importance on celebrity lives, and in this case deaths.
 

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