Remembering Heath Ledger: Your Boyish Grin Shall Not Be Forgotten
I cannot quit thinking about Heath Ledger. Am I the only one of my friends who has this problem? I think not, no, I know not. Why has his death shaken me up so badly and why do I seek out new information and articles surrounding his death when mostly they reduce me to tears? The only other time I have felt so deeply the loss of someone I did not know was when Princess Diana was killed over ten years ago in a car crash. I was shocked then and I am shocked now. If I’m feeling this way about a man I never personally met and who had no clue who I was, then I simply cannot imagine how his close friends, loved ones, and family members are getting by.
Thinking back on Heath the past few days there are definitely a few images that are burned into my memory that I have kept mulling over and over again in my mind. The first image I keep recollecting is from his role as Gabriel Martin in The Patriot. I keep seeing his giddy boyish grin with a mouth full of ink from kissing his beloved. That grin that he had. So sweet, innocent, and mischievous in a good and healthy way. Then there was his love struck role in A Knight’s Tale as Sir William Thatcher, or Sir Ulrich Von Lichtenstein of Gelderland if you so pleased. The marriage of modern rock and medieval times is what caught my fancy in that movie along with the charm of the up and coming Heath who was totally and adoringly smitten with a lady he simply should not have been able to have. His Golden Years dance sealed the deal for me.
Yes he was in the memorable role of Patrick Verona in 10 Things I Hate About You that made him a bonafide teen heart throb but it was in the movie Lords of Dogtown where I really began to sit up and take notice. Such a versatile actor he was picking interesting characters that were never a waste of neither his time nor mine. He was just one of those actors you liked to go see no matter what movie he did. It didn’t matter. As long as he was in it you knew it would be an interesting piece that wasn’t your usual run-of-the-mill release.
So why am I so shocked and saddened at his very untimely and certainly tragic passing being the perfect stranger that I am? Was it because it was so unexpected? He was after all a seemingly down-to-earth and good natured guy who had an adoring gaze upon his daughter and was friendly to the public eye. He wasn’t racking up D.U.I.’s or doing jail time. He wasn’t out seeking the paparazzi frenzy. He was as much out of the lime light as he could be, so quiet and doing his own thing. He wasn’t the person I pictured to “be here today and gone tomorrow” on the slippery slope of young Hollywood. In fact, I never, ever considered him part of young Hollywood. He was his own entity, unique and extremely engaging and attractive. Attractive in the way that makes you want to know more about him. He was just that kind of person you wanted to tune in and sit up and listen. You liked him because of who he was. Then, at the age of 28 with a young daughter to raise and to love he is gone. Of course we are going to sit up and take notice and grieve because there was much more work for Heath to do but no more time left to do it. Life is fragile and uncertain and his loss urges us all into a time of much needed reflection for none of us knows how much time we have left. So to answer my question of why I am so shocked and so sad over the loss of someone I don’t know? I think it is quite simple really. I wish, oh how I wish that he had been granted more time. That he was heading back to the set or location to wrap up his latest movie. That he was kissing his daughter hello and calling his sister to say hi. I just wish his life hadn’t been so short. He was just way too young to die. That’s it. He was too young and his future was rich with potential. The “what if’s” are endless but they have been forever silenced by truth. He’s gone and he is not ever coming back.
My heart goes out to those that loved him, knew him and especially his family that cherished him. To his daughter who doesn’t know what’s happening quite yet at the tender and innocent age of two. She will have her mother, grandparents, aunts, uncles and many others who will tell her over and over and again and again what a wonderful man her daddy was. And she will get to look back on his movies, his pictures, and interviews to catch a glimpse of the man that loved her so fully for as long as he was given to love. Can this compare to the real thing of having him right there by her side? No, it cannot. But this is how it will be. I know he will not be forgotten. He cannot be. It simply won’t happen. Why? Because he had a family that will never forget and will never quit speaking of their love for him. His story will be told not just to his daughter and nieces and nephews, but to his grandchildren, and their children, and their children to come. Truly he will live on, just as he said he would. In the bright and shining smile of his beloved daughter Matilda.
© Copyright 2007 Blindigo Magazine | Article written by Niki Tschirgi
