Harvey & the Joker: Can There Be a Tie at the Oscars?

What else can be said about Sean Penn other than that he is an unbelievably extraordinarily gifted actor with a sense of self and social conscience matched by very few in Hollywood.

I was totally captivated by his ability to channel Harvey Milk, the first openly gay politician elected to major political office in the United States, and to to just become him on the screen. The themes of Gus van Sant's brilliant film titled Milk are rolling around in my head, stuck there -- clearly, loudly relevant today.

San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk and his political network helped definitively beat a social conservative-designed anti-gay referendum in California known as Proposition 6. Had Harvey Milk been alive today, I don't think we would have seen California give its nod to the discriminatory referendum, Proposition 8, that targets and bans same sex marriages.

My hunch is that either Sean Penn will now get the best actor Oscar at the Academy Awards -- and/or the film Milk will win. Hollywood should have done more to stop Proposition 8. I should have. We all should have -- but Hollywood and the performance community in my view probably feels some guilt for not having united in a more powerful force to stop the anti-gay machinery that the referendum proponents were able to put together.

So, Milk will win something big -- and should.

But on the darker side of performances, I have seen no actors reach the depths (or heights?) that Heath Ledger did as Joker in The Dark Knight.

Spencer Ackerman in an insightful review depicted the battle in this latest and darkest Batman to be one between Dick "willing to do anything to win" Cheney as Batman and a criminal in the form of the Joker who wants to kill and destroy just because he can. The Joker, according to Ackerman, was a metaphor for al Qaeda.

Whatever was animating Heath Ledger in his art, however -- his performance convinced me of an innovative, brilliant evil that also rattles around in my thoughts a lot.

Can both Sean Penn and Heath Ledger win?

Can we have one Oscar for the Dark Side? and one for the, well, Good Side?

-- Steve Clemons publishes the popular political blog, The Washington Note

Comments

[MindyM]

I have never gotten over the death of Heath Ledger. I knew that I had to see his final performance as the Joker in Dark Knight. He disappeared so completely into the character that I actually forgot that I was watching the last tour-de-force of an incredibly gifted young actor. But after the movie, I fell apart. The enormity and pain of his loss overcame me once more. To lose this once in a generation talent before his time, is almost unbearable.

What can I say in tribute? One thing I can say is that his performance as Ennis Del Mar in Brokeback Mountain inspired me to write again. I had lost my desire to write, but the magnificence of Heath in that movie, actually made me want to write again. At first, I wrote about the character of Ennis del Mar and how it affected me. I wrote extensively about the movie and the breakthrough in understanding gay relationships that I experienced while watching it. I also wrote about Heath Ledger, the man and the actor and what he meant to me. I can't think of a better tribute than giving someone back their creative passion.

Heath, thank you for giving me so much. As long as I am alive, I will treasure the gift of your timeless performances and miss you always. The Joker was Heath's final parting gift to all of us. Thank God we were privileged to see it.

[Truye]

It's hard to say what Heath will be nominated for (actor or supporting actor). It basically comes down to how the studios want to market him. Do they want to go up against Sean Penn as Milk (for best actor 2004, 2005, 2006 all went to men who played real people. With the exception of 2001 and 2004 since 1999 best actress has gone to playing biographical roles). But keep in mind the Academy does not like Sean Penn very much, yes even with the Oscar. Lest us not discount Mickey Rouke, whom I have heard incredible things about in "The Wrestler".

[bumbaclatt]

Steve: since you've veered off into writing about Hollywood, you should know that Ledger would likely be nominated in the category of actor in a supporting role; Penn as an actor in a leading role.

[RickR]

I've read lots of opinions from folks who "discovered" what an incredible talent Ledger was by seeing his unforgettable portrayal of the Joker in "Dark Knight". And he is amazing in it. What a tragedy that we lost such an incredible and promising talent at so young an age.
I'd just like to say that if you were blown away by Heath as the Joker, you owe it to yourself to see his once-in-a-lifetime portrayal of Ennis Del Mar in "Brokeback Mountain". He had the uncanny knack of simply disappearing into a role, and Ennis (IMO) is his greatest achievement. Even if you're put off by the idea of watching the "gay cowboy movie", give yourself a treat and watch it purely for Heath. It's one of the most amazing screen performances ever, right up there with anything by Dean, Brando or DeNiro.

[flanardiente]

I considered Heath Ledger a talented lightweight until I saw what he did with the Joker. The performance was equal to what Brando did with Vito Corleone or James Dean did with Jett Rink. In the end it was just mystifying: where the hell did THAT come from? The kid took a comic book villain and made him as real as Manson, and it's dismaying that he won't be around for sequels. And Sean Penn's been the best at what he does since he started off as Jeff Spicoli. Oscars all around.

[Pookster84]

Penn for Best Actor, Heath for Supporting?

Just a thought.

[LMPE]

I've seen "The Dark Knight". I haven't yet seen "Milk". If Sean Penn's performance was as good as Heath Ledger's, then they both deserve at least some form of recognition.