Heath Ledger: Two Shirts and a Dream

Life is a remarkable gift. Theologies claim godly and grand sources for the life force, while scientific minds describe the soul as the remarkable product of complex synapses and motor neurons. We're born anxious to make our mark on the world. If we work at it, we like where life's passions lead us. Family, friends, hope, and desires are driving forces. Beauty in the world and the good work of others inspire us everyday. For the vast majority of us, getting the most out of life means leaving the world a better place.

Heath Ledger's brief life was a stellar example of success. In one role in one near-perfect film, his portrayal of a tortured cowboy showed many of us a new way of seeing ourselves. The desperate need for social acceptability drove Ennis Del Mar into tormented loneliness while Ledger's deep, nuanced performance beckoned us along for the ride. At the film's dusty, cold end we're left feeling isolated and lost -- with just two shirts and dream of what should have been possible for Ennis and Jack.

Ledger's cowboy was worn but, not hopeless, sad but not foolish. Ennis was making his way in the world -- simply scratching out a living until he came alive on Brokeback Mountain. His newfound sexuality connects to everyone's first time and first love, gay or straight. We can't help but be there around the fire with him and his friend, anticipating that first drunken romp. Ledger's hidden shuffling, mumbling, unsmiling demeanor leaves him while he soars on the mountain.

When Ennis confronts his demons in an alley after Jack drives off, he pounds the wall and cries out in a plaintive wail. We know as much as he does that life for him will be eternally sad. It's society's fault for having put that pain there, and through Ledger's subtle, virtuoso effort, we know he's paying the price for humanity's judgment. Finally at the film's end through intertwined shirts, Ennis finds the message he's been looking for -- he was loved deeply. His joy is relegated to his memory and the two shirts and postcard hidden on the inside of his trailer's closet door.

Sadly, because the Academy likes an impersonation more than a performance -- and perhaps because somehow Brokeback Mountain was more troublingly "gay" to members of the Academy than Capote, Ledger never had the payoff of accepting Hollywood's coveted Oscar. The reward for Ledger would have to remain in his performance and not in an Oscar statuette.

Since religion (and then the psychological establishment) took up arms against homosexuality, it's been a rough ride for every single person with that elusive gene. The rhetoric is its loudest pitch ever under the Bush administration. Bush never admitted to seeing the film that humanized his theological victims; instead, he chuckled uncomfortably when asked about the award-winning flick. And then presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee panders to the homophobic African-American fundamentalists in Atlanta on Martin Luther King Day, droning on about the sanctity of marriage between "one man and one woman." Haven't we had enough of this narrow minded hatred?

If humanity wins over hate, the legacy of the likes of Bush and Huckabee will be trumped by Ledger's sensitive performance for years to come, and Ledger's star will remain one of Hollywood's brightest.

Tom Gregory's collection includes the two iconic shirts from Brokeback Mountain

Comments

[mckinley]

Tom,

I am a straight man who was STUNNED by the original novel. Both the novel and the movie resonated in me, reflected - albeit in a sharper light - my own feelings in my life.

"Brokeback Mountain" is simply universal.

[jpkous]

Thank you, Tom. Ennis Del Mar, BY FAR, was the best performance by an actor I've ever seen. Not receiving the Oscar to professionally validate his performance was a travesty. Yet it never diminished Heath's stature as a GREAT actor. Heath was very courageous for taking on the challenge of playing such a sensitive, conflicted, tormented and overall dynamic character. RIP Heath...you will be missed, yet always remembered.

[Mickey07]

Tom, I loved your comments...I loved Heath and Jake in BBM. Wouldn"t it be nice now to put Jack's shirt over Ennis's shirt? He, (Jake) is the godfather over Matilda. Jake now will be in her life forever. I would love to see the shirts switched for now....How I wish there would have been a BBM #2. My heart is broken. I'm a 68 year old grandma and That show touched my soul to the core. I'm proud to leave my name....Susan

[Alvin4NY]

The difference between Hoffman's performance in "Capote" and Ledger's in "Brokeback" was this: You never once imagined Hoffman to be inhabiting the role, the 'acting' was obvious-and it was good-but you never forgot it was Philip. When I see still shots of "Brokeback" I'm not thinking "Heath" - I'm thinking "Ennis" - he became the character so completely, you forgot about every other performance you had seen him in previously. Same for "Monsters Ball" - Heath left himself behind, and buried himself in those roles. Both of those roles were about as real as you can get, up on a movie screen. I don't think politics had anything to do with Heath not getting the award. I do believe what Nicole said was correct, the whole 'body of work' thing- which is a shame. The award goes for "Achievement" - Heath took himself out, to put Ennis in. Watch Phil in "Happiness" - you can see shades of "Capote" /the characters cross all over each other.

[echoesohio]

Seems like we are comparing Capote the writer to Ledger the actor and then saying Hoffman deserved the Oscar because it was Capote that he was portraying. Makes no sense.

[WEPinAR]

Thanks so much for this post. It expresses my own thoughts beautifully.

[TishTheFish]

Thanks for your words and reminding me of the two shirts. When I saw that scene in the theatre I lost it - so terribly sad. He brought such tenderness to a universal story of love lost.

Gone too young.

[dplfdr]

Thank you for that Tom. Boy he was and what he could have become. In his Ennis role he portrayed the joy of first love and the sadness of love repressed and its consequences in an aging adult. The film and all those responsible but especially Heath did alot for the open acknowledgement of gay sensibility in our general culture. In spite of retrenchment and tho we have a long way to go, we have achieved much in terms of acceptance and he helped.

[DASM]

For the one or two here that think that Capote is such a superior author, let's not forget that Annie Proulx, the author of Brokeback Mountain, won the Pulitzer Prize for her writing.
So, doglove, "Do you folks read at all?"-- yes, we do, and we know that the Brokeback Mountain author is an American treasure, and award winner.

[SkimaskBob]

Thanks Tom ... I know it's been said in comments already, but for people (like myself) who can't figure why the death of a talented actor like Ledger has been rattling them, your post reveals it. If you were touched by his performance, you'll be touched by his death. Thanks again.

[brilliantatbreakfast]

This was no doubt Ledger's best work. It's rare that you see an actor, particularly one so young, so GET a character that may not ring familiar in his own life. Jake Gyllenhaal may have had the flashier role, but Ledger's work in Brokeback Mountain will be remembered as one of the great film performances of all time.

His death is just mind-bogglingly sad.

[talkstocoyotes]

Tom, this is a beautiful tribute to a great actor who was here all too briefly. His performance in "Brokeback" alone has touched more people than he ever knew.

[thebusstop]

I was wondering why I have been feeling deeply for an actor, and you nailed why. Thank you.

[drricklippin]

Thanks Tom Gregory

Beautiful tribute- The best I have seen

Dr. Rick Lippin
Southampton,Pa

[DonaldD]

Heath Ledger's Brokeback Mountain performance I consider one of the best I've seen in my life. It blew me away. Phillip Seymour Hoffman's Copote was an excellent impersonation. Even so, I fell asleep during Copote. (I so enjoyed Toby Jones' brilliant turn in Infamous).
Ledger's Ennes broke my heart. He captured the inner voice that words cannot express. I didn't see it as a gay role - I saw it as universal - how many of us haven't had an inner life, an inner dream that we could not share with anyone - until one day, one person shines a light on our secret. And at that moment, just the thought of the dream as more then hope, perhaps reality for but a moment, it takes our breath away. It hurts like knives cutting up one's beating heart. All that was conveyed in Ledger's performance and more. Selfishly that's why my heart aches for Heath more then anything. He touched me who means nothing to him. I ache because I could never convey that to him.