Grant Morrison

How can anyone forget Heath Ledger’s riveting performance of the Joker in Christopher Nolan’s Batman: The Dark Knight? The performance that won him an Oscar that he sadly was not there to accept. But was it this dark character that killed him? Or was it really an “accident, resulting from the abuse of prescription medications” ()? If it was becoming this dark character that drove him to abuse prescription meds, then the question must be asked, who came up with this sadistic character? Grant Morrison.

Grant Morrison’s comic, Arkham Asylum was part of his extensive Batman series. It gave readers a look at the dark side of Gotham city and it’s criminals particularly, the Joker. Heath Ledger reportedly had a “joker diary, which he kept four months before shooting” (). In it there were notes; details of what the joker would be like.  Things the Joker would find funny “-including AIDS, landmines, geniuses suffering from irreversible brain damage, brunch, and sombreros” (). Even more twisted things like “blind babies, doctors, accidents…Heath wrote it all down” ().  All his notes, all his descriptions were word for word what Grant Morrison has written in his comics. Morrison created one of the most dark, twisted, sadistic characters of all time. To have to become that character, and make the performance believable has to mess with your head. Between both Heath Ledger and Grant Morrison, they created a man that “just wants to watch the world burn”().

And burn it did. The news of Ledger’s death was devastating. At only twenty-eight years old; his career just opening up; and he wasn’t there to see it. Medical examiners labeled his death as an accident from “a dangerous mixture of drugs” (). Specifically Oxycodone, Vicodin, Valium, Temazepam, Xanax, and Doxylamine; a mixture of painkillers, anxiety medication, and sleep aids (). These drugs combined cause a slow respiratory arrest. It is not likely any doctor would prescribe these medications all at once. The medical examiners did rule out suicide, but reported that Ledger indeed did abuse the drugs that were in his system, which is not accidental ().

Accidental or not, Heath Ledger’s death was a tragedy. An amazing performance of an amazing character is my theory of his death. It just goes to show how passionate of an actor he was. To get that deep into a character is a phenomenal talent. But, I guess sometimes talent can be your demise.