This website reports that some in the audience of test screenings for the new Batman movie The Dark Knight are upset at a scene in the film. The scene features the Joker, played by the late Heath Ledger, faking his death in order to escape. The Joker is seen in a body bag, which is a little unsettling for some as Ledger died after completing his work on the film.
The author of the report begs Warner Brothers to not cut the scene in question as it would diminish the vision of both Ledger and the director Christopher Nolan. I agree. There are a LOT of movies that came out after a featured performer died (one example: Peter Finch died – graphically – on screen in Network and it was released around the same time as his death). And, as I hate the slippery slope argument, I will apply it here (heck, it’s a post about movies, so I’ll let this one slide). Should we go back and digiitally remove all the death scenes of actors who have passed away? Charlton Heston died in a heck of a lot of movies, and he just died in real life. Should we edit out the end of Omega Man? Beneath the Planet of the Apes? And what about Marlon Brando. He died in The Godfather, and he’s dead now. Remove his death scene too?
Hopefully my exaggeration here services my point. It’s just a movie. Life – and Ledger’s life in this instance – is more important. His work in a movie is a snapshot of a moment of time – a brief view of his craftwork on celluloid. Let’s appreciate his – and everyone’s – work.
Let it be.