Learn from the Joker
Even though the title states “Learn from the joker”, it would be accurate to say learn from Heath Ledger.
You needn’t have seen “The Dark Knight” to be familiar with the Joker character from the movie. Such is the popularity that character has garnered. Some of the scenes have been shared so many times online, it is difficult to miss it even if you are sparingly connected to the internet. Now, people can argue that the movie, in general, was popular and that lead to the popularity of the Joker character.
I would disagree.
Even though the focus of the movie is on Bruce Wayne/ Batman, I would argue that the joker stole the show. After the 1989 Batman movie, everyone thought nobody would be able to level up to Jack Nicholson’s portrayal of the Joker.
I am no movie connoisseur to grade both the jokers and arrive at who did the character justice. But one thing is certain- Heath Ledger didn’t showcase good acting; he didn’t have to.
He was the Joker.
Even though the Joker is the villain, it is difficult not to fall in love with the character. I don’t mean I support what the Joker did in the movie, instead, it is the intensity of the character that commands respect. Articulate, driven, fearless, focused, and most importantly- honest to himself.
For an actor like Heath Ledger to transform into someone so intense is what caught my attention in the first place(11 years back), and with the new Joker movie premiering worldwide, I was naturally reminded of how Heath Ledger pulled it off in the 2008 movie.
If the information published online is to be believed, Heath didn’t think twice when he was offered the role. He felt it was going to be a role that would give his career a jolt and catapult him as an intense and character-rich actor.
Circling back to why I decided to write this piece in the first place, it is what Heath did after accepting the role:
the insane work ethic that he followed.
Now I don’t want to go down the lane of mentioning something remarkable that Heath did as part of his routine to motivate whoever is reading this.
That’s not my intention.
My aim is simple- just to spread the word about how much can a human being push for achieving certain results in their lives.
There are a couple of instances in the movie where the Joker laughs and it looks natural. Looks simple on the screen. But, to get the laugh right, various laughs were experimented with a lot of modulation. It was one of the things he practiced when he decided to lock himself in a hotel room for 41 days just with a notebook.
He needed that isolation to turn himself into a sociopath.
In one of the videos that I saw, there is a part where one of Heath’s family members gives a glimpse of what was written in the book.
It was nothing short of intense.
It would be easy for me to list out some of the other extreme steps that were taken, but as I already mentioned, the idea is not to motivate. The idea is to advocate the possibility of achieving pretty much anything if the intensity of preparation is high and is focused.
I understand I would be misleading people, in a way, pushing them to the verge of death by advocating to pursue something with such intensity.
The insane work ethic led to Heath’s death. But, as always, be your own judge.
It is a tricky path to tread, but the results that would come out of such an intense preparation would surprise you, in every possible way.
Probably Heath never cared about the repercussions of being so intense with the character. Since he had a tunnel mindset, he just wanted to do complete justice to the character.
Even if not so extreme, at least a pinch of it?
Thank you for reading!
