Death of a Star, In More Ways Than One

I can't believe that Heath Ledger has passed away. I can't get the thought to stick in my head, or when it does, I feel it like a personal bereavement. And that's just crazy because I never met the man, I never knew him. I spent all four years of high school denying that I thought he was cute, because it would have been oh-so-clichéd to like the then-current teenage heartthrob, although I had a very, very tough time denying it because of the 'A Knight's Tale' poster I had taped to my ceiling, the very first poster I ever put up. I can't believe he's gone. He was only 28. 28! That's barely seven years older than me. I just saw him in the newly-released full-length trailer for the Dark Knight, the Batman Begins sequel where he plays the joker. Played the joker; past tense. This must be what it was like when James Dean died; a young actor, a good actor, working steadily to his prime, full of the promise of films to come, more Oscar nods, maybe even an Oscar, and now he's gone. I can't even imagine the loss his ex-fiancé and his daughter feel. Mon dieu! I don't know why this seems so particular, but it is. Here's to Heath Ledger.