Obama, The Joker, Hope, and Socialism...

Is this picture racist? Or, is it acceptable under the definition of freedom of speech and freedom of expression provisions? Or, is it acceptable political parody?

The image has been finding itself posted in and around Los Angeles and has caused quite a stir. The racial overtones relate to the fact that it is Obama and the image is supposedly intended to be a take on the black and white minstrel theme in reverse. Or, it could simply be a comment on the current debates surrounding the development of a health care bill.

For those who are fans of Batman, then they will recognize that the picture picks up on the image made famous by Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight.

Interestingly, no one has claimed responsibility or ownership of the image.

Heath Ledger and Mary-Kate Olsen

The Heath Ledger story seems unlikely to fade away in the near future, particularly as The Dark Knight does a roaring trade at the box office. It is also likely to continue as the buzz for the first posthumous Oscar since 1976 (Peter Finch for Network, if I am not mistaken) builds. The story will also continue as long as Mary-Kate Olsen maintains her silence, refuses to talk to investigators, and asks for immunity from prosecution if she does talk.

The facts that we do know is that the masseuse that found the unconscious or dead heath Ledger made calls to Mary-Kate before she called 911, we also know that the masseuse called again after paramedics arrived, and we know that Mary-Kate sent around her personal bodyguards. Mary-Kate's lawyer is maintaining that the starlet has told investigators all that she knows and therefore any further questioning is unwarranted and unnecessary.

It would seem that the investigators do not believe this and have gone so far as to obtain a subpoena. The subpoena by its very nature will compel Mary-Kate to testify before a grand jury if one is convened. The fact that investigators have gone to the trouble of getting subpoenas would suggest that a grand jury will be called. But law is a game in that sense and the threat of a grand jury is like shaking a tree and seeing what falls out.

It would seem that the investigators into the unnatural death of Ledger suspect that at least some of the drugs in the lethal cocktail of drugs that killed him were illegally obtained. The suggestion is that the prescriptions used were forged. The interest in Mary-Kate and the desire for investigators to follow-up with her could infer certain things but the allegations where these inferences are likely to lead have not been made public. Yet, most people should be able to join the dots on this one.

The claim for immunity immediately suggests that there is some degree of illegality involved that requires the maker of the statements, in this case Mary-Kate, needs protection from. I would have thought pleading the Fifth might have been an option in terms of not incriminating yourself at all. It is also interesting because Mary-Kate is the only person who investigators have wanted to speak to who has been reluctant to talk or who has claimed a need for immunity to be granted before speaking. Nevertheless, the other possibility is that all publicity is good publicity and drawing this thing out maximizes exposure.

There are drawbacks to maximum exposure like that the more coverage this gets the more it draws people out of the woodwork and then allows the investigators to put together a chronology of events even without Mary-Kate's testimony.

I enjoy watching the legal machinations unfold. After all it is my thing! My expertise is in this area.

Maybe there will be updates on this as things unfold or unravel, depending on which side of the fence you stand!

Honouring Heath Ledger

The question of what is a fitting tribute to Heath Ledger has split the art's community of Perth. The Western Australian Premier, Alan Carpenter, has indicated that the State intends to re-name the Northbridge Center after the recently deceased actor and current star of the latest installment in the Batman franchise, The Dark Knight.

Heath Ledger was a young actor and he was making his name on the big screen and not in the theatre. This seems to be the gist of the arguments against naming a theatre after Ledger. Nevertheless, Ledger was an actor and he was an actor that was gaining increasingly good reviews of his work. He will be forever remembered for his role in Brokeback Mountain. However, there is increasing talk that his performance in The Dark Knight is superb and worthy of awards.

Some of the arguments against naming the theatre after Ledger take aim at his personal life and question whether or not he was a good enough role model. It would be interesting to see where those arguments might lead. Ledger died of a drug overdose. This was subsequently ruled to be an accident. If anything this tragedy should highlight the dangers of self-medicating with prescription medications. Ledger, if anything, was guilty of being naive and failing to understand the inherent dangers in mixing medications. But a bad role model? I guess that is a matter of opinion.

For me, I hope they stick to naming the theatre after Ledger. It might just be what the theatre community needs. The memory of a young man who was dedicated to his craft, one who was getting better each time he came to ply his trade, and one who may have one day done more stage work, might just be the incentive to attract more young West Australians to the theatre.

But then again what do I know about theatre or film other than watching it? Not a lot! Yet, I do think it is a fitting tribute to a fine Australian export to the world.