Should controversial Ledger scenes be cut?
Cinemablend has a rumor about The Dark Knight…apparently a tipster told them that in recent test screenings, a scene in which the Joker, Heath Ledger’s character, crawls into a body bag and pretends to be dead has gotten a very negative reaction from audiences and now studio execs are considering cutting it.
Okay, first thing is that this IS just a rumor. You know how rumors are–it could have been one person at one screening gasping loudly, and then by the time the story’s been told about fifteen times, it’s blown up into audiences crying and studios panicking. But suppose it is basically true–the first thing you have to ask before you start cutting scenes is whether it will ruin the story. Will audiences be confused? Will some other piece of information be missed? If the answer to either of those is yes, then sorry, sensitive folk, the scenes have to stay. If, however, they’re not crucial to the story, then you know what? They probably should still stay in–I qualify with ”probably” because I’m not Christopher Nolan and I don’t know what’s in his head and he’s the one who should make the final decision. I, though, would say they should leave them because if they’ve made it this far in the process, to a cut that’s being shown to audiences, then there must be a reason for them. Yes, Ledger’s death was very sad, but this was a performance he totally committed to and his work should be shown. If he was okay with the scene when it was being filmed, then audiences should be too.
