tedious fusions

"when not actually acting, actors should politely be ignored," concluded one london journalist in his column friday. referring to the eulogies alluded to heath ledger, the writer was tackling the culture of celebrity, of how the famous are revered for conducts other than their body of work and of why ordinary people "invest too much affection on a love object who does not know of your existence."

i admit to collecting my share of copies of the national enquirer. but i love watching films, hollywood or my local pinoy movies plus international features with subtitles. and embracing foreign celluloid takes commitment. i get heckled by the in-crowd by merely reading sonnet 141.

learning about an actor's off-camera activities is not esentially a matter of worship, it's just plain reading. no judgments. with heath ledger, i've seen only one of his films and i have reasons why i won't spend viewing hours for the patriot, casanova, brokeback or monster's ball. i will probably try my luck with candy but only because of him. in that ledger's film i've seen, i like the character more than the actor but he was vividly registered in the radar since that shakespeare storyline. the talent from perth didn't like the spotlight, but the shutterbugs were clearly unforgiving, from him sitting at courtside with heather graham in a lakers game early in the decade through that voyeuristic scene in LA with naomi watts, and the sweet new york moments with michelle williams and matilda.

so for those of us who drop by at cinemas and accumulate dvd's, heath was a familiar figure and we're saddened that he wouldn't be able to act in any more films. he certainly was aware how to parlay underlying textures into complicated roles. he could have followed the bland hearthrob route and corral the pretty boy parts, but he dared to take risks, be edgy and act. if daniel day-lewis was teary-eyed....

the radio was my helpful medium when i learned of the actor's passing. i was at work, with beholders not interested with anything other than .... i don't know. i'm forever clueless what some people like to talk about. explaining to them the yin and yang of tottenham and arsenal rivalry (the spurs just thrashed the gooners 5-1 that tuesday night) or getting the right reactions when talking about the pervading pop culture is a punishing task.