I think Heath deserves it more than anyone else, that was a dynamite performance.

The award should go to a member of his family or some sort of hall of fame, that's only fair.  I've never seen anyone who could change their acting style that much. If you saw The Patriot, and A Knight's Tale, and then watched The Dark Knight, you wouldn't even believe it was Heah Ledger. That guy blew it all away with that movie, and he wasn't even the main character.

He died because of that role (and that's not exaggerating), so the award should be his.

I've seen TDK and I'm one of the few people who didn't think he was SUPER AMAZING!!!!! Yeah, it was a good and entertaining movie, but I don't think he did anything above and beyond. I don't think he would even be considered for the award if he was still alive.

tropic thunder was kind of a let down. 

Even if they were all alive, I think Ledger deserves the award. It was a truly amazing performance. 

Alive or not, he deserves that award. He did an incredible job as the Joker. One of the best acting performances I've ever seen. And it's especially good to me because the only other movie I've seen him in was 10 Things I Hate About You, and to go from that to TDK is mindblowing. That's versatility right there.

Deserves it 100%

Heath definitely deserves an Oscar for his role as the Joker in the Dark Knight. I've seen the movie now 12 times and that's not including watching my favorite scenes over and over again and each and every time, I fail to see Heath under all that make up. To me, he embodied the character...he became the Joker. There's no doubt in my mind that he would have been a serious contender if he was alive and that's the sad part. He won't be alive to accept the Oscar. He's created a truly iconic character that will be remembered forever. Who's going to remember Brolin's Dan White or Hoffman's priest 10 years from now?

P.S. I'm sick of people saying that Heath died because of this role. People took something he said in an interview out of context. I forget which interview it was but if you watch that whole thing he never implies this role affected him negatively. In fact, he has said before he passed that this role is the most fun he's ever had playing and probably ever will. How sad and prophectic that came to be...

I agree that they shouldn't factor Ledger's untimely death into the selection process. He did a good job, but he didn't wow me, not like the villain from No Country For Old Men did last year.

I also think it's also kind of an insult to the other nominees: they know they won't win just because they're competing against a dead guy. It's almost like a token nomination in a way. They might not get nominated next year, so they won't have that chance to win.

Tropic of Thunder was okay but when watching it I didn't think hmmm...Downey could be a contender for an award for his performance as I sometimes do when watching movies.  I'm sorry to say but it seemed inevitable that after Ledger's death and sudden extra hype given to the Dark Knight that it was obvious the role was going to be given extra due and probably end up an award contender.  I think it would have been interesting to see how much hype would have been given to it if Ledger hadn't died.  From the get go of the release it was obvious he'd be up for Oscar.

Personally I'd love Hoffman or Brolin to win.  Brolin just seems to go from strength to strength in his movies, he's an amazing actor.  And Hoffman wows me every time and Doubt provides yet another brilliant role for him to shine in.

But I think it's safe to say that Ledger will win it. There's been too much hype over the entire thing for him not too.  Not that I mind him winning and Oscar, because I was a huge fan of his.  I just wish that his last movie hadn't been playing such a creepy psycho maniac.  To have him remembered as the picture featured in this blog depicts tarnishes him for me somewhat.  It's all you see these days whenever his name is mentioned.

Oscars get easier and easier to predict, but if he doesn't win it's going to be interesting to read the reactions from people afterwards.

He definitely does deserve it.  He has worked so hard on everything he has ever done.  And when you see his performance on the Dark Knight, it was absolutely amazing.

When I first saw the trailer for The Dark Knight, I didn't even know that Ledger was playing the Joker. I couldn't recognize him at all, but I wanted to see it. Before I saw the movie, I was kind of "meh" about his death. When I walked out of that theater, I was furious that he was dead. It was possibly one of the best performances that I have ever seen, and he will never be able to do anything like it again.

In addition to his on-screen performance, he dedicated his time to "becoming" the Joker--writing journal entries in character and spending time in solitude to perfect it. He was truly engrossed so much in his character that he became the character. I could see it on the screen. His death did add to the publicity, but it truly was a stunning performance. I can't even imagine anyone coming close to it.

The famous line of the Joker "why so serious" is a bit ironic, as well, because he took the role seriously, and the entire mood was twisted and somber, yet amusing.

He will continue to win awards posthumously for that role throughout awards season. Whether it's because of his death, or because of box office, I don't know. Not to speak ill of the dead, but that is also the reson the film pulled in the box office it did. Does he desreve the accolades? It's difficult to tell. Considering the shoddy writing and the uneven-at-best directorial skills of Christopher Nolan, perhaps he DOES deserve it for turning in a pretty good performance in spite of those obstacles. He, Michael Caine, and Gary Oldman were the only bright spots in an otherwise spectacularly underwhelming celluloid debacle. The fact that the character he portrayed had not much more in common with the Joker I have been reading for almost 35 years than the name is not his fault. The blame for that again falls on Nolan. Heath Ledger did a fantastic job making crap sparkle like jewels, and for that he SHOULD be commended. But that commendation needs to be weighed against the other nominees' performances, without thinking, consciously or unconsciously that he is dead. The best performance should be rewarded, but as the Oscars have shown almost every single year, that does not happen. Of the others, I have only seen Tropic Thunder, and while Robert Downey Jr. was one of only two performances that didn't outright suck, (the other being Tom Cruise, who has done something worth watching for the first time in YEARS,) it wasn't THAT great. Indeed, his performance in Iron Man was much better, but obviously not a supporting role, thus not eligible. (I haven't looked at the rest of the nominations, but if he wasn't, perhaps he should have been nominated for that role.) In the meantime, the Academy could do a lot worse than Ledger for the supporting actor award, as they have in the past.

hey I've thought about that, too. and I really thought it was all just hype--until the movie came out and I saw it 3 times in theaters, bought it the day it came out on DVD, have watched it twice since then, and plan on seeing it a couple of times when it's re-released on the big screen--I do not do that for many movies(maybe every other year, there's a movie/cast that merits that much of my money and time)...he was definitely phenomenal, and he stole the show, not just because of his untimely death(I was never a fan of him, before this).