Final Results of the Recent Heath Ledger Poll

In last week's poll, slightly over half of you felt that Heath Ledger would get an Oscar nomination (but not win) for his performance as The Joker in The Dark Knight. Had I voted, that's the way I would have gone as well. With all of the stories that came out in regards to the ratings of the most recent Oscar telecast (they were the lowest in history), an Academy Award nomination for Heath Ledger would definitely cause people to tune in to next year's ceremony who normally wouldn't. Having said that, since the Oscars are meant to be a joyous celebration, some voters might think that awarding Ledger may lend a bit of gloom to the proceedings.

Thirty-nine percent of you felt that Heath's performance WILL win. If that happens, it will be only the second time in Oscar history that an acting award is given posthumously. When Peter Finch won the Best Actor Oscar in 1977 for his role in Network, the proximity of this death to the ceremony may have played a role in his victory. He died on January 14th, the Oscar nominations were announced on February 10th, and the telecast was on March 29th. Then again, the Powers That Be may take the opportunity to not only honor Heath's performance as The Joker, but also make up for not awarding him the Oscar for Brokeback Mountain.

Just a fraction of you felt that he won't even receive an Oscar nomination. In the comments section, one person remarked, "Yeah, no, he's not my cup of tea." That's an honest answer, but it's not the kind that'll lead you to victory in your office's Oscar pool. Personal preference regarding actors and actresses aside, I can see how some might feel that Heath won't get nominated. Often, the Academy overlooks big budget summer blockbusters in favor of high-minded "cinema" such as Out of Africa and The English Patient. Maybe if the makers of those Hollywood blockbusters set them during the 19th century and had the performers all speak in British accents, they would fare better at the Oscars. Then again, that would be a classic Catch-22 because the movies probably wouldn't make as much money.

At any rate, I am looking forward to seeing how this all plays out when the Oscar nominations are announced on Thursday January 22nd, 2009 (date subject to change).

Here are the final results:

He'll get nominated, but won't win- 55%
He will win the Oscar- 39%
He won't even get nominated- 5%

Below is a scene from The Dark Knight where The Joker crashes a party looking for Harvey Dent.