1. Real Life Monsters
...Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win. ~Stephen King

2. Let’s Start with a Journal
Define, in your own words, the word monster. Think about the metaphorical role monsters play in society. Reminder: do not get wrapped up in the idea that monsters are simply the imaginative creatures we see in popular films, novels and TV Shows.
Your response should be at least six solid sentences in length. Be prepared to share with both your table group and the entire class!

3. What does Webster say?
a legendary animal combining features of animal and human form or having the forms of various animals in combination, as a centaur, griffin, or sphinx.
any creature so ugly or monstrous as to frighten people.
any animal or human grotesquely deviating from the normal shape, behavior, or character.
a person who excites horror by wickedness, cruelty, etc.
any animal or thing huge in size.

4. Heath Ledger and the Joker

5. Heath Ledger and the Joker

6. Heath Ledger and the Joker
Heath Ledger is magnificent. The Joker incarnated with chilling authority by the actor, is simply one of the most twisted and mesmerizing creeps in movie history. –Richard Cortiss TIME

7. Heath Ledger and the Joker
Alexander tells Biskind that Ledger had a pay-or-play deal on The Dark Knight—meaning he’d get compensated no matter what—so he felt he had the freedom to do whatever he wanted as the Joker. According to Pecorini, Ledger hoped his performance would be so far-out he’d be fired, and thus become the beneficiary of a lengthy, paid vacation.
“He was ready to bust out of the gate, but he didn’t want to step on the gas and become something that he didn’t want to become: a matinee idol,” says Alexander. “He was a private person, and he didn’t want to share his personal history with the press. It just wasn’t up for sale. That’s part of the reason he initially tore down his career. He wasn’t motivated by money or stardom, but by the respect of his peers, and for people to walk out of a movie theater after they’d seen something that he’d worked on and say, ‘Wow, he really disappeared into that character.’ He was striving to become an ‘illusionist,’ as he called it, able to create characters that weren’t there.”

8. Rolling Stones Article Questions
Why does Daniel Day Lewis claim that Ledger’s death feels wrong?
What is the speculative cause of Ledger’s death?
What did Ledger’s father and mother do and where were they from? How is Ledger’s hometown described?
How does Ledger describe his reaction to stardom?
What did Todd Haynes have to say about Ledger?
What do you think about what Ledger claims that being a celebrity does to a person? Do you think that if one is granted celebrity status t he or she owes it to the public to be available and to enjoy the spotlight? Why or why not?
Ledger was famed for immersing himself wholeheartedly in a role. How do you think this might have lead to his downfall?

9. Questions and journal are due on Wednesday at the start of class!!!