When Heath Ledger passed away in January 2008, he had no shortage of things he was working on. Just about everyone in the world, it seems, saw The Dark Knight, but he had smaller projects too. One of those was directing a music video for the band Modest Mouse, for their song “King Rat.” Today, that video debuts on MySpace Music.
The video, which is animated, is meant be a statement against modern whaling practices in Ledger’s home country of Australia. Sadly, Ledger died before he could complete the video, so The Masses, a film and music company Ledger was a partner in, stepped in along with co-director Daniel Auber to finish it.
Obviously, plastering the fact that Ledger directed a video that they have exclusively all over the page would have been an easy way for MySpace to get a ton of traffic. Instead, the main MySpace Music page and the video page itself makes no visible references to Ledger. That seems rather classy, and the video still has over 22,000 plays so far. “This is a pretty meaningful exclusive for us,” MySpace’s VP of Global Communication, Dani Dudeck, tells us.
You can find the video here or below. When it’s on iTunes, proceeds from the video will go towards the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, a non-profit focusing on marine wildlife conservation.
Classy and nice video – miss you Heath!
Go to http://www.thessayist.com
The newest site on the web!
Well I’m happy you kept your comment classy and in respect of Heath by plugging your site.
I wish TC would just strip out all links from comments
http://doingitwrong.com
HA!
Nothing screams ‘insincere’ like plugging your startup in a comment about a dead actor…
This is a great fit between content and content provider! Heath Ledger is dead. And so is…
damn … not available in my country …. =(
oops … tht was supposed to be in reply to ThEssayist … sorry
“Obviously, plastering the fact that Ledger directed a video that they have exclusively all over the page would have been an easy way for MySpace to get a ton of traffic. Instead, the main MySpace Music page and the video page itself makes no visible references to Ledger.”
…yeah right, MySpace probably couldn’t get its act together to do so. Has the site ever been one to shy away from shameful exploitation?
I agree with your estimation of MySpace’s good taste when choosing to release this video without Ledger’s name attached to it. The maintained the artistic integrity, which he surely would have appreciated. Kudos to MySpace for not selling out this time.
Uhh, that would be **they**. Sorry about the typo : (
Wow!!! +for myspace
I think it was January 2009 not 2008 that he passed
Nope you are right… Doesnt seem that long ago
I don’t know if it was that subtle. I’ve been hearing about this video for months and months on sites like Pitchfork and Stereogum. I guess it should’ve been plastered all over MySpace, huh?
Are you sure about the message of the video? Australia banned whaling a long time ago and now leads the charge globally against the few countries that still practice it. Perhaps the message was a variation on this theme? Such as looking back on historical whaling in Australia?
Yeah, the Sea Shepherds fight against the Japanese whaling fleet. I think it should say the whaling that goes on near Australia, not attributed to Australia.
Can’t watch the video in the UK.
“Sorry, the video you are trying to access is not available in your country”
Lame.
Ahh,
It’s a statement against whaling in Austraila yet the content restrictions prevent an Australian watching it..
Great work
But seriously, who cares about MySpace anymore?
Thanks for releasing this video MySpace
…. and restricting it so Australians can’t watch it!
What label is Modest Mouse on again?
Rhetorical question, no?
Modest Mouse is on Epic
MySpace is getting it. If they want people to pay attention to them again, they have to release novel, exclusive content.
Nice job Heath.
I’m not sure what you actually did on it though. (ignorance on my part).
I like the song too. I have always liked the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. They really added a lot to this song.
Oh and the message is great too.
What label is Modest Mouse on again?