Westboro seeks attention in wake of Ledger's death

January 28, 2008 —

At the time of this publication, it is well-known that Heath Ledger, famous for his roles in such films as 10 Things I Hate About You and Brokeback Mountain, passed away on Jan. 22. What is not so well-known is that the Westboro Baptist Church is planning to use his death as a vehicle for publicity by protesting at his funeral.

For those unfamiliar with the WBC, it is an organization based out of Kansas and headed by Fred Phelps, a disbarred lawyer who is also the group's pastor. WBC is largely comprised of members of the Phelps family as well as one other, the Hockenbargers. Many will recall the group that gained a surge of media attention for picketing at the funerals of military personnel killed in Iraq; that group is the Westboro Baptist Church.

Fred Phelps has led something of a perplexing life. He actually began his career as a civil rights attorney, eventually obtaining awards from the NAACP for his work against discrimination. Then, in 1977, Phelps was disbarred in Kansas after verbally insulting and humiliating a witness and subsequently lying about contacting other witnesses for the trial. Phelps continued to practice in Federal courts until 1989, when he agreed to stop practicing there after alleged false accusations toward judges.

Phelps has now moved on to promoting hate, primarily directed against homosexuals, but also against various religions, countries, and individuals. The sheer volume and intensity of hatred promoted on Phelps' Web site is staggering. Seemingly indiscriminate choices of victims are coupled with more predictable ones. While directing much of his anger toward homosexuals, Phelps' and the WBD have also thanked God for disastrous events such as Hurricane Katrina and September 11, citing that America deserves it.

The big question, to me, is whether or not Phelps himself believes all this. It seems that someone intelligent enough to mastermind a group which has come to receive national attention would realize the incredible ignorance of the positions he espouses. WBC encourages any and all media attention, and uses it to further propagate their message, often taking the opportunity to attack a new group or individual, angering more and more people. The group seems to welcome the opportunity to deal with dissenting voices.

As noted earlier, Phelps has plenty of experience with the law, and one of his sons is also reportedly a lawyer. It has been suggested by some that Phelps' idea is to hold protests with the intent to anger people, to the extent that the group is physically attacked or forced to not hold the protest. Afterward, they collect earnings in court for being attacked or violated of their right to assemble.

Others, like his children who have left the church, claim in interviews that Phelps really holds little in the way of religious beliefs, and only heads Westboro to feed an addiction to hatred. It wouldn't surprise me if the truth is a little of both. Phelps has perhaps found a way to hate, and hate on an outrageous level, and actually profit from it financially.

In the wake of Ledger's death, the fitting thing to do is simply admire a fine actor for the performances he gave us while alive. After a break-out role in 10 Things I Hate About You, Ledger, not wanting to be typecast, returned to his native Australia to star in the dark comedy Two Hands. After Hands, he went on to a myriad of wildly different movies. From The Patriot to Monster's Ball to Brokeback Mountain, it was clear that Ledger was more concerned with taking on new and challenging roles that he enjoyed than making a profit by playing the same kind of character over and over. Brokeback Mountain, the film which has drawn the ire of the WBC, and which I reviewed in 2006, contains, thanks to Ledger, one of the most memorable performance in recent years. And we still have one more to look forward to, as he completed his performance as the Joker in the upcoming sequel to Batman Begins before his unfortunate death. There's no need to let a real clown like Phelps distract us from our appreciation of that.