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It looks like many of Heath Ledger's fans think that the heaps of awards and praise given for the late actor's performance as the Joker in “The Dark Knight” isn't enough. A few die-hard fans have started an online petition to actually retire the Joker character from any subsequent “Batman” films in history, as their own little “award” for Heath. What does the blogosphere say?

I've found that at least 8 out of every 10 responses to the idea was negative. (Most were downright rude, too.) Most of the negative reaction argued that Heath didn't deserve such an accolade, as he himself died in suspicious circumstances (ie. Prescription drug overdose). If you browse through the movement's website (www.theultimatejoker.com -- ok don't browse through the website), you'll see that the vast majority of comments (ummm... “jokes”) to the webmasters' posts are insults. It's pretty surprising how far people would go to tell other people they hate them.

There have, however, been some pretty positive reaction to the movement. As of this writing, more than 28,000 people have declared their support to the idea of “retiring” the Joker in Heath's honor, in much the same way as the Chicago Bulls retired the #23 Jersey for Michael Jordan. The people behind the online petition are planning to march to Warner Brothers' Studios and submit the petition, and maybe even do a little “activism,” when the number reaches 50,000. So the kids in Darfur and Afghanistan who've lost their parents to war and poverty are just gonna' have to wait.

If you ask me, though, I wouldn't waste so much of my time and emotions on the matter (which thousands of people are apparently doing at this moment). I doubt Batman's creators and “The Dark Knight's” filmmakers would agree to such a move, since it would naturally go against the best interests of the people behind the Batman franchise. Biting the hand that feeds you is never easily forgiven or forgotten, unfortunately, in Tinseltown.

Now of course, that won't stop Heath's fans from pushing through with their plans. The wealth of insults, websites devoted to stop the petition, and several hack attempts (Didn't you know? Script kiddies used on a once alive actor qualify as hack attempts) have so far failed, and the number of people signing the petition is accelerating by the day. I'm probably encouraging a few hundred votes just by writing this article! Gawd, I better stop typing this post!

Again, I doubt much will come out of this petition – at most the news will probably make it to the major news networks, especially when they really hold some activism at the doorstep of Warner Brothers Studios. I just hope that nobody gets hurt, though – I mean, all this trouble over something that's ultimately meant to be laughed at?

As Heath's Joker himself would say... “Why so serious?”