I am still in shock, my dear Younglings. Because our Princess is now one with the Force.
All eleven of you have been taught the ways of the Jedi. The light, the darkness. You know your Gigi has always been a big fan of that galaxy far, far away. You've watched all 7 films countless times at The Plantation. Just last week, The Flea (Bostyn) was with us to see "Rogue One." We took The Dalai Lama (Trey), Seven (Scarlett), and Lil E (Brooklynn) to see "The Force Awakens" last year. I have a full-blown, multi-episode Star Wars blog extravaganza to post in the future (and I really should get on that because I started it last year), but that's not on the agenda for today. Today I need to mourn the passing of the coolest Princess I ever knew:
Carrie Fisher has left us.
I always thought as a princess she was most unorthodox. The first words out of her mouth to her somewhat bewildered rescuer, Luke Skywalker, were, "Aren't you a little short for a stormtrooper?" Then she's complaining: "When you came in here, didn't you have a plan for getting out?" She mouths off to DARTH VADER (!!!) from the get-go. No damsel in distress, this girl. She's got it going on!
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| My First Leia doll. And there's Luke, too. |
Young girls today are used to strong female characters (Katniss Everdeen, Daenarys Targaryan). In the 70s, not so much. There was Wonder Woman. And Batgirl. And Lieutenant Uhura. They were just on TV and in comic books. But Princess Leia was in a blockbuster film, and was WAY different. She didn't have superpowers (yet), and her hairdo was kinda funny, but she wasn't weak by any stretch. This only got better when as the saga progressed. She fell for Han Solo, which I considered a plus. But they froze him and she rescued him. Then her brother got his hand cut off...and her planet had been blown up. She killed a slimy space slug wearing a kickin' gold bikini. She found out her dad was Darth Vader. Then her son kills her husband. She's seen some things. And some stuff, too. Did she turn to the Dark Side? No. She still had hope. And that story still isn't finished.
But let's move past the Princess part. I learned a lot more about Carrie Fisher as the years went by, beginning with the interviews in the book "Once Upon a Galaxy: A Journal of The Making of The Empire Strikes Back."
I was sitting in a doctor's office waiting room when I read an excerpt from "Postcards from the Edge," her first novel, in a copy of "Ladies' Home Journal." That was 1990, I believe, and I was starting to re-collect comics and getting back into my Star Wars roots, so of course I read the whole thing when the paperback became available. It was one of the funniest things I had ever read. She had this warped sense of humor that I totally understood, and it was interesting in the sense of being somewhat autobiographical. Princess Leia was admitting to having a drug and alcohol problem. Wow. She was brave to do that at that time. It was still something people didn't want to talk about in the early 90s. I also found it great that she continuned to inspire my dream of being an intergalactic female warrior AND Mrs. Han Solo AND a writer.
I read all the following novels: "Surrender the Pink" and "Delusions of Grandma." Both very funny, too. "Delusions" dealt with the death of her grandfather. She was very close to her grandparents, who were from Texas. I'm assuming that Mary Wickes' portrayal of the grandmother in the film adaptation of "Postcards" was pretty close to the mark. I love that movie. I imagine it's very much similar to Fisher's "real" life. I recorded (on VHS) an episode of "Lifetime's Intimate Portrait" that featured Carrie and Debbie, when Billie Lourd, Carrie's daughter, was not even a year old. Billie was named after her grandfather, and Carrie insisted that she not be photographed. She didn't want her child exposed to the public eye as much as she had been. I don't think that was an affront to her own mother; she was just more protective. Debbie loved being "Princess Leia's Mother," and I'll be sure to watch "Bright Lights", the documentary film about their relationship that came out earlier this year.
The "Intimate Portrait" episode I recorded was a few years before Carrie finally revealed her mental health issues. I appreciated her candor, and her humor, in dealing with bipolar disorder, and becoming such a strong advocate for awareness. If her novel "The Best Awful" is any indication of what she truly went through, then her suffering was indeed monumental. She's quite the survivor. She was scheduled to be at one of the Comic-Con's, either in Dallas or Shreveport, in February or March 2017, and I wanted to have her autograph my copy of "Postcards." Sadly, that is not to be.
I was glad she found Post-Star Wars success as a "script doctor", and was one of the best in the business. Her writing is very, very good, and when you're old enough, Younglings, you should read some of it. I read "Wishful Drinking" in one night, while staying at my friend Heather's house the night before we went to Rocklahoma in 2010. I also watched the stage show (again, hold off until you're over 18. She's never hidden her raunchy side!) I've yet to read "Shockaholic" and "The Princess Diarist", but it looks like I'm about to log on to Amazon and start spending my Christmas money. The revelation that she had an affair with Harrison Ford did not surprise me (although I always thought it took place during "Empire") and I was disappointed when she married Paul Simon, but that didn't last long. Like that's any of my business, anyway, but these people were a big part of my growing up, and well...they're kinda like "family."
When Episode 7 was cast, and the Big Three were all coming back, that was pretty exciting. I didn't think we'd see them all together again, and it was good to see Carrie, Mark, and Harrison back in their roles as Leia, Luke, and Han. She was also very "up front" about having to get back in shape for the role, and about aging and self-image, something all women can relate to. It's like old times, waiting for the new movies. When I heard the news about what happened on her flight home just before Christmas Day, I was so surprised. She'd been doing so well, traveling about with Billie and Gary the dog, talking about the new book and Rogue One. Then things were very quiet in the social media world and that's when I figured things were not good. I still wasn't prepared when I saw the official announcement on the "Full of Sith" Facebook page. I was sitting in the car outside the Payless Storage office, waiting on Poppa Don. I even double-checked the "real" news pages to make sure. I really hate that the youngest of the original cast was the first to go, preceded earlier this year by Kenny Baker. It will make that first scene in "A New Hope" that much more poignant, when she hides the Death Star plans in R2D2.
The tributes have poured in all day, even on Alice Cooper's page. I hope she realized how much she really was loved by so many, and not just the Star Wars fans. I hope she has knows true peace on the other side and her inner demons are quieted. And I hope she has the opportunity to wear a new hairdo and a new dress every time she walks through a door, like her mother Queen Amidala does in the prequels!
Take heart, my Youngling girls, Mackenzie, Scarlett, Brooklynn, and remember the Princess. Let her be an inspiration. She is one with the Force, the Force is with her.
Rest in Peace, Your Worshipfulness.
