On the Passing of a Princess · 3:48am Dec 28th, 2016
I somewhat shockingly don't have any tributes to the passing of Carrie Fisher in my feed tonight (though I might just follow the wrong people.) So I guess I'll do one.
I'm not exactly the most qualified to write this, I was never a huge Star Wars fan (though it's an obsession of my husband's.) But from my place as a girl growing up in the 1980s, and a fan of MLP, I think it's worth recognizing a debt of gratitude.
Princess Leia is the direct ancestor of Princess Twilight Sparkle, by way of Disney's 1990's renaissance. She was the first wildly popular "princess" who spent the whole story doing decidedly non-princessy things. Sure, she was still getting rescued by some guys, and she didn't fly a star fighter herself, but she was tough enough to withstand torture, she was smart and tactical, and she wasn't taking any bullshit.
It's not fair to say that this was a drastic change from the idea of a princess. At least as far back as Sara Crewe in the 19th century, "being a princess" has implied being made of tougher stuff than a lot of people give them credit for. And for adults, Eowyn beat Leia to the scene by a couple of decades. But as far as active, competent princesses that could be successfully marketed to little girls, in the 1980s Leia was the proof of concept.
From there, Disney (the world's largest producer of princesses and princess related accessories) picked up the torch and gave us Belle and Mulan and Tiana and made approximately ALL the money off of them. Which is why Hasbro always wants more pony princesses.
I'm not saying that's a good thing, but it could be worse.
Thanks to Carrie Fisher bringing Princess Leia to life with the right combination of beauty, brains, and blasting things, when Twilight became a princess it didn't mean she was getting stuck dreaming of her prince coming. Glass slippers were out, adventures were in.
So, thank you, Ms. Fisher. You showed the world what a princess could be.
She wasn't just a princess. She was also a writer herself and a very witty person. The best recent example was her roast of George Lucas at the IAF awards in 2005.
I highly recommend watching it.
RIP Carrie Fisher, renowned actress, author, human being, who fought drug addiction, mental illness, and damned silly costumes alike, who bested her demons and who will be remembered for generations to come.
4358471
I have liked what I've seen of her other work, though I can't remember many specifics very well.
I agree with you. Carrie Fisher's portrayal of feisty, tough Princess Leia changed the concept of a "princess" in ways that affected our larger fictional culture. And without her, we might never have seen Princess Twilight Sparkle. Or the other MLP Princesses, for that matter.
Richard Adams, who wrote Watership Down, has also passed away. 2016 just keeps going...
I rather enjoyed the list of quotes by Carrie Fisher here.
--arcum42
Word is she finished the filming for her parts in Episode VIII, so there's that to look forward to/dread (for the emotional reasons, I mean) still. To add to the princess bit, she also showed us that "princess" didn't have to be a defining feature of a person, as she went on to be a super badass general also. I only saw Force Awakens once but I'm pretty sure nobody called her princess at all. Always "general this," and "general that." Don't quote me on it.
So that's cool, even if I'm not remembering it quite right.
Princess Leia may be the direct ancestor of Twilight Sparkle, but Carrie Fisher could be said to be the direct ancestor of Princess Luna.
In fact, Luna could take a cue from Fisher, and stop apologizing.
Thanks for this. I haven't seen much in the way of tributes either, sadly. The names Princess Leia, and Carrie Fisher can and should never be forgotten.
4358496 to be fair, he was 96 years old. Most of us aren't gonna hit that milestone.
Real princesses are armed, and hit what they shoot at.
I think what you've said is uncommonly perceptive, i.e., I wish I'd thought of it first!
Bit of Lois Lane in her too, wouldn't you say? In that she runs towards disasters, not away from them.
"No matter how I go, I want it reported that I drowned in moonlight, strangled by my own bra.”
- Carrie Fisher
Admtittedly, I didn't write one because I didn't really know much about her and to me, she's basically "that actress who played Princess Leia."
I am kind of surprised she's the second of the main characters to go; a lot of the cast was older than her and are still keeping on trucking.
I can confirm three tribute blogs prior to yours in my feed: Bookish Delight, Sir Barton, and MythrilMoth.
In any case, she will most certainly be missed. 2016 seems dedicated to taking as many with it as it can.
P.S.--it's official: Carrie Fisher has become more powerful than we can possibly imagine.
scontent-dft4-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/15727041_1318019418218742_6000895009782426432_n.jpg?oh=c603512cb8f3c6bcc3cdb4d7ca2c1f9d&oe=58D66412
Hello, Sith in disguise! Your mind tricks don't work on me, I see through your ploy!
Seriously though I'm always curious, how come?
4360752
My response is super geeky for someone who claims not to be a huge Star Wars fan.
The Rebellion Era has always felt somewhat under-populated and cobbled together for me. The sparseness of details in the original trilogy, combined with the extremely hit-or-miss storylines of the EU never made it something I was excited to explore. As a geek I was always vaguely aware of it, much the same way I'm vaguely aware of the major storylines in comic books (which I also have never read regularly.)
Oddly, I'm far more interested in the Republic Era, despite the prequels being... the prequels. My favorite movie of the first six is actually Attack of the Clones (well, the half that focuses on Obi-Wan. I just ignore the parts that focus on Anakin and Padme) and I've seen quite a bit of the Clone Wars show, and I like that a lot. I've even read some of the EU books from that era, and liked them. The philosophical questions surrounding the Jedi Order and their interactions with non-Jedi are way more interesting to me.
But that stuff didn't come out until I was already in my twenties, and the quality issues kept me from embracing it whole-heartedly (along with the fandom preferring to focus other places because of those quality issues.)
Obviously I don't dislike Star Wars, and I probably know more about it than a lot of actual fans just because James loves it. I will jump at the chance to play a Jedi from the Jedi Order in a table top game. It's just a weird case where the aspects I'm interested in don't get a lot of time or attention, and I'm totally uninterested in the things everyone loves about it.
4360975
Ha, that actually makes you more of a fan than I am.
I've rarely been interested in reading any of the EU; I also have yet to see the animated movies or the TV series. I mean, I love star wars, but the idea of exploring the universe or most of the lore beyond the main characters in the movies has simply never really interested me. I've never thought of why that is, either, so I couldn't give you very good reasons. I guess that makes me a "movie only" fan, which, let's be honest now, is pretty low on the fan hierarchy of things.
I do have a habit of getting super attached to the original version of whatever it is I fall in love with. So season one of pony is best, I'd never be interested in another cast besides the mane six (and supporting princesses!), the original trilogy of star wars and main cast is the best, and so on and so forth. This applies to mediums as well, though less frequently: if I see the movie first, I'll probably like the book less or never read it. Even fanfiction took a while to get into. My star wars experience is tied to the movies, so therein may lie part of my disinterest in seeking out the books and comics and other material. That, and most of it doesn't cover (probably) the stuff that drew me into star wars.
I'd be interested in your thoughts on Rogue One if you see it.