December 27, 2016, - 4:38 pm
Carrie Fisher: Her Lifestyle, Famous Star Wars Role Contradict “Feminist Icon” Legend – RIP
As an American who loved Star Wars as a kid, it’s sad to see Carrie Fisher dead today at age 60. But her case illustrates an old axiom:
Live hard, die young.
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The Gold Metal Bikini Has Left the Galaxy. Rest in Peace Carrie Fisher. #tcot #gop #CarrieFisher #RIP #StarWars #PrincessLeia
— Debbie Schlussel (@DebbieSchlussel) December 27, 2016
Jabba Hut's Lap Occupant Has Left the Galaxy Far Far Away. Rest in Peace Carrie Fisher. #tcot #gop #CarrieFisher #StarWars #PrincessLeia
— Debbie Schlussel (@DebbieSchlussel) December 27, 2016
Fisher lived hard and abused herself and her body, so it’s no surprise she’s dead at the relatively young age of 60. It’s also no surprise that she didn’t look that great for a Hollywood woman of 60. That kind of lifestyle ages you very quickly. (However, for a regular American woman of 60–without trainers, chefs, and plastic surgery galore, she looked okay).
Fisher–as documented in her own books (including Postcards From the Edge), stand-up shows, and commentary–was a drug addict who drank hard, chased around married men, and bore a kid out of wedlock (yeah, I know we’re no longer supposed to look down on that. She was a lucky loser. Lucky, in that she was born into a showbiz family–Hollywood royalty–and had the connections to get the leading role as Princess Leia in the Star Wars movies. A loser, in that she repeatedly blew it all, snorting it up in her coke addiction and doing other wasteful, self-destructive stuff, despite all of the opportunities that flowed her way because of who she was. Then, she built another career around tawdry tell-alls. Not exactly admirable stuff.
Many are remembering Fisher as playing one of the first truly powerful, feminist roles in the movies, since Princess Leia wasn’t a victim or damsel in distress (but actually, she was–see the Jabba the Hutt scene; just sayin’). Supposedly, a lot of women who were girls when the original Star Wars trilogy came out, found a role model in her. But I was one of those girls, and I didn’t look up to her at all. That’s the thing: I never needed someone to have identical female plumbing in order for him/her to be a role model. Instead, I looked up to Han Solo and Luke Skywalker. They got the job done and saved the forces of good. To me, Princess Leia was kind of boring and bossy, but did none of the heavy lifting. She wasn’t the hero. She was the bitch ordering the heroes around, and that’s nothing to look up to (though that’s what essentially feminism instructs women to do). Who always saved her when she was in trouble a la Jabba’s lap? The men. That’s who. And that’s generally reality, despite what modern “she-ro” movies propagandize us to think.
And let’s be honest: she’s famous and a cultural icon because she wore that iconic metal bikini as Jabba’s slave. That’s feminism? Her most famous “act” other than that was classlessly revealing her affair with Harrison Ford. Was this necessary? For her bank account, yes. Again, welcome to “feminism” in practice.
Still, it’s sad to see the pop culture icons I grew up with pass away. It reminds us all that we are mere mortals and could, G-d forbid, die at anytime soon. It also reminds us that we’re all getting older.
Time and tide wait for no man. And they especially don’t wait for someone who blew every chance by doing drugs and sleeping around.
Carrie Fisher, Rest In Peace.
Tags: Carrie Fisher, Carrie Fisher Dead, Carrie Fisher RIP
Got to admit, I liked her better in When Harry Met Sally.
Little Al on December 27, 2016 at 9:14 pm