Carrie Fisher 1956-2016

2016 shall be remembered as the year of losing celebrities. I don't know if it's just the standard and we've gotten to the point where the fans are also social media addicts that spread the word as quickly as a prom night rendezvous.  It has felt like a non-stop memorial since January with the passing of David Bowie and while some have affected me in various ways, none really hit me like Carrie Fisher.  Sure, there were some tough losses this year for my pop culture mind to wrap my head around, but the thing is that the two constants that I have as far back as I can remember are the St. Louis Cardinals and Star Wars. Carrie Fisher was the first lady of that universe.

It didn't really dawn on me until this week that she was my first crush. She was the girl that I was introduced to on the big screen when I was almost four years old, rushing home to see what kind of adventures I could create with the plastic caricatures I had in my Darth Vader storage case. Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia was my first introduction to women in pop culture. I know we could argue this point until the sun expands and toasts us all, but she wasn't your typical damsel in distress. Sure, the boys are rolling in to rescue her, but she was a strong willed character, dare I say a leader, that wasn't the Olive Oil type screaming for Popeye to save her from Brutus. We can give some credit to the writing, but it was her performance that sold it to us almost 40 years ago.

Of course as I grew up I was able to see that there was more than Princess Leia to Carrie Fisher, mainly in her empowering and sarcastic wit. I kind of frown on the idea of a person being their character, especially when they're no longer with us, but I would have to say that Princess Leia was Carrie Fisher. Vulnerable at times, but a strong, opinionated woman that led with a charming personality that mesmerized us. A presence that was always welcome and gave us a view that was from a road less traveled, an angle that most people couldn't comprehend being the axis for. She was bigger than Leia and the world is going to be a little less sarcastic and witty without her.