Carrie Fisher, the leading lady of the original trilogy of "Star Wars," portraying Princess Leia, rose into thousands of fans lives and hearts. She was part of these famous films that were later claimed to have changed the face of the film industry. She has now passed on, regretfully, but it is important to look at her most famous character that she played in and how it is so crucial to have strong female characters.
Many people agree that Leia is seen as a strong and resourceful character. She isn’t the typical damsel in distress. Yes, initially she did have to be rescued by Luke Skywalker from her prison cell, but later in the same scene of Episode IV, Leia takes charge. She retrieves the blaster from Luke and states, “Someone has to save our skins.” She removes a blaster and starts shooting at the Stormtroopers that are attempting to not let them leave from the ship. Leia uses her strength and her ingenuity to get the job done, and in this case, it is saving her life and saving herself from captivity. This is not the last time that we see Leia take control of a situation that would be usually be left up to the male counterparts to save the lady from.
In the last installment of the original trilogy, Episode Six, "Return of the Jedi" Leia is transformed into a more obvious sexual person. Throughout the other two episodes, Leia is portrayed as being a confident women who isn’t afraid to say what she wants, especially from the male gender, she openly flirts with Han Solo, as well as Luke Skywalker, obviously before knowing that they are long-lost siblings. During this, time has created the most well-known look of the Star Wars Ladies, and this is the infamous “Slave Leia” and the Metal Bikini. But during this scene, Leia takes her life into her own hands. She uses the same bondage that Jabba entraps her in to later strangle him to death.
Fisher plays Leia as this strong character, who is never passive, who takes charge of the situation and is not afraid to do that. In Episode Seven, The Force Awakens we see our beloved Princess transformed into a General. Years have passed and titles may have changed around, but it's the same Leia that generations grew up loving. We see her motherly side come about due to Kylo Ren's involvement in the Dark Side, but not much else has changed besides the wisdom that comes with growing older and holding a political position.
Leia is this wonderfully strong character and Carrie Fisher plays her beautifully. Carrie Fisher does not just stop with this character, however. She openly spoke about mental health and her struggles with it. She was unapologetic when she spoke, either through her twitter account, the panels she was a part of or just other interview opportunities. There have been many statements made by those who were close to her that she had a kind heart and a loving soul, and I can't help but hope that those were true.
She was also a screenwriter for many years, or she would help polish the scripts for many movies, even those she was a part of. She published books and did successful one-woman plays.
This woman showed to so many that it was okay to be a strong woman, who knew what she wanted and act upon those desires. She showed that it is okay to have issues with mental health, and it is possible to live successfully with those issues. She showed how great it is to have a sense of humor, to maybe not take everything so seriously. She showed how to love those around you, always giving respect to her co-workers and love to those that she worked with.
If we have learned anything from Carrie Fisher, it is that it is so important to make these role models, especially for young women, to stand up and speak out. Not only did Carrie exemplify this in the roles that she played, but also in her own life. I cannot thank her enough for the influence that she has played.
May the force be with you, always.
