Carrie Fisher

I was going to write about the nonsense I went through coming home last night, but the death of Carrie Fisher has kind of swept that from me. Hers is the passing of a generation-spanning icon. She most certainly was an icon of my generation, but also that of my children. Just recently my daughter sent me a video of her daughter singing the Star Wars song. Carrie Fisher was more than just one role, just one character, yet Princess Leia will be with all of us for a long time.

The first Star Wars movie came out in 1977. I remember driving to Seattle from Abbotsford, with my girlfriend, the woman who would become my wife, and another friend. We wanted to see the movie at the Cinerama in Seattle, because it had the curved screen and a sound system that would show the film in all its glory. I still remember standing in line, waiting to get tickets, this beautiful young woman next to me, and seeing Princess Leia on a poster. I looked at the poster. I looked at Carla. Then I thought to myself, "Carla's prettier than her". I was young and in love, but it was still true.

The special effects in the movie were stunning, but very little matched the looks of Carrie Fisher. Her hairdo became both a target for mockery and iconic in its own right. Her character was an angry one, seeing all she knew destroyed by the evil Darth Vader, who, unknown to her, was actually her own father. Twist on twist, story within story, she play well for action, beauty, and laughter.

We were young then. There was hope for a better world, a world where space was simply the great outdoors, and planets were mere stopping places. Now we have all aged. Time has taught us its cruel lessons. Our icons, the icons of this mortal time and place, are passing. Musical icons, theatrical icons, greats of literature and discourse; they must all leave us. Carrie Fisher was young then, and still young now, only 60, even younger than I. The image of her as a beautiful 22 year old girl will be with us on film forever. Unfortunately the beauty of her person is mortal. She has left us.

More than any other loss in culture this year, hers affects me most. She was younger than me. She was witty, intelligent, self-reliant. She bore the challenge of the years with grace and charm. She was my princess, the princess of my generation.