A Queen Among Princesses

Princess Leia might not have been the only thing that Carrie Fisher did in her career, but to many of us, it was one of the most important. Still, now that she’s passed, many of us are finding out just how amazing she was in regards to being a writer and various other talents, while still being very human.

This loss hurts because Fisher portrayed one of the most badass female characters ever… and although that sounds trivial, that is as far from the truth as it goes. As a character in the Star Wars universe, no one faced harder choices than Leia, from facing certain death to doing her best to save a planet that was destroyed in front of her eyes. Even so, she never stopped fighting for what was right. She never quit. She never gave excuses. She never broke down. And she was never intimidated.

If there was a problem, she would demand a solution or make her own with a blaster in hand. A lot of people remember Leia in her slave outfit, but for me, I think I shall always remember her best in the white outfit with the donuts, dressed for combat on Endor, and most definitely when she went undercover to save Han. That’s the thing though, she was always fighting the good fight and never laying down. Sure, she may have been made to wear a slave outfit, but lest you forget, she was the one who killed Jabba, with her bare hands and quite ruthlessly might I add. In short, you did not cross Leia without paying the price.

Leia is and shall always be one of the best female heroines because she was strong, determined, smart, and perseverant. The interesting thing to note is that this wasn’t just a character, this was apparently how Fisher lived. She dealt with many demons from bipolar disorder to addiction and she never shied away from speaking the truth.

Was it easy? No. But she did it anyways.

I think that one of the most important lessons to take from this character was that more than being a princess, it was that she led by example, never by just giving orders. It’s been a long year, and we’ve lost another person that was special to a lot of us for what she represented on and off screen. But if we learned anything from Fisher AND Leia, it’s that there’s always hope, there is always something to be done, and the force is strong with all of us.

Peace, love, and may the force be with all of you.