Steel Notes Magazine
January 2017
Fishing for a Galaxy Far , Far Away : Remembering Carrie Fisher
By Jerry Saravia ( Pseudo Film Critic )
" I signed my likeness away . Every time I look in the mirror , I have to send Lucas a couple of bucks ." – Carrie Fisher
When I first saw the original “ Star Wars ” in 1977 , I was at once mystified by what I saw – a space epic unlike anything anyone had ever seen before . Of course , the story was old-hat and the chivalrous
heroes and the nasty villains were nothing new . But it is how it was directed and how it was acted that breathed new life into the flashiest of Flash Gordon-like serials with souped-up special effects . At the end of the day , though , it was the characters that people loved . Even if you did not see “ Star Wars ,” you still knew the names Han Solo , Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia . Leia was the sole female lead in the film and over the course of four more movies , she stood out as Han ’ s romantic interest and Luke ’ s sister – she was strong with the Force . So was Carrie Fisher , a remarkably witty screenwriter , script doctor and best-selling author who had the courage to poke fun at herself . I am not sure she ever took “ Star Wars ” seriously , at first ( her claims of sexism over the course of the original trilogy are not unfounded , bear in mind that metal bikini ), but over the years , she saw the rapid rise of an out-of-this-world fan base and held it as something rather special in her career . She once said about the iconic “ Star Wars ”: “ I got to be the only girl in an all boy fantasy , and it ’ s a great role for women . She ’ s a very proactive character and gets the job done . So if you ’ re going to get typecast as something , that might as well be it for me .” In hindsight with her iconic role of Princess Leia , many adolescent boys in the late 1970 ’ s and beyond dreamed of being Luke Skywalker ( as I did ), the callow farmer who rescued a pretty princess from the throes of the evil Empire . However , she was adept at firing a blaster , made sarcastic comments (“ Will somebody get this big walking carpet out of my way ?” when referencing Chewbacca )
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