Princess Leia is slumped forward, face buried in her arms.
This is not a scene from aStar Warsmovie, but thecover of Fishers 2008 memoir,Wishful Drinking.
Heck, maybe thats not even Leia on the cover.
Credit: Lucasfilm, Ltd.
The face is obscured; it doesnt even look like Fisher.
This goes without saying, but the actress didnt own the character.
(She would joke, sometimes, that the reverse was true.)
Back in 2011, Fisher revealed toNewsweekthat when she signed ontoStar Wars, shesigned away her likeness for free.
The identity of Princess Leia so eclipses any other identity that Ive ever had, Fisher toldNewsweek.
Fisher had a fine few careers outside ofStar Wars read her obituaryhere.
Not role, not part, not job, but identity.
What was that identity?
Who was Princess Leia?
Youre my only hope.
There is the implication of torture or at least some seriously enhanced interrogation.
(She has a posh accent, and then sometimes she doesnt.)
Luke Skywalker, impersonating an Imperial, walks into her prison cell and freezes.
Arent you a little short for a Stormtrooper?
After that, Luke Skywalker always looked smaller.
Fisher toldRolling Stonethat although their relationship became physical, We werent communicating a lot.
Hes stuck-up, half-witted, scruffy-looking; shed rather kiss a Wookiee.
It became common to praise Leia as a strong character, a pioneer.
InStar Wars, the boys save her, not well, and not professionally.
(This is some rescue!
Leia says, always sarcastic.)
Its romantic and funny and maybe a bit of a power move for him.
But I always remember the scene right after that, when Chewie starts choking Lando.
They still think hes a traitor.
Lando says that hes just trying to help, that he had no choice.
Oh, we understand, dont we, Chewie?
Leia says, rage and sarcasm blazing in her eyes wide open.
Leia defined Fisher, as far as the world was concerned.
Unsurprising, maybe, that she became one of the most practiced puncturists of both myths.
In that same stage show, she remembered being told to lose 10 pounds when she weighed 105.
In 2015, sheclaimedthat to star in her fourthStar Warsmovie, she had to shed35pounds.
So she complicated the characters legacy, and in the process, she reclaimed it.Shewas the real rebel.
Consider: InReturn of the Jedi, Fisher wears her gold bikini.
InThe Force Awakens, shes a general.
Its technically a promotion, though its a smaller role.
Her young costars and most of the world could seem positively in thrall to the legend ofStar Wars.
Fisher grew up with legends, and as Leia, she became a legend.
But Leia was too blunt to believe in legends.
(Size matters not, sure, but really,arentyou a little too short for a Stormtrooper?)
And Fisher was too funny, too honest, too inextricablyherself.
Leia was a princess and a general, a standard-bearer for women in the blockbuster era.
The woman who played her was nobodys slave, and with honesty and humor, she kept fighting.
