Carrie Fisher was finally honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Fisher has been my hero for most my life. I say “most” because I wasn’t aware as an infant of the profound impact she’d have on me, and I believe in my heart that she’d have notes for me if I said otherwise. She has always been my guide when it comes to writing. Fisher’s frank honesty in her work taught me how to embrace emotions in my writing and share my thoughts with the world through them. (The biggest compliment our Kaila Hale-Stern ever gave me was unwittingly saying that my writing reminded her of Carrie’s. I cried.)
All this is to say that seeing Fisher finally honored with a star was an emotional time. Mark Hamill was there, telling audiences that Carrie Fisher wouldn’t want us to be sad that she wasn’t; that she’d want us to have fun. We watched as C-3PO and R2D2 stood by as her star was revealed. And most importantly, Billie Lourd shared Carrie’s glitter with the world in just the way that Fisher would have loved.
Lourd gave a speech about her mother, saying that “She isn’t just Princess Leia. She’s Carrie Fisher.” And it made me cry knowing how much the world loves Fisher and her work to this day.
After all this time waiting for Fisher to have her star, giving it to her on Star Wars Day was just adding to the tears. It was beautiful having Lourd there to accept the honor on behalf of her mother, and while it was a day celebrating our princess, it was sad knowing that Fisher would have written an incredible speech for herself. Including throwing glitter on her star.
She drowned in moonlight, strangled by her own bra
Famously, Fisher complained that George Lucas said there were no “bras” in space. So at the end of Wishful Drinking, Fisher said that is how she wanted it reported that she died: “Drowned in moonlight, strangled by her own bra.” It’s something I think about a lot because Fisher was so quick and funny, even when talking about her eventual death. It’s why when she passed away and had her ashes placed in a Prozac-shaped urn, it brought comfort to those upset by the passing of a celebrity who meant a lot to them.
While, yes, my relationship to Carrie Fisher was as a fan of a celebrity, it doesn’t diminish the importance she’s had on my life. Fisher taught me that you can be vulnerable, share your heart with the world, and still want to be the princess fighting for justice in space. I was lucky enough to meet her once and she gave me a confidence that I lacked in my life, telling me I was pretty and would find a Han Solo.
It feels silly because I didn’t really know her, but she always made fans feel like they were loved. And now we have a physical space where we can go to honor Fisher and her legacy. I cannot wait to go to her star and honor the woman who means a whole hell of a lot to me. As Carrie Fisher once said, “Take your broken heart, make it into art.”
(featured image: David Livingston, Getty Images)
