Carrie Fisher

I don't want to write about Carrie Fisher's death.  It's so sad.  I've read her non-fiction books, which detailed her wild and often troubled life.  She also has a new book out about her Star Wars days that I've been planning to read.  And I've seen her in numerous movies and TV shows, not to mention films she wrote.  But of course, she'll always be Princess Leia.

Star Wars was the film phenomenon of my lifetime.  I still remember walking out of the theatre feeling I'd just witnessed magic.  And Princess Leia was an important part of that.  She's the first human you see (even before the film started, I remember standing in the lobby looking at photos from the film--the one that intrigued me most was Leia bending down to R2-D2), and the whole plot revolves around her rescue, not to mention the other two leads fighting for her attention.  The wonder Luke felt when he first saw her hologram--that's how a whole generation of boys viewed her.  The film ends with Luke and Han receiving medals from the Princess, and three deep friendships (four if you count Chewie) being forged--but it was the beginning of a lifelong relationship with millions around the world.

While there were plenty of cool characters in A New Hope, Leia more than held her own.  She wasn't intimidated by Grand Moff Tarkin or Darth Vader.  She suffered maybe more than anyone, seeing her home planet blown up, but she still held it together.  And she didn't put up with any nonsense, even when Luke and Han rescued her.

The Empire Strikes Back deepened her character (and her relationship with Han, now that Luke was out of the question), and Return Of The Jedi, of course, featured her iconic slave costume.

But that wasn't all for the Princess.  We saw her origin in the prequels, and she returned, decades older, in The Force Awakens. Then, only a couple weeks ago, the same young Princess Leia Organa we loved in the first Star Wars made her appearance at the end of Rogue One.  Her last word is "hope."