Meeting my Childhood Princess
When I was a little boy I had a princess in just the same way other young children might have. She was beautiful and wore sumptuous gowns – sometimes – and at one point needed rescuing by a dashing young hero or three. But that wasn’t why she was a princess or at least why she was important to me.
You see my princess could look after herself and had sass. When someone told her they were going to execute her, she gave him lip. She fought her own battles, commanded soldiers and didn’t take crap from anyone. But she did all that without losing one iota of ‘femininity’. There is nothing ‘butch’ about Princess Leia.
So I grew up with a strong female hero figure every bit as cool as her male counterparts. Yesterday I got to meet, ever-so briefly, the real woman who brought that character to life and it was a wonderful experience. My own interaction with Carrie Fisher was very short, she got the photo I wanted signed, said my name as way of greeting/confirming I was the right person and we briefly chatted as she signed. She made an instant connection, made me feel worthy of being there and also moved me on quickly so she could meet the hundreds of people still in line.
As for her panel, she was funny, warm and insightful. She knew how much of a star she was to us but it didn’t go to her head, there was a distinct sense that she considered it all something fortunate that had happened to her, she landed a role she didn’t expect and became a super star she never thought she’d be and yes she had more than a few ‘issues’ – and she was very open about them – but she was no diva. Like her character, she may be called a princess and may earn our admiration but she doesn’t expect special treatment or talk like she’s above any one of us.
One bit of advice she gave in response to a question about creativity and mental ‘issues’ shall we say, was worth remembering – “It’s not about staying sane, it’s about finding our path through what we call ‘sanity’ and dealing with that as best we can.” That may not be verbatim but it’s close.
Possibly more importantly, she advised us all to have fun. She didn’t just say it, she was clearly doing it. Life had presented her with that moment and she grabbed it with both hands and enjoyed it to the full. Most importantly she advised to kill giant slugs at any given opportunity as killing Jabba had given her true happiness.
So I got to meet my childhood princess, and sure she isn’t Leia, but she was still the princess and meeting her was every bit the honour, not because she was in my favourite film franchise, but because of the woman she is. Thank you Carrie.
Keep dreaming – and kill a giant slug for happiness.
You see my princess could look after herself and had sass. When someone told her they were going to execute her, she gave him lip. She fought her own battles, commanded soldiers and didn’t take crap from anyone. But she did all that without losing one iota of ‘femininity’. There is nothing ‘butch’ about Princess Leia.
So I grew up with a strong female hero figure every bit as cool as her male counterparts. Yesterday I got to meet, ever-so briefly, the real woman who brought that character to life and it was a wonderful experience. My own interaction with Carrie Fisher was very short, she got the photo I wanted signed, said my name as way of greeting/confirming I was the right person and we briefly chatted as she signed. She made an instant connection, made me feel worthy of being there and also moved me on quickly so she could meet the hundreds of people still in line.
As for her panel, she was funny, warm and insightful. She knew how much of a star she was to us but it didn’t go to her head, there was a distinct sense that she considered it all something fortunate that had happened to her, she landed a role she didn’t expect and became a super star she never thought she’d be and yes she had more than a few ‘issues’ – and she was very open about them – but she was no diva. Like her character, she may be called a princess and may earn our admiration but she doesn’t expect special treatment or talk like she’s above any one of us.
One bit of advice she gave in response to a question about creativity and mental ‘issues’ shall we say, was worth remembering – “It’s not about staying sane, it’s about finding our path through what we call ‘sanity’ and dealing with that as best we can.” That may not be verbatim but it’s close.
Possibly more importantly, she advised us all to have fun. She didn’t just say it, she was clearly doing it. Life had presented her with that moment and she grabbed it with both hands and enjoyed it to the full. Most importantly she advised to kill giant slugs at any given opportunity as killing Jabba had given her true happiness.
So I got to meet my childhood princess, and sure she isn’t Leia, but she was still the princess and meeting her was every bit the honour, not because she was in my favourite film franchise, but because of the woman she is. Thank you Carrie.
Keep dreaming – and kill a giant slug for happiness.
Comments
Post a Comment