Why Carrie Fisher’s Portrayal of Princess Leia Matters:
Carrie Fisher’s Princess Leia was my first role model. My Dad and Uncle introduced my cousins and I to Star War way back in 1999, and needless to say it has been a massive part of our lives since. We would fight with lightsabers instead of swords and practise becoming one with the Force. Whereas my cousins wanted to be in the Jedi Order, I wanted to be as witty, courageous and headstrong as Princess Leia.
When I was growing up, I connected more and more to Princess Leia because she wasn’t just a pretty princess. She wasn’t your classic damsel in distress because she had her own array of weapons to shoot the bad guys with, and as a young girl, to see her fighting her own battles made me feel like she was invincible. Not only that, but she is aware of the destruction that the Galactic Empire possesses and fights against that evil by being a key member of the Rebel Alliance and in The Force Awakens, a General.
But for me, the most important advice Princess Leia has given me is something that I became increasingly aware of when I was maturing: the limitations of being female is set by our own society. When I look at Princess Leia, she doesn’t let her gender stand in her way. When Jabba the Hut forces her to be his sexual object in the infamous gold bikini, she frees herself and then subsequently chokes him to death with the chains he enslaved her with. For me, that scene stands as a metaphor that no man should control you because you are your own person who deserves to be heard.
I won’t be shooting any Stormtroopers any time soon, but I will be as determined, strong-minded and conscientious of doing my bit to make the world a better place just like Princess Leia.