I was thirteen years old that summer. It was the very first movie I was allowed to see alone…well, if you count having to take your pesky 11-year old brother. I remember standing outside the movie theater listening to the little punk go on and on as we waited to be picked up by our parents. I thought…so what? It was okay, but not THAT big a deal. I was more excited that I got to go without an adult than lightsabers and robots.
I admit though I went back for the second and the third (YES…I said 2nd and 3rd). My teen hormones had kicked in a bit by then and Harrison Ford’s Han Solo played right into my ‘bad boy’ obsession that lasted way, way too long. But I have steadfastly refused to see those others…the imitations. Though I have caught a scene or two when my older children were watching the videos. Sorry, they do nothing for me.
So I had already made up my mind…NO, this girl is not wasting her money or even more importantly her time on the latest fad. Then she opened her mouth…
And I found a new heroine worthy of my attention.
Gone was the ridiculous golden bikini and doughnuts on the side of her head. Gone was the arrogant, self-absorbed and self-righteous ‘princess’ who toyed with men’s affections and played them against one another.
In her place stood a General…a warrior…a shieldmaiden. A woman. A REAL woman. A character, who had aged…with gray hair and wrinkles…and oh yeah, a woman’s body to boot. She stood toe-to-toe with her men…and still was woman enough to seek comfort in his arms.
Now there is a woman worth emulating. But not even a General can hold a candle to the REAL woman behind the icon. With witty come backs like…
“Please stop debating about whetherOR not I aged well.unfortunately it hurts all3 of my feelings.My BODY hasnt aged as well as I have”
“My body is a brain bag, it hauls me around to those places & in front of faces where theres something to say or see.” AND…
“Youth and beauty are not accomplishments, they’re the temporary happy biproducts of time and/or DNA. Don’t hold your breath for either.(sic)”
Twitter is hard…140 characters to say something meaningful, but you do, Carrie Fisher. And kudos to this week’s REAL Woman Wednesday.
You inspire me to take this regular blog feature to a new level. To get more REAL than I ever have…than I am comfortable doing. I am just working up the courage now…can I borrow some of yours perhaps?
Oh and if it matters…your body ain’t a half bad brain bag…no matter what the ridiculous body-shamers out there say. I for one definitely like the woman that Leia has grown into.
Tara Cox - Literary Erotica 