Hey Gary,
To those of us enamored of Carrie Fisher, the most important person in your life, you were a comfort. You helped an icon be the best she could be. You were there with her to the end.
May I share a couple of personal stories with you?
In 1977, my parents went on a date to see a movie. I don’t know whether they argued about what to see, but ultimately they saw Star Wars. They tucked away the name “Luke” on the chance they had a boy in the near future. I arrived nine years later and was instead given the name of the space princess who saved a galaxy. Inevitably, I grew up watching Carrie in A New Hope over and over again. She stood up to an entire fucking Empire! I can’t impress upon you enough what that felt like, to see a woman staring defiantly in the face of oppression and darkness. It was an honor to have such a name as Leia. When I felt weak, I looked to her character for guidance. “What Would Princess Leia Do?” became a mantra.
She gave me new hope every time I felt hopeless.
Learning that the woman who played her was just as strong and just as fiery was AMAZING. Carrie Fisher was outspoken and honest about everything, even when the world at large told her she shouldn’t be. She struggled with being bipolar, and spoke candidly about the stigma surrounding it.
That’s when you came along. Seeing you became synonymous with knowing she felt more at peace with herself. You helped her so much, Gary! In fact, my second story is about you.
In May 2015, I attended a Dallas convention in a spur of the moment decision. My time was spent showing a convention newbie around the place. When we entered a hallway between the dealer room and the autograph area, you zoomed out to us, barking happily. We squatted and gave you a couple of pets before I froze. A voice I knew all too well rang out in the quite hallway.
“GARY, MY LOVE, COME!” she called out and off you went, tongue out, tail wagging.
I gripped my companion as we stood, ecstatic that I’d gotten to meet you.
You probably don’t need me to tell you how great she was, as you knew her much better than I did. My awe of her was spent largely from afar, one of many many fans of her work, both onscreen and off.
It doesn’t make me sad I never officially got to meet her, because I get to see her whenever I’d like. I get to share her story with everyone and describe how a princess could save herself, an entire galaxy, and ultimately, me. A whole new generation of people just got the chance to fall in love with one of the greatest heroes of our time.
That will always be what Carrie Fisher was to me…A hero.
I am so sorry that she has left your side, but please let me say from the bottom of my broken heart: Thank you, Gary.
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For a moment, think back on a movie premiere that you were excited for and also knew very little about. Is there one that didn’t have 50 years of comic book history or a series of books or a wikipedia with 500 pages of detailed entries from which you can roughly piece together the entire plot and post credit scene? Maybe something without a batcowl by Christopher Nolan, if you’re a fan. Both new potential Star Wars fans and 36 years-to-lifers have currently found themselves in a weird liminal space of innocent ignorance since the trailer was released on April 16th. In the last two weeks however, the Force Awakens‘ team has released character and cast details and will expectedly continue to do so as we crawl closer to that December premiere date. Every subsequent piece of news will drag us out of this space of unfettered anticipation and into a surge of updates and press releases. If you’re looking for analysis of any Star Wars news or coverage of the new canon Rebel series or comics, search elsewhere. Because I’m going full dark, sweetheart.
What was it like to not know what Star Wars was and then to know, man? I’m a relative youngling, so I first saw A New Hope when it was rereleased in theaters while sitting on my dad’s lap as he whispered the scrolling prologue into my ear. Years later, I’ve explored the established and unparalleled expanded universe (cartoons, Wookiepedia, comics, and books) none of which may make it into the new Disney films. This was a decision to be upset about until the release of a second teaser trailer which promised fans that the vision for The Force Awakens was better than any live action adaptation of our favorite moments from the Expanded Universe could ever be. We can still recapture that first ingenuous viewing experience while still expecting to see a film that can capture an audience for the next 35 years, because we know what Star Wars is and can be.
Imagine if you commit to going dark: the next piece of footage you will see will be this in a packed theater at midnight.
Of course, it hasn’t actually been that long since the prequel trilogy premiered and promptly disappointed thousands of expectant fans, but I’d argue some of those expectations are the problem. Without touching all of the controversy surrounding Joss Whedon’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, it’s undeniable that some of the criticism is fueled by people who had developed their own favorite versions of characters before the movie was even finished filming. Do you find yourself doing that already with The Force Awakens? Marvel fans obsessed over every teaser trailer and poster, analyzed every interview and rumor, and when Age of Ultron went in an unpredicted direction–well, saying people got upset would be a gross understatement at this point. Is it a mistake to corrupt our innocent hype with addicting pursuit of new expectations?
It’s probably not that serious, because in light of the Joss Whedon mess across social media, I feel like we all need a preemptive reminder that these are just movies. Besides, we Star Wars fans are made of nobler and less temperamental stuff. After all, we survived Jar Jar Binks. It’s not like anyone has ever cursed out George Lucas or his decisions with the franchise. Joke.
Click through to read about J. J. Abrams’ commitment to telling a new story instead of relying on references to the old. Delete your twitter now, J. J.
To be clear, I’m not judging everyone who is enjoying Rebels or the new books in order to feel ready for December, since I’ll be picking up all that stuff up December 19th. I’m just saying that I am ready now; I’m ready to be surprised and delighted by new characters, stories, and visuals, even if it means sacrificing the ability to natter every behind-the-scenes piece of trivia or history factoid to my most likely less-indoctrinated companion on premiere day. You’re welcome, future date.
Have I convinced you? Are you ready to bury your head in sands of the Dune Sea for the next 5 months? I promise it’s not that hard. Beware of social media and be ready to scroll rapidly past undesirable links and thumbnails worth of information. Movie theaters will become stressful places, so skip the trailers or bring headphones and keep a remote control close by when watching television. Or you know, just invest in a shielded helmet like Luke used in IV. If you find yourself in a Star Wars mood play around in the Expanded Universe of old, which I promise you’re still allowed to love. Welcome to the dark (not side) and reward your commitment with another viewing of The Force Awakens Trailer
Also, just because I (Kaitlyn) will not be posting about Star Wars VII news doesn’t mean that Sub-cultured won’t be covering it! Check back from now until December for updates on the Force Awakens’ situation.
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Be honest here. How many times did you just watch that video? Was that enough Star Wars told in the style of Shakespeare for you? No? Then I have some good news.
Verily, A New Hope, written by the brilliant Ian Doescher, turns Episode IV into an Elizabethan comedy set in deep space. The entire story is told in classic (and semi-difficult to master) iambic pentameter. As a theatre nerd, my very first reaction to this book was “holy crap we have to perform this”, and as I continued reading that instinct just got stronger and stronger. In fact, this book might well be the answer to “how do we get high schoolers interested in Shakespeare?” Doescher has created a text here that satisfies Star Wars and Shakespeare fans equally– in fact it even satisfied the Bearded One himself to the point where Verily is an officially licensed retelling of the original tale.
There are few things I love more than innovative storytelling, and Verily is nothing if not innovative. Although it barely takes a few stanzas before you’re thinking that Star Wars and Shakespeare are as classic a combination as peanut butter and jelly. (hey, I can use cliches. I’m not the bard.)
Doescher has created something that is at once familiar and unique. It is both faithful to the original text, and firmly in the world of adaptation. It blends old with new in a way that retains lines such as “that is no moon”, but also makes room for a loquacious R2. For instance:
“C-3P0: But Sir, no proverb warns the galaxy
Of how a droid may hotly anger’d be.
HAN: Aye, marry, ’tis because no droid hath e’er
Torn out of joint another being’s arms
Upon a lesser insult e’en than this–
But Wookies, golden droid, are not so tame.
C-3P0: Thy meaning, Sir, doth prick my circuit board.
‘Tis best to play the fool, and not the sage,
To say it brief: pray let the Wookie win.
CHEWBAC.: Auugh!
R2-D2 [aside]: –Brute! The fool I’ll play with
thee indeed.
Yet I percieve thou and they friend have heart.”
Doescher includes an Afterword at the end of his book, explaining his inspiration and the timeline of influence that is drawn directly from Shakespeare to Lucas. In between the two giants of their art forms is Joseph Campbell and his classic text on literature, The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Lucas studied the text, which in turn studied Shakespeare’s work and the classic characteristics found therein. It would seem that Doescher’s exercise is a natural progression in literature. In other words, none of us should be surprised that Verily exists, or that it was created so successfully.
Two thumbs up, five out of five stars, and 10/10 points. Pick up your copy of Verily, A New Hope today from Quirk Books, or your local bookstore!
Jen Schiller
Staff Writer
twitter.com/Jenisaur
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