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The Carrie beyond Leia

The Star Wars actress often spoke about the misogyny with which her character was portrayed

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Carrie Fisher in the metal bikini she wore in Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi—Maxim
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In a true display of agency, actress Carrie Fisher never denied that she was a token, sexualised presence on the movie franchise that made her famous. She had a love-hate relationship with Princess Leia. In a 1983 interview with Rolling Stone magazine, she said, "Let's not forget that these movies are basically boys' fantasies," she said. "So the other way they made her [Princess Leia] more female in this one was to have her take off her clothes."

Princess Leia was ostensibly portrayed as a fearless leader who could take care of herself and fight her own battles. Fisher said that she was a damsel in distress, but she was a damsel who could handle her own distress. However, there was no escaping the fetishism —in a 'memorable' scene from 1983's Return of the Jedi, she wears an iron bra and sits as main slave to Jabba the Hutt.

The gold bikini became a cultural juggernaut, popping up as Ross Geller's fantasy in the sitcom Friends, but Fisher expressed pure hatred for it and said it was degrading. During the filming of The Force Awakens, told the film's lead Daisy Ridley, "You should fight for your outfit. Don't be a slave like I was." Which is also why she refused a body double for the scene in which she kills Jabba the Hutt, who had forced her to wear the bikini. In her memoir 'Wishful Drinking', she recounts one of first conversations with director George Lucas: "George comes up to me the first day of filming and he takes one look at the dress and says: 'You can't wear a bra under that dress… Because there's no underwear in space'."

Most of us associate Fisher with the Star Wars franchise, but Mumbai- based journalist Preksha Malu said that Fisher's writings and her interviews influenced her thinking. "I remember her talking about ageing and how her body didn't age as well as she did. She was so aware of her body and how the world perceived it, and she didn't care. She was proud and loud about whom she was as a person. I felt women shrink themselves too much out of fear of retribution," she says. To Malu, Fisher was so much more than Princess Leia. "She taught me that you can bounce back from whatever hole you are in and be useful in a profession of your choosing. Be it scripting, writing novels, acting and advocating, she did what felt most true to her. And being Hollywood royalty, she maximised the use of her position to inspire so many generations of women," says the 24-year-old.

Actor and scriptwriter Medha was introduced to the original Star Wars trilogy much later in life. "The idea of a non-damsel in distress is a unique one and I'd credit the writer entirely for it," says the 27-year-old. "We are so used to men saving women and everyone from heroes to villains are men. Of course, it's refreshing to see independent female characters that are responsible for themselves because we live a life being independent and being responsible for who we are and what we do. We don't have saviours in real life. When things get bad, no hero comes to rescue us — either on a white horse or on a spaceship."

Fisher also did uncredited script work for movies like Lethal Weapon 3, Outbreak, and The Wedding Singer. Now that she's gone, maybe it's time to look beyond the metal bikini and think of her talent, her outspokenness, and for the way she addressed her struggle with mental illness.

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