Carrie Fisher: Royal General and Bipolar Queen

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2016 has to be Death’s favorite year. Death has taken almost everyone we’ve loved and now, it’s snatched Carrie Fisher. Carrie Fisher, an iconic woman who claimed overnight fame as Princess Leia, passed on December 27^th, 2016 at the age of 60 due to a devastating heart attack.

Carrie Fisher was famous before she was even born on October 21^st, 1956. She was the child of Eddie Fisher, an iconic signer, and Debbie Reynolds, screen legend who divorced when she was two. She escaped into books and was noted as a “bookworm” in her family. This later fueled her passion to write various episodes for series such as “Frasier”, “Family Guy”, “The Big Bang Theory”, “30 Rock”, and many more. She also crafted two plays (“Wishful Drinking” and “A Spy in the House of Me”), five autobiographies, three non- fictional pieces, and seven screenplays.  For some screenplays she was a “script doctor” – fixing scripts to make the films better; she helped with “Hook”, “Sister Act”, and other multiple films.  Fisher was a jack of all trades when it came to the cinema and even Broadway wherein she starred in “Censored Scenes from King Kong”, “Agnes of God”, and “Irene” with her mother, Debbie Reynolds.

Carrie Fisher has inspired many people everywhere as a warrior for women, a symbol of mental illness, and portraying many rolls from Camille (Mystery Woman) from “The Blues Brothers” to Princess Leia from “Star Wars”. Fisher used her struggles with her bipolar disorder, drug and alcohol abuse, and her parents’ divorce to empower her characters. With this, she essentially became the roles she played. It’s a common technique that many people with mental disorders execute. They utilize their struggles into a character – it’s a temporary form of escapism that allows them to become someone else.

Fisher has advocated for people to understand mental illness. As a whole, mental illnesses bear a stigma in society while people attempt to correct this. Mental illnesses are nothing to be ashamed of; they make up our genes and are a part of who we are. Yes, we can repair ourselves in various means and eventually we will emerge as someone stronger than before. Fisher inspired many to take note of mental illnesses and treat those affected like any other human being: with respect, dignity, and care. She emphasized this greatly in her interviews and targeted her own struggles to help people not only understand her better, but her bipolarity as well. She even referred to bipolar disorder as bipolar pride – a trait that is a part of those who have it. After Fisher’s death, people have taken to tweeting their mental illnesses following the hashtag #InhonorofCarrie.

Society still has a long way to go to understand just how crippling depression is, how one can be so shaken from anxiety, or how one manages to live a daily life with bipolar disorder. Yet through Fisher’s legacy of words and strength as well as being open about our illnesses, can we eliminate the stigma. Listen to her words, raise your lightsaber in her honor, buy her books, and remember Carrie Fisher as we march into a new year.

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So tell me, what will you miss most about Carrie Fisher?

I'll Always Have a Friend Like You, Robin Williams

Dearly beloved we are gathered here today to bid one final farewell to the friend we’ve always had, Robin Williams.

Robin Williams was a friend we grew up with. He was the crossdressing nanny who fought off burglars and shoved his face into a cake. He was the lovable Genie who could make any and all of your wishes true, while encouraging you to bee yourself and to dream. He was the wild man of the jungle who knew everything about the sudden stampede, the very game of survival itself, and how to avoid a ruthless huntsman. He was someone that we could always turn to for a laugh and could make us smile no matter how sad we were.

Robin Williams committed suicide at the tender age of sixty three in his San Francisco home. He had slit his wrists with a pocket knife and hanged himself with a belt.  It’s a painful image to imagine, our childhood icon tossing himself into Death’s arms, especially after attending rehab to maintain sobriety.  Robin Williams has had a long life of struggling with addiction to drugs and alcohol, yet with every struggle he has managed to put his vices aside, and make us laugh.

Robin Williams’ death shed light on another demon he had been battling all his life. This demon is known as depression. While it’s rumored that he also suffered from supposedly being bi polar, it was never confirmed. The depression supposedly began when he was addicted to cocaine in the 80s and it haunted him for many, many years. Even his psychologist stated that he was still suffering from depression when he committed suicide.    

The idea of Williams killing himself due to this mental disorder has caused the Internet to burst with concern for others who many suffer from depression and at times, want to end their lives. On Tumblr, suicide hotlines have been posted like wildfire. Upworthy has posted links about depression and articles relating to it. Because of this tragic death, people are worrying for others, offering them a shoulder to cry on, and an ear to listen to when times are tough.  People are opening themselves to strangers and friends, asking them to spill their soul in hopes that they won’t end their lives and it’s all because of Robin Williams.

Not only has the famous actor touched our hearts, but the hearts of those who had the pleasure to work with him. Dante Basco, aka Rufio from “Hook” wrote a farewell letter to him and hoping that he would see him in Neverland someday. Countless of stars, including Gilbert Gottfried, tweeted their respects for Williams. Even Blizzard, the company that brings us World of Warcraft, is planning to memorialize Robin Williams as an NPC within one of their games.

Peter Pan once told us that we should “never say goodbye because goodbye means going away and going away means forgetting.” We say goodbye to Robin Williams who flew away to Neverland one last time, but I assure you that many others, like myself, will never forget him. May he rest in peace and find humor with God beyond the clouds and in our hearts.