As I write this, I do so with the typical sadness we nerds get at the passing of one of our definable figures.
Let’s face it…2016 has been absolutely brutal for celebrity deaths.
We lost David Bowie, Alan Rickman, and Glenn Frey (among others) in January. We should have known.
THE SIGNS WERE THERE!!!
We are more aware of celebrity deaths as we get older because these are names we grew up with.
Prince, Merle Haggard, Doris Roberts, Muhammad Ali, Gordie Howe, Anton Yelchin, Pat Summitt, Kenny “R2-D2” Baker, Gene Wilder, Arnold Palmer, Florence Henderson and countless more. Hell, this month alone has seen the passing of Alan Thicke, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Greg Lake, George Michael, and as we learned today, Carrie Fisher.
Fisher suffered a cardiac arrest on a flight from London to Los Angeles just days ago, but was reported as of this morning to be in stable condition. Sadly, she succumbed to the event earlier today. She was 60 years old.
Known largely for her role of Leia Organa, Fisher has appeared in four main saga movies, from the original trilogy to Episode VII: The Force Awakens. Variety has reported that all of Fisher’s scenes for Episode VIII had been filmed.
But the question remains, and though it may seem callous and uncaring, bare with me: what will come of the Princess Leia character after Episode VIII?
I don’t know the plan for the Leia character. SPOILERS AHEAD!!! We know that in the third act of Episode VII The Force Awakens, Han Solo is killed by Kylo Ren. How does this affect Leia? How does she retaliate in the next chapter of the saga? So many questions.
I pose the following questions to you, and I encourage you to respond in the comments either here or on Facebook.
- Should the story be altered in any way (not that we know what the story is) to allow for a graceful departure of Leia’s character?
- Based on what we saw in Rogue One and the technological advancements in CGI and the ability to bring characters to life despite their actors being deceased, is that a direction you’d like to see them go with Leia?
I get it…I feel shitty even considering the notion of a Star Wars Universe without Carrie Fisher. But thanks to 2016, that’s the world we live in now.
So what I’m trying to say is:
SCREW YOU 2016!!!