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Post #389563

Author
xhonzi
Parent topic
"Wishful Drinking" by Carrie Fisher
Link to post in topic
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/389563/action/topic#389563
Date created
21-Dec-2009, 11:56 AM

I saw this book on the shelf the other day and the cover intrigued me (Princess Leia passed out over a martini).  My local library had the audio book so I snagged that and have been listening to it in my car.  I'm just through the first disc (of three) so I can't give a full review, but here are some impressions.

It's odd to hear Princess Leia drop the f-bomb.  And so casually too.

In part of the book, she compares her mother's dressing room to Superman's phone booth.  She entered the dressing room as Carrie and Todd's mom and exited as Debbie Reynolds.  She talks about her three fathers... Eddie Fisher the TV personality, Eddie Fisher in "Real Life" and Mr. Normal from Burbank (imaginary "Father Knows Best family).  I think it's funny when actors go through the cycle of wanting to separate themselves from the characters they play (Leonard Nimoy's "I am Not Spock!") and then eventually realize that's the only legacy they really have (Leonard Nimoy's "I am Spock!").  She spends some time in the early part of the book talking about Public vs Private personas and how confusing all of that is to the movie-watching public and how it's even more confusing to celebrities and their kids. 

At any rate, someone decided against putting Carrie Fisher on the cover of her semi-biography and decided instead to put Princess Leia on it.  So I made the mistake of realizing that while I have immensely enjoyed Carrie Fisher's portrayal of Princess Leia, that I have no idea who she really is.  It seems to be a common problem as the book itself (and the show it's based on) is dedicated to showing you that Carrie Fisher has nothing in common with Princess Leia.  Not even a voice or a face anymore. 

Anytime I learn more about a celeb's personal life, I usually find that I wish I hadn't.  That, or I simply don't care.  I love movies, and what I think Mz. Fisher is telling me is that I don't want to know Carrie Fisher before she enters the phone booth.  I only care to watch her after she's exited as Princess Leia.

The End.

(P.S. I wanted to mention this earlier but didn't work it in.  She likes to say the word "penis" a lot, and she takes some obvious pot shots at Bush, Palin, and Republicans in general.  Nice!)