Carrie Fisher Memorial Open Thread

Dammit dammit dammit.

Fuck 2016. Seriously, fuck it hard. Carrie Fisher is dead and we’re still on schedule to have Dumpy the Talking Yam and his Amazing Fascist Friends take the oath of office in less than a month. My uncle passed away in May from complications of COPD at the young age of 57, and that’s not getting into everybody else we lost this year.

Seriously, the only good things about 2016 is the Cubs winning the World Series and a couple of kitties from the Tinykittens cam pulling it out against all odds (Felicity and Skye, for those as care, especially Skye). The rest of it can rot in a dumpster.

Seriously, fuck 2016 with a roto-rooter.

2016; The day the music died (repeatedly)

I must admit General Leia was the very best moment of the Force Awaken. And she was talented as script doctor too.

A french saying is “it’s alway the better one who leave first”. It sure seem to apply here.

@Mish:

I was going to share that Sarah Kendzior tweet here myself. Everything she posts is incredible.

Seconded. I’ve started following her recently too and she’s great.

I think I’m still processing Carrie Fisher’s passing. Despite being a massive SF geek, Star Wars was never the cultural touchstone it seemed to be for so many of my generation, but the world is a slightly poorer place today for not having her in it anymore. Most people who had to deal with the problems Carrie Fisher had with mental health, substance abuse, relationships, etc. would have been too embarrassed to air them in public but she gave the world the finger and dared it to clutch its pearls at her… and gave a lot of people the strength to do the same. Ave atque vale.

Until now, Gene Wilder was the one that hit me hardest. But yeah, General Leía Organa….

@ Cat Mara, you’re on Twitter?
*clicks your nym*
Ah 🙂

http://i.giphy.com/26tP54VWH5Kb15uNy.gif
*Heart melts*

@Mish:

Someone in my Discworld FB group just lectured us (fairly gently) on how superficial it is to grieve for celebrities when innocent people, especially children, are dying all over the world, every day.

Oh, I hate that, even when it’s done in gentleness. Someone I follow on Facebook called that out last night and this is what I wrote:

People who say this kind of shit are the worst.

There’s something called Dunbar’s Number (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbar's_number) which suggests that human beings are only capable of maintaining meaningful relationships with about 150 others– a hard-coded limit, if you like. There is a finite number of people you can give a shit about and that’s an unfortunate reality.

And, do you know, it’s true: I don’t “care” much about the people in Aleppo, or the starving in Africa, or the kids half-blind from exhaustion and toxic exposure toiling in Chinese sweatshops to produce the devices on which you type your judgemental e-bilge. Occasionally, I feel some sort of abstract sympathy when the locus of my attention is momentarily diverted towards them, but not very often. But the one thing I never do is hold their bloodied, emaciated bodies up and shake them in the faces of other people trying to come to terms with the loss of someone who shaped their lives in some positive way, you scum. You’re not being edgy, or striking a blow for equality or taking a stand against the hollowness of celebrity culture or whatever empty mantra you recite to yourselves to justify your self-importance: you’re just fucking *ghouls*. How many include you in their Dunbar’s number… or begrudge you wasting one of their slots in it?

http://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/scalefit_630_noupscale/5627dc171400002a00c7a7ec.jpeg

Sorry, I’m not sure what’s wrong with my image posting. It is a quote from Carrie Fisher that has great significance to me.

Edit: I’m not myself bipolar, it is the overarching sentiment that I relate to.

Someone in my Discworld FB group just lectured us (fairly gently) on how superficial it is to grieve for celebrities when innocent people, especially children, are dying all over the world, every day.

We’re not grieving for celebrities, at least I’m not. I’m grieving for one more warrior… for a strong woman who lifted the struggle for understanding of mental health, of addiction… I’m grieving for the hero who turned the “notion” of a warrior who identified as female into a concrete reality…

I never met Carrie Fisher, I don’t know if she measures in my “Dunbar’s number” (or if I have one of those…) the closest I got to her was the infinite depth of a movie screen.

To mourn the passing of those whose contribution to the struggle was made very publicly, and who, in many cases suffered personal and career consequences for their public contribution is not shallow. It is not an erasure of the suffering of the innocent victims of wrongdoing to celebrate the deeds of those who would try to right the wrongs.

Victoria Wood is my huge loss from this year, mainly for the same reasons Carrie Fisher is. Both gave a weird girl growing up in the 1980’s (Empire Strikes Back was the first film I ever saw at the cimena and stil recall every bit of that day clearly) the heroes and role models she needed to survive. I’m even in the middle of LEGO Star Wars TFA which she did extra voicework right now. Anyway I can’t add to all the fine sentiments already expressed, just give a vigorous nod in agreement.

Also her last appearance might be the UK panel show 8 Out of Ten Cats. I haven’t seen it but my sister, 12 years younger than me told me she was absolutely hilarious on it, so maybe that’s another thing for people to check out.

Please, someone tell me that there was at least one famous, irredeemable asshole who died this year at something other than a ripe old age, because I can’t think of anyone right now, and maybe it would help a little…