In her 1987 semi-autobiographical novel, Postcards from the Edge, Carrie Fisher let it be known: All that glitters is not gold. Born October 21, 1956 to Hollywood royalty Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, Carrie was just two years old when her parents divorce. Fisher famously left his wife and children for legendary seductress Elizabeth Taylor.
“Gawd! I’m the casualty of Elizabeth Taylor’s passion,” Carrie Fisher quipped to The Washington Post in a candid interview when her book was published. In her writing, her one-woman play, and her interviews, Fisher used humor as a balm, creating a distance between her pain and the precipitating event, in order to share her experiences with the public.
Reynolds, on the other hand, took a different approach. She remarried in a year and never looked back, maintaining a peaceful relationship with her ex-husband and going so far as to reconcile with Taylor. Following the scandal, she picked herself up and dusted herself off, pursuing her career with vigor and maintaining the wholesome image that won America’s heart with her unforgettable role in Singin’ in the Rain.
Reynolds and Fisher were the consummate mother-daughter duo of our times, each embodying the spirit of their respective eras while simultaneously advancing the image of women in popular culture. Where Reynolds came of age before the Culture Wars began, she embodied the paradigm of self-reliance and self-respect, never selling sex to get ahead. She was the quintessential image of professionalism and civility, the girl-next-door turned mother-of-the-year.
Fisher, on the other hand, came of age after the Culture Wars had begun, and as such embodied and helped to define an entirely new archetype. She catapulted to global dame at just 19 years old, playing Princess Leia in Star Wars. Leia was no damsel in distress; she was a leader and a revolutionary. Like her mother, Fisher never capitalized on her sexuality; unlike her mother she dug deep into her interior world to explore, expose, and maybe even exorcise the conflicts that ravaged her mind, body, and soul.
When Postcards From the Edge was published, it was an historic moment in many ways. Fisher revealed herself as so much more than an actress: she was a writer, a comedian, and a pithy sage. At the heart of her book, beneath the sex, drugs, and fame is the story of a mother-daughter relationship. It’s a look at what it’s like to grow up in the shadows, even when you become a star yourself; of the ways the parent-child relationship has such tremendous influence that it becomes hard to know where they end and you begin; of the way in which these porous boundaries can drive self-destructive behaviors and addictions.
Earlier this year, Fisher told The Telegraph that she “hid in books” growing up; it’s a beautiful irony that it is in books that she revealed herself to the world. The addiction novel has traditionally been a staple for male writers, from William S. Burroughs to Hunter S. Thompson. In writing Postcards from the Edge and later her memoir, Wishful Drinking, Fisher laid claim to the realm, showing just how far the Hollywood memoir has come since the days when actresses avoided sharing of the murky, messy parts of their lives with the world.
Carrie Fisher died this Tuesday, at the age of 60, four days after suffering a massive heart attack while on board a flight from London to Los Angeles. On Wednesday afternoon, Debbie Reynolds had a severe stroke and died shortly thereafter at the age of 84. Her son Todd Fisher told the Associated Press that Carrie’s death “was too much” for her to bear. Her final words were, “I want to be with Carrie.”
There is a sad beauty and poignancy to their bond, one that was forged over decades of tragedies and triumphs. For fans of Postcards from the Edge, there is another layer here, one that bears the hallmarks Fisher’s wry smile and the humor she used to survive the pain…
…but rather than give her secrets away, check out the book or the film, which Fisher adapted for a screenplay, produced and directed by Mike Nichols and starring Meryl Streep and Shirley MacLaine.
Top Photo: Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic
Miss Rosen is a New York-based writer, curator, and brand strategist. There is nothing she adores so much as photography and books. A small part of her wishes she had a proper library, like in the game of Clue. Then she could blaze and write soliloquies to her in and out of print loves.
