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Iconic Star Wars Actress Carrie Fisher Dies at 60 (people.com)

Carrie Fisher, the actress, author and screenwriter who brought a rare combination of nerve, grit and hopefulness to her most indelible role, as Princess Leia in the "Star Wars" film franchise, died on Tuesday morning at the age of 60. From a report: "It is with a very deep sadness that Billie Lourd confirms that her beloved mother Carrie Fisher passed away at 8:55 this morning," reads the statement. Fisher was flying from London to Los Angeles on Friday, Dec. 23, when she went into cardiac arrest. Paramedics removed her from the flight and rushed her to a nearby hospital, where she was treated for a heart attack. She later died in the hospital. The daughter of renowned entertainers Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher, Fisher was brought up in the sometimes tumultuous world of film, theater and television. Escaping Hollywood in 1973, the star enrolled in the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, where she spent over a year studying acting. Just two years later, though, the bright lights of Hollywood drew her back, and Fisher made her film debut in the Warren Beatty-led Shampoo. Her role in Star Wars would follow in 1977 -- and she detailed the experience, including her on-set affair with costar Harrison Ford, in her latest memoir, The Princess Diarist. She was only 19 when the first installment of the beloved sci-fi franchise was filmed. Fisher's fans, family, and colleagues have paid their tribute to the actress The Guardian has published an intense tribute to Fisher in an article titled "The loss of Carrie Fisher is felt by all who love Hollywood, warmth and wit".

From BBC's obituary of Fisher: She was a self-confessed bookworm as a child reading poetry and classical literature. Her high school education was disrupted by the lure of the stage when she appeared in the musical Irene alongside her mother, and she never graduated. She moved to London where she enrolled in the Central School of Speech and Drama before returning to the US and attending the Sarah Lawrence arts college near New York. Having managed to kick drugs and alcohol, she was rushed to hospital in 1985 after accidentally taking an overdose of sleeping pills and prescription drugs. The episode formed the basis for her first novel, the semi-autobiographical Postcards from the Edge, in which she satirised her own dependence on drugs and the sometimes difficult relationship she had with her mother. Three years later Fisher adapted it into a screenplay, and it was made into a film starring Meryl Streep, Shirley MacLaine, and Dennis Quaid. Fisher -- who had bipolar disorder -- also wrote and frequently talked in public about her years of drug addiction and mental illness. Carrie Fisher's fame as an actress rested on just one role, but it was a role in one of the best known and most successful film franchises in cinema history. She was remarkably frank about the personal difficulties she had fought and overcome. "There's a part of me that gets surprised when people think I am brave to talk about what I've gone through," she once said. "I was brave to last through it." The world is poorer without you, Fisher. Rest in peace.

456 comments

  1. Disturbance in the force by ronaldbeal · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I felt a great disturbance in the force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happned

    1. Re:Disturbance in the force by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      that was so nov, 8th

    2. Re: Disturbance in the force by ArmoredDragon · · Score: 1

      According to TFS, she had both a heart attack AND a cardiac arrest, so indeed it sounds pretty horrible.

    3. Re:Disturbance in the force by ASDFnz · · Score: 2

      Found the kid in the thread.

    4. Re:Disturbance in the force by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      She will always be with us... as long as we have CGI: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/vFQWLfJ...

    5. Re: Disturbance in the force by Binestar · · Score: 5, Informative

      TFS is wrong. She drowned in moonlight, strangled by her own bra.

      source - https://www.goodreads.com/work...

      --
      Do you Gentoo!?
    6. Re:Disturbance in the force by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Shit; I voted for Britney.

    7. Re:Disturbance in the force by x0ra · · Score: 0

      Sure, you looked in the mirror.

    8. Re:Disturbance in the force by burtosis · · Score: 1

      Ahh for want of mod points.

    9. Re:Disturbance in the force by Dogtanian · · Score: 5, Insightful

      She will always be with us... as long as we have CGI

      Look- I'm wary of coming across as overly self-righteous here, which isn't the intent. However, this isn't the first comment I've read whose first response was along the lines of "It's okay, we have CGI" or "I hope they digitised here before she died".

      I mean, seriously? Carrie Fisher- the real-life human being- has died. I'm assuming the people saying this are more into Star Wars than I am, and I'd have thought they'd at least feel something for the passing of Carrie Fisher as an actual human being in her own right rather than simply the means to reproduce Leia.

      Please don't take this as a criticism of people whose primary interest in Fisher was as Leia- that's understandable; it's a major film series, and that was her best-known role. And I suspect the majority of Star Wars fans didn't respond like this... I just find the few that did a little inappropriate.

      --
      "Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
    10. Re:Disturbance in the force by laejoh · · Score: 1

      Found the hot grits in the trousers!

    11. Re:Disturbance in the force by ASDFnz · · Score: 1

      LOL, the rubber and glue defence.

      Priceless.

    12. Re:Disturbance in the force by Rakarra · · Score: 1

      However, this isn't the first comment I've read whose first response was along the lines of "It's okay, we have CGI" or "I hope they digitised here before she died".

      I mean, seriously? Carrie Fisher- the real-life human being- has died.

      I think those comments, or some of them at least, are sarcastic. They refer to our trend of never letting (important) people die; their image will continue to be reused.

    13. Re:Disturbance in the force by Dogtanian · · Score: 1

      I think those comments, or some of them at least, are sarcastic. They refer to our trend of never letting (important) people die; their image will continue to be reused.

      Perhaps- it's very hard to judge, sometimes. I'd hope that's what was meant rather than people actually forgetting that the ability to "recreate" (with varying degrees of success) characters and actors doesn't change the fact the person themselves has died. :-/

      --
      "Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
    14. Re:Disturbance in the force by unixisc · · Score: 1

      RIP, Carrie

    15. Re:Disturbance in the force by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      No shit. Could it be because your average Star Wars fan is an eight year old who grew up physically but not emotionally?

      Seriously, look around you. These fuckers get their sense of self worth from that bullshit. I can understand passing it down to your kids but when you're in your 40s and you're still talking up Darth Vader and shit? It's time to get a fucking life.

    16. Re: Disturbance in the force by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      what a dork

    17. Re:Disturbance in the force by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm sure some lawyer could argue that it was technically suicide what with the mountains of coke she snorted that destroyed her heart.

      I didn't know her. I don't feel bad for her. I feel bad for her family. That's gotta suck for them.

    18. Re: Disturbance in the force by Beowulf878 · · Score: 1

      Oh, for some mod points. I thought that here of all places someone would have watched and liked starwars...

      RIP Carrie Fisher

    19. Re:Disturbance in the force by Kjella · · Score: 1

      I mean, seriously? Carrie Fisher- the real-life human being- has died. I'm assuming the people saying this are more into Star Wars than I am, and I'd have thought they'd at least feel something for the passing of Carrie Fisher as an actual human being in her own right rather than simply the means to reproduce Leia.

      Do you know Carrie Fisher? I know I don't... nor the other 55 million that died this year, with a few exceptions. The only reason we know about her is as Leia. The only reason we care more than the other people who die every day is Leia. If Leia lives on through CGI, is that Carrie? Absolutely not to anyone who knew her. But that's not most people. I'd like to say she'd not be real. But princess Leia was never real, she was a character. If we can keep up the illusion of Leia through CGI, I'm all for it.

      It won't bring Carrie back, nothing will. But it could finish her work beyond death, like say Brandon Sanderson finished Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. It might not have been every word as he wanted it, but it was in his spirit. If they do CGI Leia it might not be exactly like Carrie would have played it, but it would be in her spirit. If they don't do that, I hope they write her out of the sequels altogether. I know some shows have tried swapping the actor and keeping the character, it never ends well.

      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
    20. Re:Disturbance in the force by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think the procedure to recreate a dead person via CGI so you can make them say things they never said, so you can make a greater profit might be the worst defilement of all. But I guess it fits the zeitgeist, anything for profit.

      And no, having someone appearing as a ghost isn't nearly the same thing. In that case you're honest with it being a ghost, you're not trying to pass off an imitation as the real person. Raising the dead to do your work is disgusting.

    21. Re:Disturbance in the force by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Funny, I always felt the same way about 40+ people who are still ga-ga about professional sports.

    22. Re:Disturbance in the force by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      She will always be with us... as long as we have CGI

      Look- I'm wary of coming across as overly self-righteous here, which isn't the intent. However, this isn't the first comment I've read whose first response was along the lines of "It's okay, we have CGI" or "I hope they digitised here before she died".

      I mean, seriously? Carrie Fisher- the real-life human being- has died. I'm assuming the people saying this are more into Star Wars than I am, and I'd have thought they'd at least feel something for the passing of Carrie Fisher as an actual human being in her own right rather than simply the means to reproduce Leia.

      Please don't take this as a criticism of people whose primary interest in Fisher was as Leia- that's understandable; it's a major film series, and that was her best-known role. And I suspect the majority of Star Wars fans didn't respond like this... I just find the few that did a little inappropriate.

      It's just another casualty of the modern, connected, instant-gratification, all-about-me, on-line era: A lack of human interaction and compassion. It seems everything is trending towards all things artificial. Style over substance (fueled by substances ranging from caffeine to hard core).

    23. Re:Disturbance in the force by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I mean, seriously? Carrie Fisher- the real-life human being- has died.

      If a hundred million people have entertainment as 10% of their lives, and Star Wars as 0.01% of that entertainment - and if Carrie Fisher is 10% of Star Wars - then Carrie-Fisher-the-part-of-Star-Wars is a hundred times as important as Carrie-Fisher-the-person.

      I wish I had that much affect on that many people, and that much of a legacy to leave when my body passes away.

    24. Re:Disturbance in the force by Dogtanian · · Score: 1

      Do you know Carrie Fisher? I know I don't... nor the other 55 million that died this year, with a few exceptions.

      I guessed someone might interpret it that way. No, of course I didn't know Carrie Fisher personally; I'm not even a major Star Wars fan, to be honest. But she seemed like a decent person.

      This isn't a "we should collectively join in exaggerated mourning over Twitter for a celebrity we never knew personally" thing. Just a simple acknowledgement that an actual person has died, and that even if your interest in that person was primarily as the actor behind your favourite character I'd have expected a little personal feeling and empathy for that.

      Again, this wasn't an argument against CGI Leias et al (though I did worry that someone might interpret it that way, as you did). But if someone's *first* response to Fisher's death- or that of anyone else associated with something they were really into- is in effect "oh, [her death] doesn't really matter, they can CGI Leia anyway" then (to me) that's still pretty cold and self-centered.

      --
      "Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
    25. Re:Disturbance in the force by Dogtanian · · Score: 1

      If a hundred million people have entertainment as 10% of their lives, and Star Wars as 0.01% of that entertainment - and if Carrie Fisher is 10% of Star Wars - then Carrie-Fisher-the-part-of-Star-Wars is a hundred times as important as Carrie-Fisher-the-person.

      This is the kind of bizarre pseudo-logical rationalisation that gives geeks a bad name. :-(

      I wish I had that much affect on that many people, and that much of a legacy to leave when my body passes away.

      That's okay; I wasn't criticising those who viewed the loss of Fisher primarily as the actress who played Leia- they (and you) are still remembering her as a person.

      It's the people whose first response was to not be bothered that she had died, purely because she- or rather, Leia- could be "recreated" via CGI. People who apparently loved Star Wars, but didn't seem even to have a touch of humanity that a person associated with something they were so into had died, as long as the fictional Leia could be CGIed. That's a bit detached and cold. (And no, I'm not sure that they *were* all joking or making a point about reconstructing dead actors).

      --
      "Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
    26. Re:Disturbance in the force by echnaton192 · · Score: 1

      As a Nerd, I as most of us here refuse to grow up. Period. Getting old is inevitable. Becoming one of those boring "grown ups" that stopped being a silly fanboy for SciFi, Fantasy, Comics is nothing I strive for.

      This site is dedicated to Nerds. If you want a site dedicated to boring normal people go elsewhere.

    27. Re:Disturbance in the force by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I mean, seriously? Carrie Fisher- the real-life human being- has died.

      Maybe he's like me. Never really was a star wars fan. I've seen the movies and their ok, but I don't understand the cult fascination behind them. 1000s of people die every day and truth be told, I feel nothing. My mom passed away this year, and I'm quite sure I'm not over the grieving process yet even though its been about 5 months now. I think the only famous person that died that I actually grieved over was princess Dianna. Does that make me a monster?

      Thinking about death is stressful and makes people anxious. Joking about it as is clearly the case here is a coping mechanism for most. Either that or were in big trouble as it seems the world is full of psychopaths.

    28. Re:Disturbance in the force by Dogtanian · · Score: 1

      Maybe he's like me. Never really was a star wars fan.

      I wasn't talking about you, then. I was talking about Star Wars fans who- one might have expected- would have felt at least some warmth towards Fisher due to her involvement in something they loved, but instead responded as if she was little more than the means to an effect that could be reproduced so her death didn't matter.

      This was only a relatively small proportion of fans, though.

      Joking about it as is clearly the case here is a coping mechanism for most.

      Honestly, perhaps some were, but I'm really not convinced that all the comments along these lines were supposed to be satirical jokes.

      (On a side-issue, while it doesn't apply so much in this case anyway, the "joking is a coping mechanism" thing is hauled out far too often. It's legitimate when applied to people actually going through personal stress, or people who deal with death as part of their jobs- but it's also been hijacked by random people in online forums with no real personal involvement clearly using it as little more than self-justification for being assholes. No, you're not paramedics dealing with dead children every day, you're just a vaguely sociopathic dicks posting crap on random web sites).

      Either that or were in big trouble as it seems the world is full of psychopaths.

      As I said- and to be fair- the majority of fans *weren't* responding in this manner- it's just that there were more than a few that did.

      --
      "Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
    29. Re:Disturbance in the force by Coren22 · · Score: 1

      The link above is from captures from the new Star Wars movie where Leia was CGIed into the part. My guess is AC was being sarcastic about the use of CGI to put a living actor into a younger-self role.

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
  2. good night sweet prince by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    good night sweet prince

  3. RIP To The Toughest Princess Ever by Jason+Levine · · Score: 5, Interesting

    As Leia, she was a blaster-toting Rebel leader. Off screen, she battled with mental illness and came forward about it - enabling many other people to feel like they were not alone. She was the toughest Princess ever. RIP Carrie.

    --
    My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
    1. Re:RIP To The Toughest Princess Ever by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Unlike you.

    2. Re:RIP To The Toughest Princess Ever by zlives · · Score: 0

      lol good one

    3. Re:RIP To The Toughest Princess Ever by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      as do millions of people who just STFU and carry on with life.

      And they are the ones she helped, the ones who didn't realize it was a normal illness that can be treated and recovered from. The ones who would have suffered in silence forever without people like her talking openly about mental health.

      Of course some people just deal with their anger by ranting on internet forums.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    4. Re:RIP To The Toughest Princess Ever by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      "There's a part of me that gets surprised when people think I am brave to talk about what I've gone through," she once said. "I was brave to last through it."

      Well, at least Ms. Fisher had no pretensions about her own troubles, unlike that segment of the public that lionizes celebrities that suffer through the same shit as any other schlub on this planet.

    5. Re:RIP To The Toughest Princess Ever by Pascoea · · Score: 4, Insightful

      as do millions of people who just STFU and carry on with life.

      And then there's the million people/year that do something else about it? Given the choices, I think I'd prefer as many people of stature as possible come forward, talk about their issues, help others, etc. Seems a little better than the alternative, doesn't it?

      Prick

    6. Re:RIP To The Toughest Princess Ever by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      STFU or came forward. Pick one. Maybe if more mental illness suffers followed her example it wouldn't be stigmatized so badly that the need to STFU wouldn't be an issue.

    7. Re:RIP To The Toughest Princess Ever by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > Given the choices, I think I'd prefer as many people of stature as possible come forward, talk about their issues, help others, etc

      What choices would those be? No one decides between suicide or getting help because a celebrity gets press for going public with some problem they have.

    8. Re:RIP To The Toughest Princess Ever by Rakarra · · Score: 1

      The way to beat overpopulation is to not have children, not kill children/adults.

    9. Re:RIP To The Toughest Princess Ever by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      What warthog modded you "Troll"?

      Lots of people deal with the same issues and illnesses Carrie did. No small number of them are in the entertainment industry - many find a sort of therapy there.

      Mental illness can be like treading water with lead weights on in the middle of the ocean. Where normal people could stay afloat with little effort, afflicted people have to work at it. And many eventually fail. And the people fortunate enough not to be wearing those weights often sneer at them.

      Carrie Fisher did not fail. Not only that, but she made herself an inspiration for those who are tired of the struggle and would just as soon give up and go under.

      It's a real-life version of strangling a bloated hideous monster with your own chains while naked and it makes her just as much a real-life hero as Princess Leia ever was.

    10. Re:RIP To The Toughest Princess Ever by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Dead at 60. This is what a life of heroin and cocaine does to you. If not sooner.
      Stay off the smack kids.

    11. Re:RIP To The Toughest Princess Ever by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      Why not both?

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    12. Re: RIP To The Toughest Princess Ever by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Leia was Jabba the Hutt's love slave for 12 parsecs

    13. Re:RIP To The Toughest Princess Ever by MrKaos · · Score: 1

      Given that the alternative helps with overpopulation, not really.

      Never go the full retard dude.

      --
      My ism, it's full of beliefs.
    14. Re:RIP To The Toughest Princess Ever by MrKaos · · Score: 1

      It's an alt-right policy platform, they're targeting swinging voters.

      --
      My ism, it's full of beliefs.
    15. Re:RIP To The Toughest Princess Ever by MrKaos · · Score: 1

      Why not both?

      Perhaps we should categorizes this as an upside to nuclear war.

      --
      My ism, it's full of beliefs.
    16. Re:RIP To The Toughest Princess Ever by Gussington · · Score: 1

      Why not both?

      Because choosing to not having babies is a lot more civilised than mass slaughter

    17. Re:RIP To The Toughest Princess Ever by Gussington · · Score: 1

      The way to beat overpopulation is to not have children, not kill children/adults.

      Most developed/western nations already have a fertility rate near 2.0 (ie 2 children for every couple), which means we have already reached a stable population. The problem is all those poor nations breeding like rats. Culturally this will only create more race based issues as the ratio of brown people steadily increases over time.

  4. Sorry to hear of her passing by jfdavis668 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Just as a new generation of Star Wars fans were getting to know her, she suddenly passed away. May the Force be with her.

    1. Re:Sorry to hear of her passing by x0ra · · Score: 0, Troll

      No they weren't, the reboot is just a cash-grab. She was nothing close to the Leia of the original movies.

    2. Re:Sorry to hear of her passing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      All the Star Wars movies were "just cash-grabs", and it objectively WAS the same Leia in every possible respect.

    3. Re:Sorry to hear of her passing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, she is gone but will never be forgotten. While Kirk and Spock get most of the attention, she was an icon of her own doing as well. Hopefully I didn't just jinx Shatner. He's always been a candidate for anyone's dead pool...though I have even money on him getting arrested for murder one day like Phil Spector, as he's always had that dark, angry side.

      RIP Carrie.

    4. Re:Sorry to hear of her passing by Gr8Apes · · Score: 1

      They'll go all Tarkin on her.

      --
      The cesspool just got a check and balance.
    5. Re:Sorry to hear of her passing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I thought that Tarkin was fairly well done, but that Leah at the end seemed tacked on and plastic.

    6. Re:Sorry to hear of her passing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      > All the Star Wars movies were "just cash-grabs"

      The first one wasn't. George Lucas and the studio were both pretty convinced it would flop. Lucas made it because he always wanted to do a Flash Gordon style space opera, and was flush from the success of American Graffiti so he got his way.

    7. Re: Sorry to hear of her passing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      She literally went from sexy teen princess, to wise divorced grandma. It was a 40 year span! They were not the same Leia character at all. Just as we real people are not the same characters from our childhood to our final years.

    8. Re:Sorry to hear of her passing by MBGMorden · · Score: 1

      Indeed. My 8 year old niece who in the last year and a half has become absolutely OBSESSED with Star Wars was very torn up about it. I think it's the first celebrity death she's experienced that she was really familiar with their work.

      --
      "People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
  5. Why wait??? by burtosis · · Score: 0

    Can't we just declare it 2017 early and relegate this dumpster fire of a year to the past once and for all?!??

    1. Re:Why wait??? by x0ra · · Score: 2

      at the current rate, we're in for 1 or 2 celebs death until NY.

    2. Re:Why wait??? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hell no; that just brings us four days closer to the Enthronement, and I haven't finished my fiendish counterplot to distribute 100 million Whoopee Cushions, a Canadian invention by the way, all to be synchronously deployed.

    3. Re:Why wait??? by Kaenneth · · Score: 1, Flamebait

      Fuckoff racist.

    4. Re:Why wait??? by Scarletdown · · Score: 1

      I just want to raise a one finger salute and shout out a heart felt "FUCK YOU" to the year 2016.

      --
      This space unintentionally left blank.
    5. Re:Why wait??? by Vulch · · Score: 2

      Lemmy died a year ago tomorrow so if we treat him as the first then tonight's New Years Eve.

    6. Re:Why wait??? by squiggleslash · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Is there a list of people who died this year who actually deserved to die and whose deaths actually left us better off? You know, fascist or communist dictators, serial killers, people who talk loudly on their cellphones in restaurants? That kind of thing?

      Right now the only one I can think of is Castro.

      (Well, if you'd ever sat in the same restaurant as him you'd know why.)

      --
      You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
    7. Re:Why wait??? by GungaDan · · Score: 2

      Help us Baby New Year. You're our only hope.

      --
      Eloi are stupid, throw morlocks at them!
    8. Re:Why wait??? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      back at you, bigot.

    9. Re:Why wait??? by KozmoStevnNaut · · Score: 1

      Lemmy was the first, the last, the everything.

      --
      Eat the rich.
    10. Re:Why wait??? by MightyMartian · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Calling out a racist doesnt make it bigotry. Bigotry is unreasonable and irrational prejudice. Disliking racists is rational, just like disliking rapists and murderers.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    11. Re:Why wait??? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      For sure.

      Some of the people we've lost in 2016 (and we still have a few days to go):

      Abraham Charles Vigoda (24.02.1921-26.01.2016)
      Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman (21.02.1946-14.01.2016)
      Alan Thicke (01.03.1947-13.12.2016)
      Anna Marie Duke (14.12.1946-29.03.2016)
      Anton Viktorovich Yelchin (11.03.1989-19.06.2016)
      Carrie Frances Fisher (21.10.1956-27.12.2016)
      Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr. (17.01.1942-03.06.2016)
      Daniel Patrick Harrington, Jr. (13.08.1929-06.01.2016)
      David Robert Jones (08.01.1947-10.01.2016)
      Denise Katrina Matthews (04.01.1959-15.02.2016)
      Florence Agnes Henderson (14.02.1934-24.11.2016)
      Garry Emmanuel Shandling (29.11.1949-24.03.2016)
      George Harris Kennedy, Jr. (18.02.1925-28.02.2016)
      Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou (25.06.1963-25.12.2016)
      Jerome Silberman (11.06.1933-29.08.2016)
      Jerry Doyle (16.07.1956-27.07.2016)
      John Herschel Glenn, Jr. (18.07.1921-08.12.2016)
      Kenneth George Baker (24.08.1934-13.08.2016)
      Lawrence Rory Guy (19.08.1926-09.01.2016)
      Maurice White (19.12.1941-04.02.2016)
      Nancy Davis Reagan (06.07.1921-06.03.2016)
      Nicholas Menza (23.07.1964-21.05.2016)
      Paul Lorin Kantner (17.03.1941-28.01.2016)
      Prince Rogers Nelson (07.06.1958-21.04.2016)
      Robert Francis Vaughn (22.11.1932-11.11.2016)
      Sári Gábor (06.02.1917-18.12.2016)

    12. Re:Why wait??? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Abraham Charles Vigoda
      George Harris Kennedy, Jr.
      Kenneth George Baker
      Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr.
      Nancy Davis Reagan

      List of people who I thought were already dead but was surprised to learn they actually died in 2016.

    13. Re:Why wait??? by ruemere · · Score: 1

      And Richard Adams (http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-38446309). :/

    14. Re:Why wait??? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's only your opinion.

    15. Re:Why wait??? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How do I know you're an ignorant American who has never left his country and believes everything his government and their media tells him? Castro was actually beloved by most Cubans.

      Also taking pleasure from the death of another, regardless of whether you liked them or not, is just sick and lowers you to the depth of the worst.

    16. Re:Why wait??? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The whole argument is based on an arbitrary accusation of "racist". As usual for the libs, baseless accusations abound.

    17. Re: Why wait??? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Castro had prolific amounts of gas?

    18. Re:Why wait??? by squiggleslash · · Score: 1

      I wasn't taking pleasure in anything, just looking for karmic balancing. And Castro may or may not have been "beloved" but we'll never really know given his history of imprisoning and torturing those who spoke out against him. Dictators, in any case, tend to - bizarrely as it sounds - be "popular", it's how they stay in power without overly risking coups. That doesn't change the fact they're evil, rotten, people who punish those who speak in opposition to their policies.

      As an ex-Brit I've noticed a tendency to assume that any dictator who stands up against the US is somehow deserving of a little whitewashing and relative support by those outside of the US. I don't take that position. A dictator is a dictator. Political imprisonment is political imprison. Torture is torture.

      --
      You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
    19. Re:Why wait??? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Andrew Sachs, 7 April 1930 – 23 November 2016

      "Manuel, please try to understand before one of us dies."

    20. Re:Why wait??? by Z00L00K · · Score: 1

      We have lost a huge chunk this year; Muhammad Ali, David Bowie, Prince, George Michael, Rick Parfitt (Status Quo), Andrew Sachs (Manuel in Fatty Owls), Leonard Cohen, Robert Vaughn, Pete Burns (Dead or Alive), Gene Wilder, Kenny Baker, Anton Yelchin and Alan Rickman (Die Hard, Harry Potter).

      It all started early with Lemmy a year ago on 28th of December 2015. Maybe he felt lonely wherever he went.

      Meanwhile Keith Richards is still alive and well.

      --
      If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
    21. Re:Why wait??? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Jack Chick? His Chick tracks, with the anti-evolution, pro-bigotry messages hardly improved the world.

    22. Re:Why wait??? by Gussington · · Score: 1

      Is there a list of people who died this year who actually deserved to die and whose deaths actually left us better off? You know, fascist or communist dictators, serial killers, people who talk loudly on their cellphones in restaurants? That kind of thing?

      Trump? Oh wait, that will probably be next year....

    23. Re:Why wait??? by Kaenneth · · Score: 1

      'cuck' is racist; it's alt-right code for white women that, in their mind belong to white men, being taken by non-white men for a mixed race relationship.

      It is sexist against women, and is about race separatism.

  6. Was very sad to hear this. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

    I had a boyhood crush on her in the days of the original trilogy. We lost a lot of celebrities this year, but the cast of the first three have always been special to me.
    May she rest in peace.

    1. Re:Was very sad to hear this. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Pirate search: 'Slave princess VR porn' or don't.

    2. Re:Was very sad to hear this. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I had a boyhood crush on her in the days of the original trilogy. We lost a lot of celebrities this year, but the cast of the first three have always been special to me.
      May she rest in peace.

      I remember watching her in our college theatre. We had I think three of the older video projectors ganged together an viewing it on a massive screen. It was the ending of A New Hope. A New Hope Ending. She was also one of the early lead characters that showed a woman could take an assertive role and succeed. She will be missed.

  7. There is no death, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    there is only the force.

  8. I know... by bytethese · · Score: 4, Insightful

    As we all collectively say "You'll be missed", she's somewhere looking at us and saying "I know".

    1. Re: I know... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Holy shit. For someone who doesn't care about the death of a person that others may have loved, you sure are vocal about trying to get others to hate on her as well.

      Who shoved a lightsaber so far up your ass this morning?

    2. Re: I know... by Gr8Apes · · Score: 1

      Holy shit. For someone who doesn't care about the death of a person that others may have loved, you sure are vocal about trying to get others to hate on her as well.

      Who shoved a lightsaber so far up your ass this morning?

      Apparently not far enough, their fingers are still working.

      --
      The cesspool just got a check and balance.
    3. Re:I know... by DeathElk · · Score: 1

      Go fuck yourself you fucking whiny little tool.

    4. Re: I know... by x0ra · · Score: 1

      it's not a matter of hate, it's a matter of being realistic about a 1-hit actress.

    5. Re: I know... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're jealous that more people are concerned for this "1-hit actress" than will be concerned about you when you die. She leaves a legacy. You'll leave nothing but debt behind. Be jealous MOAR n00b.

    6. Re:I know... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He's not wrong though. In a week you'll have forgotten all about it. Unless you actually knew her, which you didn't.

    7. Re: I know... by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

      It's a matter of you being an asshole because you think your apathetic contempt makes you feel special. It doesn't say much about Fisher,, but it sure shows the quality of person you are.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    8. Re: I know... by Rakarra · · Score: 3, Insightful

      it's not a matter of hate, it's a matter of being realistic about a 1-hit actress.

      When someone dies and people are mourning the loss, what sort of person makes it his mission to shout "eh, she wasn't all that! Overrated!"

      Someone a bit fucked up in the head.

    9. Re:I know... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He's not wrong though. In a week you'll have forgotten all about it. Unless you actually knew her, which you didn't.

      Nope, probably not. Go take your pills.

    10. Re: I know... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Are you really mourning her loss?

    11. Re: I know... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Some of the greatest works of art ever done were done by one-hit-wonders. Ever watch the original Disney Fantasia? "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" was Paul Dukas' only major hit. One-hit pop groups are so numerous that without them the Top 40 would probably be the Top 15.

      What would the world be without Catcher in the Rye or Paradise Lost? Sure, it's great when you're a Mozart or a van Gogh and can churn them out willy-nilly, but not everyone can be. Van Gogh, unfortunately didn't have Carrie Fisher's ability to endure his illness.

      When you sneer about "being realistic about a 1-hit actress", we really have to ask:

      What would the world be without you?

      How many hits have you produced?

      When people are watching Star Wars and the Wizard of Oz in 2117, and discussing the merits and tribulations of Judy Garland and Carrie Fisher, would there be anything for them to remember you by?

    12. Re: I know... by Beeftopia · · Score: 1

      I do like contrarians, as they force me to examine my position, which I appreciate. As the saying goes, "If you don't understand your opponent's position, then you do not truly understand your own."

      For Carrie Fisher, she was a central character, Princess Leia, in George Lucas' 1977 epic hit, "Star Wars", which redefined cinematography and the cinema. Thus, she became a part of cinema history. Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, C3PO, R2D2 and Vader are all part of cinema's pantheon. Because it all came together for a brief shining moment in that movie, which went on to influence the cinema till this day.

      That's why she was a noteworthy figure. And she nailed the role. She may not have done much nearly as noteworthy since, but being part of an epic is very hard to follow up.

    13. Re: I know... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Passionate emotions do not make someone high quality. Apathy does not make someone low quality.

    14. Re: I know... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Some of the greatest works of art ever done were done by one-hit-wonders. Ever watch the original Disney Fantasia? "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" was Paul Dukas' only major hit.

      *Dukas's

    15. Re: I know... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sure, I feel sorrow for her death. I didn't know her, but she was still familiar to me. The same goes for David Bowie, George Michael and even Prince.

      Mourning someone's death doesn't mean you have to sob your eyes out and become distraught with grief.

    16. Re: I know... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You claimed that a deceased person won't be missed, amid overwhelming evidence that said person is already being missed. And you're dense enough to call that being "realistic".

    17. Re: I know... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, it's a matter of you being objectively, measurably wrong, but deluded enough to think that your personal taste can change reality.

      "She won't be missed" only requires a single person to miss her, and your personal position on the matter is unimportant as long as there exists one person who misses her.
      Even not counting her immediate friends and family, you don't need to go far to find at least a few people who will miss her, and their reasons for missing her (which show that it's not just bandwagon jumping).

      So basically, you are wrong. Sorry about that.

    18. Re: I know... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And for as long as people remember Star Wars, they will remember Carrie Fisher. IOW,...

    19. Re: I know... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Um, actually it kind of does. You might feel a little sad, but that's not mourning.

    20. Re: I know... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Um, actually it does not at all. Go get a dictionary and learn the English language.

    21. Re: I know... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Go back and find the place where anyone mentioned quality.

      The exchange was "She'll be missed", and then "No she won't".

      No one talked about quality at all.

    22. Re: I know... by Rakarra · · Score: 1

      I feel a small amount of sorrow.
      Nowhere close to as much if it was a relative or a pet. But happy/sad is a spectrum, not a binary.

  9. F*ck 2016 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    That is all.

  10. Dear 2016 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Fuck you.

    Sincerely,
    The Entire World

    1. Re:Dear 2016 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hehe, right back at you.

    2. Re:Dear 2016 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm not over yet, fucker.

      signed
      2016

    3. Re: Dear 2016 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Dear 2016,

      Could you take a few Slashdot editors on your way out. Thanks.

    4. Re:Dear 2016 by Plumpaquatsch · · Score: 1

      I propose 2017 to be the year were every day an asshole politician dies.

      --
      Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
  11. She was more than Leia by djbckr · · Score: 5, Insightful

    She was a very complex person, and before people start beating her up because she "let herself go" (which, by the way, she readily admitted)... You weren't her, you didn't have her problems and her life. Could she have done things differently? Of course. But, it is what it is. An early death is generally the price paid for drug abuse and not taking care of yourself.

    She was witty A.F. and an excellent writer. I was 13 when I saw her for the first time on the silver screen. And *wow*. Over the years, I've appreciated what she has done - which is why people that knew her loved her deeply. Leia was just the start.

    1. Re:She was more than Leia by zlives · · Score: 1

      "worst problems", like grammar?

    2. Re:She was more than Leia by x0ra · · Score: 0

      or typo.

    3. Re:She was more than Leia by hey! · · Score: 4, Insightful

      There's as fine line between living your life connected to other people and living your life to please other people. If someone else "lets themselves go" it's none of our damn business, but when we we lose someone due their impaired health it is still sad, and a reminder to take better care of ourselves.

      This is what I taught my kids: everything good you experience through your body; everything you hope to accomplish in life is accomplished through your body. Even if you live by the keyboard your brain is supported by your body and deeply affected by your physical health.

      So don't judge others for their appearance or health, but be firm and compassionate with yourself. Live the longest and healthiest life you can manage.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    4. Re:She was more than Leia by fnj · · Score: 1

      "Worst" is not a typo of "worse". The "t" is not next to the "e". Only stupid people confuse worst with worse.

    5. Re: She was more than Leia by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, stupid people are the worse kind.

    6. Re: She was more than Leia by Gr8Apes · · Score: 1

      Yeah, stupid people are the worse kind.

      The worst are smart evil psychopaths.

      --
      The cesspool just got a check and balance.
    7. Re:She was more than Leia by Gr8Apes · · Score: 1

      millions of people have worst problems and just carry on with life. she doesn't need a kiss on her forehead...

      Apparently you just need a kiss on your forehead.

      --
      The cesspool just got a check and balance.
    8. Re:She was more than Leia by evilviper · · Score: 3, Funny

      This is what I taught my kids: everything good you experience through your body; everything you hope to accomplish in life is accomplished through your body.

      I'm sure due to your positive influence, your children will become highly successful prostitutes/gigolos...

      (Sorry, but I just had to... You set-up the joke so very well.)

      --
      Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
    9. Re:She was more than Leia by x0ra · · Score: 1

      depends on your keyboard layout.

    10. Re: She was more than Leia by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I like where this is going.

    11. Re:She was more than Leia by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Are you the worst person in the world, or was this just a paid gig?

    12. Re:She was more than Leia by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      None of the standard keyboard layouts in the world have E and T next to each other.

    13. Re:She was more than Leia by mlyle · · Score: 1

      > but when we we lose someone due their impaired health it is still sad, and a reminder to take better care of ourselves.

      Probably a better reminder to get up and stroll around the plane every once in awhile.

    14. Re:She was more than Leia by x0ra · · Score: 1

      in dvorak, both 'e' and 't' are controlled by the major finger of respectively the left and right hand.

    15. Re:She was more than Leia by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, on Dvorak E and T are very far apart and controlled by the middle fingers. Typos are made when you accidentally press a key located next to the one you intended. On a Dvorak layout, that is absolutely impossible for those two letters.

    16. Re:She was more than Leia by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So don't judge others for their appearance or health

      I'm still going to judge them if they're celebrities, because people look to them as examples, and they know that.

      Same deal with kids. If you're a slovenly mess, that's okay, that's all on you. But if you're setting that example for your kids, I'm going to be all judgy up in your business.

    17. Re: She was more than Leia by Plumpaquatsch · · Score: 1

      Yeah, stupid people are the worse kind.

      The worst are smart evil psychopaths.

      No, the worst people are those who don't get a joke.

      --
      Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
    18. Re:She was more than Leia by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You mean the one without a SHIFT key?

    19. Re: She was more than Leia by Jesus+H+Rolle · · Score: 1

      No, on Dvorak E and T are horizontally opposed and depressed with the left pinky and glans respectively. Typo is a broad term, not limited to specific finger farts.

    20. Re:She was more than Leia by MrKaos · · Score: 1

      in dvorak, both 'e' and 't' are controlled by the major finger of respectively the left and right hand.

      Are you using a dvorak KB?

      Are you telling us you can't masturbate while using a dvorak KB? No wonder no one uses them! I can see how difficult it is to use capital letters.

      --
      My ism, it's full of beliefs.
    21. Re: She was more than Leia by Gr8Apes · · Score: 1

      Yeah, stupid people are the worse kind.

      The worst are smart evil psychopaths.

      No, the worst people are those who don't get a joke.

      QED.

      --
      The cesspool just got a check and balance.
    22. Re:She was more than Leia by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There are worse things than confusing the two. If you think people who make that mistake are stupid, then you are the worst.

    23. Re:She was more than Leia by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I am 57. I work for a living. years of rock climbing, hiking, mountain climbing have all taken their toll. As I write this I can no longer run more than maybe half a mile (knees) or carry a 80 pound backpack (back)... or walk 20- 30 miles (hips).

      What you do for fun when you are young is what makes your body break down so that 'you let yourself go'. I have lived and had a blast, the price paid? My body is decrepit. Of course, Genetics, so YMMV.

      But in my mind, when I hear anyone say they, 'let themselves go', I wonder if that was it or if, like me, the consequences of their active, physical lifestyle when they were young now make it difficult to keep in the same level of fitness.

      So, youngsters, please, a little less judgment and a little more empathy.

      And for you, Hey! thank you.

    24. Re: She was more than Leia by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wrong. You've never seen a Dvorak keyboard obviously.

    25. Re:She was more than Leia by darnkitten · · Score: 1

      I'm sure due to your positive influence, your children will become highly successful prostitutes/gigolos...

      Not a gigolo, 'cause...

      I-I-I-I-I Aint. Got. No. Bo-o-o-ody.

  12. May the force be with you. You will be missed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    All Farce jokes aisde,
    We will miss you..
    best wishes, rest in peace.

  13. Never saw this coming. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    But I really should have. The cocaine must have damaged her body.

  14. The actors are dying, not moving to Canada! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I thought the actors said they would move to Canada if Trump won, not die.

    1. Re: The actors are dying, not moving to Canada! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's better that way. Death finally shuts their stupid pie-holes for them. Moving to Canada, not so much.

  15. I don't understand this... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    A lot celebrities died this year. But some folks I know — and what I read by other people on various comment boards — are claiming that 2016 sucked because these people died. Not with a passing sadness but a lingering depression, as if they personally known these people in person. That is weird.

    1. Re:I don't understand this... by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      This year we lost Bowie and E&L (P is holding on for now), not to mention Lemmy out of Motorhead.

      I wouldn't really put him in the same league, not even with Rick Parfitt who now has all eternity to learn another chord...

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    2. Re:I don't understand this... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

      I mean really, does it matter that George Michael died for example?

      Dr, Boyce Watkins talked about that on his YouTube channel where 745 people are murdered in Chicago but everyone else is falling apart over the death of George Michael.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22YwHQ_ZlgE

    3. Re:I don't understand this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, I enjoy movies as much as the next guy, but I don't really get how emotionally tied to a character some people get.

      That said, when the Oscars come around in February that "In Memoriam" segment is going to seem longer than usual.

    4. Re:I don't understand this... by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 0

      He was gay! That makes him a special Snowflake.

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    5. Re: I don't understand this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      It's not just celebrity deaths. They kick started the meme in the first half of the year, and then confirmation bias started to take hold. Long tail or unexpected events (Brexit, Trump, a death in the family) were no longer part of normal living -- they were specifically part of 2016! We noticed them more, and looked to the future. Except there are simply more people now. More celebrities who could die, more global events that can be highlighted, more "friends" on Facebook who could get cancer. Toss in social media and the 24 hour news cycle and we're all in for an increasingly bleak future, even though in the grand scheme of things nothing has actually changed.

    6. Re:I don't understand this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      George Michael has an amazing voice - deal with it.

    7. Re:I don't understand this... by Scarletdown · · Score: 1

      Thinking back, on the upside, 2016 also took Fidel Castro and Jack T. Chick from us at long last. I thought there were a few other "evil" celebrities as well that bit the dust, but I can't name any at the moment. Thought Fred Phelps was one of them, but looks like he went to nonexistence way back in 2014. Perhaps we can get lucky and his shitty diet will cause Kim Jong Un to complete the 2016 evil triad within the next 3 1/2 days.

      --
      This space unintentionally left blank.
    8. Re:I don't understand this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Gun free zones plus animals on the prowl = murders

    9. Re:I don't understand this... by TheFakeTimCook · · Score: 2

      People are disconnected from reality. I mean really, does it matter that George Michael died for example? The guy hasn't had a hit in 30 years. He was a mediocre pop star in the 1980s. Yet everyone slobbers over him calling him a great "R&B" singer. Give it a rest people.

      I'm not a George Michaels fan; but anyone who has two Grammy's and an album with four #1 Hits on it, no matter how long ago, is not rightly classed as "mediocre", sorry.

    10. Re:I don't understand this... by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      Pay the funeral home enough, and they might make you a souvenir of it.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    11. Re:I don't understand this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, and it seems to be more affecting to millennials than boomers, which is weird.

    12. Re:I don't understand this... by H3lldr0p · · Score: 1

      I'm going to interpret this on the generous side, in as much as you're not attempting to insult people's feelings.

      That said, we humans have a funny way of generating our identity. We look to other humans for inspiration and sometimes for more. There's nothing wrong with this, save for when your choice is revealed to be problematic for the kind of life you wish to live. Celebrities are common targets as they're easy for parents to point to, easy to find on your own, and easy to market. The same can be said of sport teams, colleges, even city/states/nations.

      But on the topic of people, it's simple to form an attachment. To a certain extent, we humans are wired to create it. With the advent of modern celebrity, we know even more about these people than we ever have before. Feeling close to them, close to their actions, close to their life is devastatingly effortless. So when those people pass, the personal loss is equally real. It doesn't matter if all they've had is the impersonal contact as a fan at a convention, it hurts just as much as it was a beloved parent.

      Because that's what it was. Love. So maybe it's good for all of us to step back and make sure that those closest to ourselves know how we feel. Especially today. Especially this year with everything that's going to be happening in the next, it would be a good idea to be honest about your love.

    13. Re:I don't understand this... by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

      It just means you are popular. Madonna has more than that.

    14. Re:I don't understand this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I feel more for the innocent people murdered on the street, or in genocides and wars over the past year, than some actors dying form complications of drug abuse.

    15. Re:I don't understand this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Amen to that. I don't get it. It's insane. I guess that's what happens when your whole world is having your entertainment beamed to your TV in your home. You get too attached. I am certain I'm in some ridiculously low percentile that doesn't give much more than a "oh, that's too bad" about Carrie Fisher. Mental illness not withstanding, decades of alcohol and drug use, if I recall right? And most recently, she launched this new book tour of hers by revealing the tryst with Harrison Ford while he was married? Character. Have it. Not be one.
      I wonder if I can train facebook I don't care about celebrity deaths if I check "I don't want to see this" on my entire, 4-page wall of Princess Leia pictures, quotes, and rememberances.

    16. Re:I don't understand this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >upside, 2016 also took Fidel Castro and Jack T. Chick from us at long last.

      Geez, what'd Jack Chick do to you to wish for his death? Nevermind. Personally, I think the world is a little less interesting now that Chick is gone.

    17. Re:I don't understand this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Lemmy died last year.

    18. Re:I don't understand this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It just means you are popular. Madonna has more than that.

      Well... Yes. But isn't that why it's called pop music? Its main purpose is to entertain or possibly serve as a social commentary. Whilst those are important functions they don't mean it's important from a purely musical perspective.

    19. Re:I don't understand this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      By that measure, McDonald's is the best restaurant in the world.

      Not a comment on George Michael, but on your logic.

    20. Re:I don't understand this... by Scarletdown · · Score: 1

      Considering the bile he spread toward anyone that did not follow his specific ultra fundie mythology, and that many of my generation, who were forced to go to church in our formative years were exposed to his works early on and were led to believe his garbage because you do not question any "church authority" ever... Yeah, the universe is a little brighter with him rotting in his grave.

      Don't get me wrong. I never went around actively wishing him to die, but I did feel a sense of peace upon news of his passing, a sense of peace because he can no longer create any new filth to influence impressionable young minds.

      And truth be known, now that I am fully capable of rational independent thought, I do actually find his twisted little universe amusing and mildly entertaining for the train wreck that it is. Chick Tracts are best experienced while drunk or high, and with the commentary of the YouTube personalities known as Hugo and Jake (aka The Bible Reloaded).

      Heck, I was watching their review of the Dark Dungeons movie last night and found myself hoping that they could redo the Dark Dungeons Chick Tract reading, with Jeff Dee as a guest voice, like they did Big Daddy with AronRa, and a few other tracts with guests in the antitheist community.

      --
      This space unintentionally left blank.
    21. Re:I don't understand this... by Gr8Apes · · Score: 1

      Sometimes it means you're popular and good. We'll see with time which applies to George, although I'll err on the side of persistence for at least 1 song. Madonna is forgettable, like much of the "new" pop music these days, and much that came out over the past 80 years (about the length of time of mass-produced recordings) It's just mass churn of temporarily catchy but talentless beats. It's a shame that they just must have a grammy for best song every year. Sometimes I feel like they should just withhold the award.

      --
      The cesspool just got a check and balance.
    22. Re:I don't understand this... by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      Fuck, I must have been as drunk as he was!

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    23. Re:I don't understand this... by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      Pop music's only purpose is to separate middle schoolers from their allowances.

      Middle schoolers are very easily led.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    24. Re:I don't understand this... by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      Wait a second; People actually watch award shows? I've always just assumed they fabricated ratings for themselves.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    25. Re:I don't understand this... by Ogive17 · · Score: 0

      I'm a fan of Star Wars, and this sucks, but it does not ruin my day. The only celebrity that died and it really bothered me was Robin Williams.

      Sometimes someone famous does something that really sinks in, for me it was Dead Poet's Society. Looking back at all the fantastic roles he played in his career, let alone his stand up comedy, it really sucks that there will never be any new material. He was a genius for what he created.

      Carrie Fisher was a good actress and had a very memorable role, obviously, some people will cling to that and others will be sad but will move on quickly.

      --
      "Action without philosophy is a lethal weapon; philosophy without action is worthless."
    26. Re:I don't understand this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Lol! "Grammy means you're good" - thanks for the chuckle, that's an instant classic!

    27. Re:I don't understand this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "I've never wished anyone dead, but I have read some obituaries with great satisfaction."

    28. Re:I don't understand this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ahem.. I said, "NEVERMIND"

    29. Re:I don't understand this... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

      Pop music's only purpose is to separate middle schoolers from their allowances.

      That didn't work with me. I spent my allowances at the video arcade and the bookstore. Then again, the radio on my father's truck only had two stations: country and talk.

    30. Re:I don't understand this... by MightyMartian · · Score: 0

      Chick was a champion of ignorance and hate.

      I suppose that makes him an alt-right icon

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    31. Re:I don't understand this... by Rakarra · · Score: 1

      Of course. George Michael was interesting. Most gang-bangers are not.

    32. Re:I don't understand this... by Rakarra · · Score: 1

      George Michael is one of those guys who was crazy talented, but never really reached his full potential. I always wanted him to join Queen after Freddie Mercury died, and his performance of Someone to Love shows what might have been.

    33. Re:I don't understand this... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 0

      But no one is asking where the gang bangers get their guns and why these shootings don't take place in the white neighborhoods that have better schools and police protection.

    34. Re:I don't understand this... by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Not with a passing sadness but a lingering depression, as if they personally known these people in person. That is weird.

      I can offer an opinion as to why. Actors die every year, but for many this year represented the passing of iconic people who many of us grew up with and who had a deep and lasting impact on our lives. Much of the amazing talent that died really did compound into this being a miserable year.

      The people who died this year have had a lasting impact on a wide industry. Bowie shaped not only people's lives through his music, but defined changes in an industry. Leonard Cohen almost equally so. Alan Rickman ... well it's just not Christmas until we see him falling from a skyscraper, and now a star that many of us grew up with as our first foray in to SciFi not to mention that she left a lasting impression as a female power role.

      These are the type of people people research. You go to a George Michael concert. You go to a David Bowie museum exhibit. The more you know about someone the more attachment you feel to them.

    35. Re:I don't understand this... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

      Wait a second; People actually watch award shows?

      I have a friend who watches only the "In Memoriam" segment of the Academy Awards. Go figure.

      I've always just assumed they fabricated ratings for themselves.

      That's only when Kanye West is on stage.

    36. Re:I don't understand this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yep everyone who's worse than Madonna is mediocre. Except that's not true at all. People's achievements are a sliding scale of awesomeness. Madonna is quite high. Some artists are in the middle. But then there are people like 110010001000 who is known exclusively for only talking shit who ranks about as highly as gum stuck to the bottom of someone's shoe.

    37. Re:I don't understand this... by unimacs · · Score: 1

      On a different forum that I participate in that's almost totally unrelated to music, a guy started a topic about George Michael dying. Now, it was in a section devoted to off-topic subjects so there was nothing particularly unusual about the fact that he did that. But it got a little weird.

      I posted a brief reply to which he responded, first thanking me for my thoughts and then going on this long diatribe about how no one else had engaged in the thread. He referred to the other regulars as people without a pulse and as being soul-less. It was the sort of reaction that Dr. Watkins was referring to. As far as I knew this guy didn't have any kind of personal relationship with George Michael. He was just a ardent fan.

      But here is the thing that Dr Watkins is missing or perhaps he understands but laments it anyway. Those 745 people that died in Chicago this year undoubtedly had people that loved them and grieved for them, but the cold reality is that to the rest of us, 745 is just a number. We have no personal connection to them, therefore it has little emotional impact on us. There is lots of evidence that personal stories have far more effect on people than statistics. We will believe the heartfelt personal story. We will deny any statistic that doesn't fit our world view.

      You can argue that other than small fraction of people, those that mourn the loss of George Michael or any celebrity didn't really know them either. Nevertheless, they had an impact on our lives. They are connected with strong memories for some of us.

      So while arguably we should feel a lot worse about 745 people dying than we do about the death of a single celebrity, that's not how emotions work.

    38. Re:I don't understand this... by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Chick was a champion of ignorance and hate.
      I suppose that makes him an alt-right icon

      Don't forget littering, and tree-killing paper spam.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    39. Re:I don't understand this... by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      Bowie's music has a very personal effect on many people. Some actors are so well known that people feel like they know them, or at least the characters. I think it's normal to feel a sense of loss.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    40. Re: I don't understand this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They are just trying to be hip and trendy by playing off the season finale of John Oliver's shoe.

    41. Re:I don't understand this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There is a small place inside where I still harbour some innocence and wonder. For every person who dies that was tied to it, regardless of whether I was a fan or not, that place grows smaller. It doesn't matter if I knew them or not, I am sad when anyone who has touched my life dies. Each loss makes life a bit less exciting, less wondrous and reminds me that we can never return home.

    42. Re:I don't understand this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Pop music's only purpose is to separate middle schoolers from their allowances.

      Middle schoolers are very easily led.

      allowances spent on blank tapes and in arcades. :)

    43. Re:I don't understand this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      " it really sucks that there will never be any new material".

      Cheer up, there are several unreleased works of/by Robin Williams.

    44. Re:I don't understand this... by Tough+Love · · Score: 1

      A lot celebrities died this year.

      Roughly 1% of the general population dies every year. Since there are a lot of celebrities, a lot of celebrities die every year.

      --
      When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
    45. Re:I don't understand this... by Plumpaquatsch · · Score: 1

      It just means you are popular. Madonna has more than that.

      What's your point - she isn't dead. Else she couldn't have tweeted this: https://twitter.com/Madonna/status/813193931546628096

      --
      Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
    46. Re:I don't understand this... by MrKaos · · Score: 1

      Fuck, I must have been as drunk as he was!

      We were still getting over Scott Weiland then Lemmy died.

      --
      My ism, it's full of beliefs.
    47. Re:I don't understand this... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It sucked because my mom died.

    48. Re:I don't understand this... by Scarletdown · · Score: 1

      And now we have lost Debbie Reynolds as well.

      If any artist would care to sculpt a monument to 2016, it should be in the form of a raised fist with the middle finger extended.

      --
      This space unintentionally left blank.
    49. Re:I don't understand this... by darnkitten · · Score: 1

      Yeah, but fortunately, his will forbids Disney from using them...

  16. Re:The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    i thought everyone from your generation was dead already, this for the young 50ish crowd.

  17. Drugs are bad for you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Cocaine damages the heart. Cocaine use finally caught up to Carrie Fisher. In an era where people are calling for legalization of drugs, you might want to consider that people had motives for banning drugs in the first place. A generation of smokers brought an avalanche of lung cancer. I wonder if a generation of marijuana users will lead to early onset dementia, and low IQs. At least marijuana has less side effects for fighting pain than opiates.

    1. Re:Drugs are bad for you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      And those should be their decisions, not yours.

    2. Re:Drugs are bad for you by Kaenneth · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "marijuana users will lead to early onset dementia, and low IQs."

      Any studies showing a connection?... I'll wait...

    3. Re:Drugs are bad for you by tibit · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Sweetheart, the motive for banning the drugs was to turn drug users into criminals, not to help anyone.

      --
      A successful API design takes a mixture of software design and pedagogy.
    4. Re:Drugs are bad for you by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 1

      I am not so much for the legalization of drugs, but the decriminalization of them. Portugal is a great example of something we could be doing differently.

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    5. Re:Drugs are bad for you by clovis · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I wonder if a generation of marijuana users will lead to early onset dementia, and low IQs.

      We just had an election for President of the United States that pitted Hillary Clinton against Donald Trump, so here's your answer: it's more than just one generation that got addled.

    6. Re:Drugs are bad for you by burtosis · · Score: 1

      "marijuana users will lead to early onset dementia, and low IQs."

      Any studies showing a connection?... I'll wait...

      Here you go.

      Oh, you wanted a real source?

    7. Re:Drugs are bad for you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So true. If cocaine were illegal, Carrie Fisher would still be alive.

      Oh wait. Drugs are already illegal. Didn't even slow her down one iota.

    8. Re:Drugs are bad for you by Gr8Apes · · Score: 1

      Based on the voting records, a good portion of the population at highest risk of dementia, alzheimers, and addling of all sorts voted for Trump. A good portion of the rest vomited a little as they cast their vote.

      --
      The cesspool just got a check and balance.
    9. Re:Drugs are bad for you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No honey boo-boo, the motive for banning drugs was to protect the rest of society from idiotic drug users who, when they fuck up because of the drugs (and they always do at some point), they leave a large amount pain, destruction, and anguish in their wake. Nobody, save the ones closest to the druggie, gives two shits about his high.

    10. Re:Drugs are bad for you by newcastlejon · · Score: 1

      In an era where people are calling for legalization of drugs...

      Are there many people calling for the legalisation of cocaine?

      ...you might want to consider that people had motives for banning drugs in the first place.

      Indeed. It turns out that reduction of harm rarely makes the top three, otherwise tobacco and alcohol would be banned and I imagine we'd all be buying marijuana and ecstasy from what used to be liquor stores.

      --
      If God forks the Universe every time you roll a die, he'd better have a damned good memory.
    11. Re:Drugs are bad for you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, unless you are suggesting that maybe the editors of that website smoked a little too much, gave themselves dementia and lowered their IQ. But I think it was probably cocaine.

    12. Re:Drugs are bad for you by fustakrakich · · Score: 1

      Oh please, don't try to blame the weed for that. Generations of the distant and not so distant past have done much worse. If there's a "drug" to blame, it would be alcohol, caffeine, meth, antidepressants, prescription opiates, and sugary drinks, and maybe Mcdonalds. But mostly we can blame the TV and the fact that people will believe anything. Most of the weed smokers probably abstained entirely, probably because the facade is so transparent.

      --
      “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    13. Re:Drugs are bad for you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Dude, put the weed down. You're getting confused about what you're talking about again.

    14. Re:Drugs are bad for you by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

      Lots of things have an bad effect on people. If you're interested in public health, ban fried foods. As it is, keeping drugs illegal does little but make drug cartels rich and in a position to destabilize entire nations, not to mention leading to huge amounts of taxpayer money going into law enforcement in a hopeless and doomed attempt to keep these drugs off the streets. Legalize it, tax it, use some of those taxes for treatment, and stop trying to pretend the law is the appropriate instrument to deal with narcotics.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    15. Re:Drugs are bad for you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "marijuana users will lead to early onset dementia, and low IQs."

      Any studies showing a connection?... I'll wait...

      Here you go.

      Hahahahahaha!

    16. Re:Drugs are bad for you by Undead+Waffle · · Score: 1

      Actually there were indeed a couple of studies linking marijuana use to lower IQs, but others have contested them. A simple google search gives quite a few hits.

  18. Re:The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by x0ra · · Score: 2, Insightful

    let's face it, this http://rebellioustimes.com/wp-... was the only reason Carry Fisher became a legend.

  19. Star Wars killed her by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The new Star Wars movie killed her. The stress from the promotional appearances and book tour took a toll on her. I hope you guys enjoyed your dreck.

    1. Re:Star Wars killed her by Kaenneth · · Score: 1

      It also made her immortal; I would trade being a movie star for 4 decades for the last 2 decades of my old age.

    2. Re:Star Wars killed her by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      She opted into it man. I'm absolutely positive that the stress of filming two new films, doing interviews, and having her fanbase multiply by a lot compared to the last decade and change increased that stress immensely. Flying is an inherently stressful activity, and can be a trigger for this stuff too.

      But don't pretend that the market wanting more Carrie Fischer was to blame- she chose to do that. She's an actress, of course she wants work and fame. She wasn't motivated by starvation or something. It's a damn shame that she died so young, but she made the choices she made, and she gave no sign that she died regretting them.

    3. Re:Star Wars killed her by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wow thats crazy.. 20 years.. I bet she would trade it all for 20 more years.

    4. Re:Star Wars killed her by x0ra · · Score: 1

      She also probably got a few millions out of it.

    5. Re:Star Wars killed her by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > Flying is an inherently stressful activity, and can be a trigger for this stuff too.

      Ditto cocaine!

    6. Re:Star Wars killed her by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      Carrie Fischer? Is she related to that chess player dude?

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  20. Re:The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    let's face it, this http://rebellioustimes.com/wp-... was the only reason Carry Fisher became a legend.

    And your point is???

  21. So did by 110010001000 · · Score: 0

    So did the author of "Watership Down" today. And a foul mouthed comic died too.

    1. Re:So did by TheFakeTimCook · · Score: 1

      So did the author of "Watership Down" today. And a foul mouthed comic died too.

      Actually, Ricky Harris died yesterday.

      And Richard Adams lived to the ripe, old age of 96.

      Carrie Fisher died at 60. That's too young these days... But Ricky Harris was only 54.

      "Another 40,000 comin' every day..."

    2. Re:So did by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      And Liz Smith.

      You wouldn't know her, she doesn't do things with explosions.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  22. Re:The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by zlives · · Score: 1

    what has reason to do with popularity?

  23. Re:The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by RobotRunAmok · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Thank you. And I'll take this opportunity to clarify further that it's not a "generational thing:" Angelina Jolie: Iconic. Sylvester Stallone: Iconic. Arnold Schwarzenegger: Iconic. Sigourney Weaver: Iconic. Patrick Stewart: Iconic. Carrie Fisher: Talented, a lovely person I am sure, cute as a button at age 19, but not an "iconic actress." Not meant as a dis, just as a point that words mean something...

  24. Very Bad Joke by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Han may shoot last, but if you cross him he ALWAYS gets you eventually...

  25. She wrote her own obit: by DigitalSorceress · · Score: 4, Informative

    "She drowned in moonlight, strangled by her own bra."

    --

    The Digital Sorceress
    1. Re:She wrote her own obit: by McGruber · · Score: 1
  26. Re:I don't care by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Liar. If you didn't care, you wouldn't have clicked. And you're still subscribed, and will continue to be.

  27. Re:I don't care by zlives · · Score: 1

    says the AC?

  28. Organized crime is bad for you by TiggertheMad · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Cocaine damages the heart. Cocaine use finally caught up to Carrie Fisher. In an era where people are calling for legalization of drugs, you might want to consider that people had motives for banning drugs in the first place.

    High velocity lead is bad for you too. Legalizing drugs takes organized crime out of the equation, and reduces the incentives to run around murdering people for large amounts of cash, drugs, and turf. People will always do dangerous drugs, why not just legalize them so that people who don't want anything to do with drugs can walk down the street without getting shot?

    Banning drugs is just providing price supports for organized crime. If you are pro-drug laws, you are pro-Organized crime, it is as simple as that.

    --

    HA! I just wasted some of your bandwidth with a frivolous sig!
    1. Re:Organized crime is bad for you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      People still bootleg cigarettes and alcohol. There is no reason to believe legalizing drugs will reduce crime.

    2. Re:Organized crime is bad for you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      they still do compared to what? Phroabition, then yes legalizing booze brought a dramatic crime reduction

      reduction != all crime ceases to exist dipshit

    3. Re:Organized crime is bad for you by Uberbah · · Score: 4, Insightful

      People still bootleg cigarettes and alcohol.

      Where are the mobs, gangs and cartels based around running cigarettes and alcohol...oh wait there aren't any.

      There is no reason to believe legalizing drugs will reduce crime.

      Prohibition alone makes a bad liar out of you. Why are you even attempting to fuck this chicken?

    4. Re:Organized crime is bad for you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As I recall from the military histories I read, Prohibition turned the Army (along with most of society) into criminals. Everybody parties, knew bootleggers, ... It's hard to regulate morality, and you don't really want to train people to be (easy) criminals.

    5. Re:Organized crime is bad for you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How does "If you are pro-drug laws, you are pro-Organized crime" get modded insightful? Here's one for you: If you like Princess Leia, you hate cucumbers.

    6. Re:Organized crime is bad for you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What are you talking about? Are you crazy?

    7. Re:Organized crime is bad for you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So, smartypants, just so you know, the motorcycle "clubs" (i.e. GANGS) in Canada are involved in the smuggling of cigarettes to the US of A, especially New York.

    8. Re:Organized crime is bad for you by judoguy · · Score: 1

      Legalizing drugs takes organized crime out of the equation...

      Bullshit. I'm from North Carolina. No intoxicants are as cheap and ubiquitous as alcohol and tobacco. The Federal government still spends a lot of money and time prosecuting moonshiners and controlling tobacco production. Why? because of the taxes.

      Something doesn't have to be illegal to involve crime. The added layer of taxes will encourage people to work outside the system. You might thing the DEA are badasses but don't forget that 80 some men, women and children died at Waco, an ATF operation.

      --
      Peace is easy to achieve, just surrender. Liberty is much harder get/keep.
    9. Re:Organized crime is bad for you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sending people to jail damages their lives too.

    10. Re:Organized crime is bad for you by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      If true, it's a sure sign NY should lower their cigarette taxes.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    11. Re:Organized crime is bad for you by Uberbah · · Score: 1

      If your idea of gang-related activity is drive-by-yellings, that might qualify.

    12. Re:Organized crime is bad for you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      People still bootleg cigarettes and alcohol.

      Where are the mobs, gangs and cartels based around running cigarettes and alcohol...oh wait there aren't any.

      In Canada, cigarettes purchased in bulk at a fraction of their after tax cost on native reserves are a popular commodity smuggled off-reserve by the Hells Angels (and other groups), and sold for a tidy profit.

    13. Re:Organized crime is bad for you by Uberbah · · Score: 1

      Still not a gang based around a black market. You can find accountants that specialize in registering mobile homes in states without sales taxes too - doesn't make them a cartel.

    14. Re:Organized crime is bad for you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I hate this stupid argument

      It's simple really. Would as many people smoke if cigarettes were illegal? No.

      Regarding prohibition, you have to look at the whole picture. Sure, organized crime went up, but domestic violence went way, way down during that period. Boo hoo, a bunch of criminals and mobsters were getting into turf wars and made a lot of news. But families were being kept whole. That didn't make the news, but look at the domestic violence stats for the time. And who knows, after a generation or two of growing up with better families, maybe the mobster mentality would have dwindled too. Especially after all the Darwin awards were handed out.

      Stupid, thin argument. Drugs are damaging, debilitating, family destroying and wrong to think of as "recreation." Organized crime is bad and should be treated as a social problem that is healed at childhood. Culture is stronger than laws. It always has been and always will be.

      Drugs should be legal only -- ONLY -- for medical professionals who can be held accountable. Not in convenience stores, not on the street, not at home, not in "parlors". Fix the culture and the demand will die.

      Big pictures matter.

    15. Re:Organized crime is bad for you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Where are the mobs, gangs and cartels based around running cigarettes and alcohol...oh wait there aren't any."

      Wow, are you naïve. Organized crime makes billions in buying cigarettes in low-tax states and re-selling them in high-tax states, and huge profits on moonshine liquor.

    16. Re:Organized crime is bad for you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > Stupid, thin argument. Drugs are damaging, debilitating, family destroying and wrong to think of as "recreation."

      Wow. You make such sweeping generalizations, and then have the balls to call the opposing argument "stupid" and "thin"?

      Read this book and see if you can defend your position logically.

    17. Re:Organized crime is bad for you by valnar · · Score: 1

      Except the same people who want to legalize drugs want to ban guns further. So one side is right and one is wrong. Or maybe both are wrong?

  29. Obligatory yoda... by mishehu · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "Death is a natural part of life. Rejoice for those around you who transform into the Force. Mourn them do not. Miss them do not."

  30. The original Star Wars three were a good team by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I think the part the original three actors played in Star Wars is underappreciated. Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, and Mark Hamill each played their parts well, and could fix up George Lucas' bad dialogue. It turns out that adult Mark Hamill is naturally a villain. Maybe George Lucas should have made sequels with the original cast instead of the prequels. Have Luke turn to the dark side, and kill Han Solo.

    To the credit of the Force Awakens, Finn, and the woman also seem to have good chemistry and personality.

    1. Re:The original Star Wars three were a good team by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

      I'd say the leads basically made the original trilogy more than just a special effects extravaganza. Watch the prequels and the more wooden acting just underlines Lucas's shitty dialogue and plotting.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    2. Re:The original Star Wars three were a good team by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      Lucas is a strange case, his best movie was 'American Graffiti', after that a long generally downward trend. By the time he made the prequels he was making pure crap.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    3. Re:The original Star Wars three were a good team by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Naah, American Graffiti was crap; probably his worst ever. His best film is still the original Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back.

    4. Re:The original Star Wars three were a good team by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

      You are nuts.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    5. Re:The original Star Wars three were a good team by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, you just have no taste or eye for art.

  31. I don't think so by SuperKendall · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The woman was literally a 1-hit wonder

    You only need one thing to be iconic.

    never went on to do anything else that was worthy of note.

    When the one thing is big enough, none of that matters.

    Any number of actresses could have played the part

    Like who exactly? Who would have been as perfect in that role as Carrie Fisher was?

    Yes she was in the right place at the right time, but it's also true that she was the RIGHT PERSON in the right place at the right time. Any other actress would have mangled the part. Her actual person including her background growing up was perfect for that role in a way I'm not sure anyone else was.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re:I don't think so by CrashPoint · · Score: 3, Insightful
      Generally your post is spot-on, but this?

      Any other actress would have mangled the part.

      I'm sorry, but no. There are plenty of actresses who could have done as fine a job as Carrie Fisher did, and in each of the alternate universes where one of them got the part, you're thinking of Fisher as one of the also-rans would would have "mangled" the role. The fact that other actresses could have done well does not in any way lessen the fact that she did an excellent job, so let's not dehumanize the lady by putting her up on a pedestal that she probably wouldn't have wanted in any case.

      And really, that's true of every single role we associate with a particular actor. Yes, even that one you're about to bring up as a counterpoint.

    2. Re:I don't think so by zlives · · Score: 1

      well put.

    3. Re:I don't think so by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

      Any Druish Princess could have played that part. Lighten up.

    4. Re:I don't think so by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ask people which James Bond actor was the best.

    5. Re:I don't think so by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      She was also a script doctor who worked on the screenplays for Sister Act, Hook, Lethal Weapon 3, and other notable projects.

    6. Re:I don't think so by SuperKendall · · Score: 2

      Generally your post is spot-on, but this?

      Or maybe, just maybe the trend continues and the *whole* post is spot-on...

      There are plenty of actresses who could have done as fine a job as Carrie Fisher did

      That all sounds great but I notice you didn't put up any names.

      Again, who exactly?

      Remember they would have had to triangulate between Lucas, the script, and the other actors...

      You make it sound like it was easy to do what she did in Star Wars when frankly if you read much about the shooting of Star Wars seems rather not true.

      It's not like I worship her by any means, or am putting her up on a pedestal. I just think that, as I said, she was the perfect person for that role at that time. Any other name you put up would either have no chemistry, have quit or hung herself after a week.

      Yes, even that one you're about to bring up as a counterpoint.

      Say what now? I had no particular counterpoint in mind. What point did you make that you expected a counter for? Or do you mean something about the prequels? I don't really see how that's relevant as the situation is so different...

      --
      "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    7. Re:I don't think so by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      you have still failed to mention even one actress who could have done the part better.

    8. Re:I don't think so by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      She seemed perfect in Blues Brothers to me..

    9. Re:I don't think so by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What's the point? Your nostalgia spectacles will prevent you from seeing anyone in the part. But here's a few names:
      Sissy Spacek, Cindy Williams, Glenn Close, Jessica Lange, Meryl Streep, Sigourney Weaver, Cybill Shepherd, Anjelica Huston, Kim Basinger, Kathleen Turner. Everyone of these names are better actresses than Fisher, but Lucas was looking for relative unknowns for the parts and she had decent chemistry with Hamill and Ford, so she got the part. Tbh, though, there wasn't really much to the part since it was never more than a summer popcorn entertainment.

    10. Re:I don't think so by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, her aim with a rocket launcher was a bit off.

    11. Re:I don't think so by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      She did some script editing work, often uncredited, that is said to have improved numerous films. She did voice acting. She helped raise awareness of mental illness by taking about her own, and through that helped countless other people. She became an outspoken feminist and didn't take any crap when people criticised her for looking her age.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    12. Re: I don't think so by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      George Lazenby?

    13. Re:I don't think so by CrashPoint · · Score: 1

      Remember they would have had to triangulate between [the director], the script, and the other actors...

      That is a challenge, but not one unique to the role of Leia. So I can state with confidence that lots of other actresses could handle that challenge, because they already have handled it, repeatedly and to great effect. There's no magical Venn-diagram of "performer traits" and "traits needed to be Leia" in which Carrie Fisher was the sole inhabitant of the overlap.

      You make it sound like it was easy to do what she did in Star Wars when frankly if you read much about the shooting of Star Wars seems rather not true.

      I didn't make it sound like it was easy. Nothing I said implied that. "More than one person could have done this job" does not equate to "this job was easy".

      Any other name you put up would either have no chemistry, have quit or hung herself after a week.

      Any other name? Come on. Would you suggest that Sigourney Weaver couldn't have chemistry with Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford, or that Meryl Streep couldn't handle the stress of making a Star Wars movie? If not then your claim is meaningless, and if so I'll start laughing now and avoid the rush.

      Say what now? I had no particular counterpoint in mind. What point did you make that you expected a counter for? Or do you mean something about the prequels? I don't really see how that's relevant as the situation is so different...

      It wasn't directed at you specifically, more at anyone in general who would have said "But what about Hannibal Lecter/Indiana Jones/whoever?". Because the same point applies to those characters too; yes, so-and-so did a wonderful job, but there are other people who would also have done a wonderful job.

    14. Re:I don't think so by HornWumpus · · Score: 0

      Had to be about the right age.

      I suggest Jennifer Connelly would have done it better. Better at acting, also much hotter.

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    15. Re:I don't think so by marquisdepolis · · Score: 1

      The problem is that you can't prove conclusively that the task was difficult enough that nobody else *could* have done a great/better job. But the fact that she did a fantastic job is enough to say that she was right for the part and did a brilliant job in what turned out to be one of the most influential and iconic movies of all time.

      Surely it's better than trying to prove the counterfactual!

    16. Re: I don't think so by Thud457 · · Score: 1

      Yes. That is the correct answer. George Lazenby is the best Bond.

      --

      the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

    17. Re:I don't think so by mlyle · · Score: 1

      You can't rule out that possibly we're in the slice of the multiverse where Princess Leia was played best ;)

    18. Re:I don't think so by mlyle · · Score: 2

      It depends on a lot. Carrie Fisher carried off an incredulous vibe in critical parts that .. transformed the story and our interpretation of the characters, I think? Who's to know how much of that was written-in, how much was directed, how much was her interpretation, how much was her talent, and how much was her chemistry with the rest of the cast.

    19. Re:I don't think so by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "I'm sorry, but no. There are plenty of actresses who could have done as fine a job as Carrie Fisher did, and in each of the alternate universes where one of them got the part, you're thinking of Fisher as one of the also-rans would would have "mangled" the role. The fact that other actresses could have done well does not in any way lessen the fact that she did an excellent job, so let's not dehumanize the lady by putting her up on a pedestal that she probably wouldn't have wanted in any case.
      And really, that's true of every single role we associate with a particular actor. Yes, even that one you're about to bring up as a counterpoint.
      "

      You mean Shatner as Kirk? Or Nimoy as Spock?! I don't think so! : )

    20. Re:I don't think so by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

      Would you suggest that Sigourney Weaver couldn't have chemistry with Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford

      Yes, I can indeed suggest exactly that. Especially since she is seven years older than Carrie Fisher was.

      Meryl Streep

      Would have rendered Star Wars unwatchable. She is utterly the wrong personality type for Leia. And of course, she is also seven years older...

      I'll start laughing now and avoid the rush.

      Well I can certainly see a rush coming what with you thinking Meryl Streep could play Leia!

      But what about Hannibal Lecter/Indiana Jones/whoever?

      Those are not in the same category to me, I can see any number of guys playing those roles. They simply are not as tailored and an exacting fit as Leia was for Carrie. Maybe Hannibal... but even then different takes on the character might work as well. For Leia all of the other possible takes from other actresses would have fallen far short of what we got.

      --
      "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    21. Re:I don't think so by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

      I just rewatched A New Hope tonight, and my observation was that the character of Leia was a bit more than just a popcorn heroine. She plays the Princess in the early scenes while interacting with Vader and Tarkin; aloof, proud, haughty, which would make sense if she was portraying a member of the Old Republic nobility interacting with a pack of usurping Space Nazis. But from the moment she's rescued, Fisher plays Leia as a soldier and rebel leader. She's the one that gets them out of the prison cell and into the garbage crusher, and basically exerts control over both Luke and Han. While it's easy to read a bit into this, it's pretty clear that while Leia wore a princess's outfit, she really was a soldier, and someone used to being in a position of authority and command. I'd say Fisher and Lucas created the prototype for the scifi female lead; sexy yes, but smart, and not willing to take a bunch of macho crap.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    22. Re:I don't think so by TheRaven64 · · Score: 1

      And of course, she is also seven years older.

      An older Leia could have worked well. She'd have been closer to Han Solo's age, making their romance seem a bit more likely to last. Luke Sykwalker, boy from the middle of the desert, would likely have been attracted to anyone glamorous. It would also have lent a bit more gravitas to the part. There are a few bits in the original trilogy where she just seems too young and inexperienced for the amount of deference that the Rebellion is giving her.

      --
      I am TheRaven on Soylent News
    23. Re:I don't think so by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > The woman was literally a 1-hit wonder

      She made the most of a small role in Catastrophe. No? You'd like to make generalisations without doing any research. I don't really watch it but I'm aware of Family Guy. Then there's author-Carrie and screenplay-Carrie (Postcards From The Edge). And then screenplay tweaking (uncredited).

      And some space thing.

      Still even as a 1-hit wonder that's more than 99.99999% of the rest of us.

    24. Re: I don't think so by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, even that one you're about to bring up as a counterpoint.

      Sylvester Stallone, I choose you!

    25. Re: I don't think so by Z00L00K · · Score: 1

      James Bobd was an ornithologist.

      --
      If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
    26. Re: I don't think so by Z00L00K · · Score: 1

      What she did was important, even if not everything she did made it into the public awareness.

      A lot of people seems to ignore that she became known in the 70's when the amount of female heroines was limited. She fought for equality by showing the way, not by playing the blame game.

      --
      If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
    27. Re:I don't think so by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      from the moment she's rescued, Fisher plays Leia as a soldier and rebel leader. She's the one that gets them out of the prison cell and into the garbage crusher, and basically exerts control over both Luke and Han.

      Yep, and then in Jedi she gets lost, goes to the Ewok village, puts on a dress and gets her hair braided while her friends are captured and almost roasted on a spit.

      When Leia came out and saw them, I was like, "Hey! What are you doing?? Aren't you supposed to be on a mission..?"

      And why exactly did the Ewoks have a dress in her size, anyway? :)

    28. Re:I don't think so by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

      Maybe... but the other problem is that none of the other actresses were to become expert script-doctors the way Carrie Fisher was. That is just one of the reasons any other actress would have made Star Wars far more horrible, because they wouldn't have been able to fix Lucas the way she did! And it wasn't just HER dialog she fixed.

      I honestly think Star Wars would be a forgotten film if anyone but Carrie Fisher had played Leia.

      --
      "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    29. Re:I don't think so by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

      I think the bigger question is "Why Ewoks?" The whole shield generator battle sequence is absurd, and, so far as I can tell, only existed to sell Ewok action figures. Rogue One's final battle sequence shows how the similar sequence in RotJ could have been done. Instead we get the idiocy of a pack of midget teddy bears taking out a legion of the Empire's finest troops. I get that Lucas was trying to channel Vietnam a bit, but the Vietcong had a lot more than logs and ropes.

      At any rate RotJ, and even Empire to an extent, softened Leia too much, playing down the notion of her as a Rebel leader and paying up the more traditional damsel in distress. Thankfully the Alien films never pulled that with Ellen Ripley.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    30. Re: I don't think so by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ugh, I'm so tired of dude's criticizing the ways that women advocate for feminism. Like, if they speak up about it instead of just putting their nose to the grindstone and keeping their mouths shut, they're bad feminists for making men feel uncomfortable.

      Go fly a kite, dude.

    31. Re:I don't think so by CrashPoint · · Score: 1

      Yes, I can indeed suggest exactly that [Sigourney Weaver couldn't have chemistry with Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford].

      Then you're wrong, and also you never saw Working Girl.

      Especially since she is seven years older than Carrie Fisher was.

      So what? Nothing about Leia required that she be exactly 19 years old (no, not even the fact that she's Luke's twin, because that was decided much later). Making Leia slightly older than Luke would only further underscore his fascination with her. And of course, actors play characters younger than themselves all the time. They're typically very healthy and good-looking people, and makeup is a thing. Age would not have been a real barrier here.

      [Meryl Streep] Would have rendered Star Wars unwatchable. She is utterly the wrong personality type for Leia

      You don't know what Meryl Streep's personality type is. What you think of as her "personality" is only a composite of roles that she's played over the years that you've mushed together in your head. And the overwhelming majority of those roles came AFTER Star Wars was released, so it's not like you can even argue that they would have conflicted with her existing image.

      Carrie Fisher was a good fit for the role, no question. But if you think that literally nobody else could have done well with it, then you're not being objective.

    32. Re:I don't think so by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

      Look, it was *seeing* Working Girl that led me to laugh at the premise of her being Leia... come on.

      Also as I pointed out in another response, one of the many reasons Leia was just right for the role is that she also turned out to be an expert script doctor.. which Star Wars sorely needed.

      But really, none of them had the energy that Carrie Fisher brought to the role...

      --
      "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    33. Re:I don't think so by CrashPoint · · Score: 1

      Carrie Fisher turned out to be an expert script doctor...many years later, after she started doctoring scripts. Star Wars was not among those scripts. Her scriptwriting talent did not come into play here.

    34. Re:I don't think so by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're assuming she did a fine job. The woman is a shitty actress. If you can't see this then it's clear you have no idea what good acting is. She did nothing else in life except snort coke and turn in to a crackwhore because she was awful as an actor and nobody who made good movies wanted her.

    35. Re:I don't think so by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So that's why her dialog was shit. Got it.

    36. Re:I don't think so by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Huh? She had some of the best lines in the film!

      That was thanks to Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz, who were the actual doctors on Lucas's script.

  32. Re:The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Thanks for reminding me, I need to wash my socks.

    captcha: respect

  33. May the force be with all of you, and with her by Progman3K · · Score: 1

      .

    (The single period to mark a passing may not be a thing here but it once was, on metafilter)

    --
    I don't know the meaning of the word 'don't' - J
  34. She was who she was because of what she did by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    Yes coke (the powder) is bad for you. But she also would not have been the person she was without it. I don't know that she would have changed anything, even knowing she would die early...

    Do you really want to continue to try and eliminate drugs, and have a world with no more Carrie Fishers?

    Find your own monastery, I say.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  35. Re: The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Debbie Reynolds is iconic? Ok grandpa, whatever you say.

  36. Equalizer by freeze128 · · Score: 1

    Now Star Wars fans get to experience what Star Trek fans have been feeling for decades... Your favorite performers in your favorite roles are mortal. Sure, your character might get a Genesis resurrection, or turn into a Force Ghost, but eventually, the actors die. Then the copyright holders get to screw with your favorite memories by remaking your favorite films with completely different actors. It's worse than Life Day.

    1. Re:Equalizer by burtosis · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Now Star Wars fans get to experience what Star Trek fans have been feeling for decades... Your favorite performers in your favorite roles are mortal. Sure, your character might get a Genesis resurrection, or turn into a Force Ghost, but eventually, the actors die. Then the copyright holders get to screw with your favorite memories by remaking your favorite films with completely different actors. It's worse than Life Day.

      It gets worse. Hopefully Disney dosent own the rights to her likeness of we will see her appear in every subsequent film jar jar binks style. In the future, favorite stars will actually be immortal.

    2. Re:Equalizer by Oligonicella · · Score: 1

      I so look forward to the day that actors can be replaced by CGI. I'm tired of seeing the Jim Carrys, Will Smiths, et al. of the world. One of the reasons I prefer Indi films.

    3. Re:Equalizer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      It's worse than Life Day.

      You lie. Nothing is worse than Life Day.

    4. Re:Equalizer by Gr8Apes · · Score: 3, Informative

      It gets worse. Hopefully Disney dosent own the rights to her likeness of we will see her appear in every subsequent film jar jar binks style. In the future, favorite stars will actually be immortal.

      Tarkin in Rogue One indicates that the future is now.

      --
      The cesspool just got a check and balance.
    5. Re:Equalizer by powerlord · · Score: 2

      Not to mention a certain closing scene ... that is somehow all the more poignantly sweet now.

      --
      This space for rent. All reasonable inquiries will be entertained at proprietors discretion.
    6. Re:Equalizer by ChunderDownunder · · Score: 1

      One of the reasons I prefer Indi films

      Based on his wooden acting in the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, they could posthumously animate Harrison Ford and few would notice the difference. :-)

  37. yes...let the force penetrate her. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    butthurt, she has.

  38. Did that many celebrities really die? by ranton · · Score: 1

    I saw one article today saying 47 famous celebrities died this year, and they included people I had never heard of like Greg Lake, AA Gill, Rick Parfitt, etc. That doesn't seem like that many people to me. If you assume the average celebrity lives 50 years after initial stardom, it would only take 2500 total celebrities for 50 of them to die each year. I would bet there are at least a few thousand people in the world we would consider celebrities.

    --
    -- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -- Edmund Burke
    1. Re:Did that many celebrities really die? by Jason+Levine · · Score: 5, Informative

      I crunched the numbers (before the Carrie Fisher news hit) using http://fiftiesweb.com/dead/dead-people-2016/ as my guide. 2016 has killed the most celebrities (140 when you add in Ricky Harris, Carrie Fisher, and Richard Adams) than any year since 2000 (the earliest year that site had listings for). It was 40% more than the next closest year, 2005.

      --
      My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
    2. Re:Did that many celebrities really die? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The beginning of the baby-boomers are starting to end their stories. Expect the number of famous people dying per year to sharply rise over the coming decade.

    3. Re:Did that many celebrities really die? by mx+b · · Score: 2

      I crunched the numbers (before the Carrie Fisher news hit) using http://fiftiesweb.com/dead/dea... as my guide. 2016 has killed the most celebrities (140 when you add in Ricky Harris, Carrie Fisher, and Richard Adams) than any year since 2000 (the earliest year that site had listings for). It was 40% more than the next closest year, 2005.

      The baby boomers are now in their 60s and 70s. The thing that gets me is the overwhelming emotion seems to be surprise, as if never in history before have actors ever died of old age and natural causes.

      There's going to be a big uptick in deaths the next decade or so, then quiets down until maybe the 2050s or 2060s. Then that generation will be upset that all of the great people of the millennial generation (which is another boom, bigger than that baby boomers actually) died in the same year of 2056 or whatever. It's actuary work. Probability and statistics.

      Certainly, it is sad to lose people, especially those that have inspired others. But unless the death rate percentage of population has changed significantly, there's nothing to worry about. Everyone needs to relax. 2016 isn't cursed or anything. It's just statistics.

    4. Re:Did that many celebrities really die? by T.E.D. · · Score: 1

      Never heard of the other two, but we actually lost TWO members of Emmerson, Lake, and Palmer (AKA: ELP) this year; Keith Emerson and Greg Lake. Perhaps you've never heard of them, but in their day, they were a stadium-filling rock band.

      Point being, just because the name isn't familiar to you, doesn't automatically make them not celebrities.

    5. Re:Did that many celebrities really die? by richrz · · Score: 1

      It could be that with the increased technology that many niche interests are fulfilled and the actual number of celebrities tends to be greater. For instance back in the day most were sports heroes on 3 channels of TV or movie celebs which were much fewer and far between.

    6. Re:Did that many celebrities really die? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I, for one, will never forget where I was when I found out Kimbo Slice passed away.

    7. Re:Did that many celebrities really die? by Hylandr · · Score: 1

      Everyone needs to relax. 2016 isn't cursed or anything. It's just statistics.

      Just very depressing statistics, and very depressing that we are relegating human beings to mere numbers.

      --
      ~ People that think they are better than anyone else for any reason are the cause of all the strife in the world.
  39. Re:The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by 110010001000 · · Score: 2

    Angelina Jolie is iconic? What movie has she even been in that was iconic?

  40. Blues Brothers by clovis · · Score: 5, Informative

    I liked her best in The Blues Brothers.

    1. Re:Blues Brothers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I liked her best in The Blues Brothers.

      Well, she didn't need to act for that one.

    2. Re:Blues Brothers by Solandri · · Score: 1

      So did I. Her main scene in the movie for those who haven't seen it.

    3. Re:Blues Brothers by Bratch · · Score: 1

      I was just thinking that yesterday, when I watched her in "The 'Burbs" as Tom Hanks character's wife, from 1989.

      --
      Beware of the Redittor who loans you a Sharpie.
    4. Re:Blues Brothers by antdude · · Score: 1
      --
      Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
    5. Re:Blues Brothers by Plumpaquatsch · · Score: 1

      Gee, Carrie, where'd you learn to shoot? Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy?

      --
      Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
    6. Re:Blues Brothers by mjwx · · Score: 1

      I liked her best in The Blues Brothers.

      For me it was her portrayal of the therapist in Austin Powers.

      --
      Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
    7. Re:Blues Brothers by clovis · · Score: 1

      Gee, Carrie, where'd you learn to shoot? Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy?

      All those misses is how Jake knew she still loved him.

      When your wife peppers the doorframe around you with her 9mm from the kitchen, do you just think "Well, I married a bad shot", or do you realize that she's trying to communicate something non-verbally?

      BTW, for the slashdot aspies reading this, the answer is that she's trying to communicate, and she wants to know you still care for her.
      So you need unzip, pull it out, and waggle it at her so she sees that you still want her.

  41. Re:Isn't it ironic by Scarletdown · · Score: 2

    It's just symbolic, like Col. Potter's toast in the MASH episode, A War for All Seasons.

    "Here's to the New Year; may she be a damned sight better than the old one."

    --
    This space unintentionally left blank.
  42. May the Force be With You by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Thanks Carrie, we'll miss you but your persona will live forever.

  43. Re:Sorry to hear of her passing CALLED DIEING by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You pass slow mofos on the freeway. You DIE when you do that into an truck train.

  44. Vera Rubin by 110010001000 · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Vera Rubin also died. I'll bet you guys don't even know who she was. Sad.

    1. Re:Vera Rubin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What do you think this is, a web site for nerds? Carrie Fisher provided more inspiration for science than any physicist ever will.

    2. Re:Vera Rubin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      well, Vera was not a movie star, so she's less well known and she was 88 years old so it's less of a shock than someone who is only 60.
      You could have mentioned that she was a famous American astronomer who pioneered the study of dark matter. That way someone learns a little something.

      I think it's sad that both have passed.

    3. Re:Vera Rubin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Vera Rubin also died. I'll bet you guys don't even know who she was. Sad.

      I bet Sheldon Cooper knows who she is/was...

    4. Re:Vera Rubin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is a thread about Carrie Fisher's death. Not a "but-you-guys-don't-even-know-who-Vera-Rubin-is" thread.

      Does anyone like you?

    5. Re:Vera Rubin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sympathies man. Pewee Herman is mourning the loss. My sympathies are with the Rubin family.

    6. Re:Vera Rubin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "...I'll bet you guys don't even know who she was..."

      Yup, and Ed Lofgren, Howard A. Shugart, Ed Goldwasser, Rudolf Haag, Sidney Drell, James W. Cronin, Thomas Kibble, Xie Jialin, Walter Kohn, Denys Wilkinson, Joseph L. Birman... 2016 was not a good year for Physicists.
      Pretty much all of the older Scientists that I met and knew, when I went to work with Glenn Seaborg four decades ago, except Darleane Hoffman, are now gone...
      Hang in there, Darleane!

    7. Re:Vera Rubin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your average "geek" doesn't know or honestly give a shit about real science. Mention Sagan or Neil Tyson and their mouths are flapping, mention Carolyn Shoemaker and they ask for a nude.

    8. Re:Vera Rubin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your average "geek" doesn't know or honestly give a shit about real science. Mention Sagan or Neil Tyson and their mouths are flapping, mention Carolyn Shoemaker and they ask for a nude.

      Well, they used to on this site until Taco added a Politics category to it.

    9. Re:Vera Rubin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hey, my hobby is to go on the internet and pretend to be superior to everyone else too! Only I'm better at it than you.

  45. Re:The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    What movie has she even been in that was iconic?

    Tomb Raider

  46. Re:The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

    Tomb Raider is iconic?

  47. Re:The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 0

    Tomb Raider is iconic?

    If you're a professional video game tester, which was what I did for six years in my younger life.

  48. Re:The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by spire3661 · · Score: 1

    Gia.

    --
    Good-bye
  49. Re:The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by 110010001000 · · Score: 0

    Weren't you the guy who was so awesome at it they fired you? And then you couldnt get another job for a long time, and then you got hired to go government IT because they hire anyone?

  50. Re:The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

    Gia the TV movie? Geez, you guys have low standards.

  51. Re:The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by skam240 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Being a star in the biggest movie franchise of the 20th century doesnt make you iconic? A generation or two worth of children grew up running around outside pretending to be characters from the movies and playing with the action figures. Shoot, the combined cultural impact of all of Angelina Jolie's movies doesnt even come close to the first star wars movie.

    --
    I ignore Anonymous Coward posts. If you want to discuss something, that's awesome. Log in.
  52. Re:The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

    Gia the movie with 18 year old Angelina stark raving naked...

    --
    John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
  53. Re:The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

    OK, I didn't see it. So I take back my comment.

  54. So what's next? by T.E.D. · · Score: 1

    I have to wonder what will happen next. How exactly does the USA mourn when it loses the only actual princess it has ever had?

    1. Re:So what's next? by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

      Princess Grace was a real Princess.

    2. Re:So what's next? by GungaDan · · Score: 1

      et tu, Buttercup?

      http://princessbride.wikia.com...

      A decade later, plus or minus, but also most definitely a princess of our own making.

      --
      Eloi are stupid, throw morlocks at them!
    3. Re:So what's next? by T.E.D. · · Score: 4, Interesting

      In Monaco perhaps. Rich American women marrying into European royalty is hardly anything new. Likely a few female members of nobility have come over here and become Naturalized Citizens too. But we don't recognize such titles here in the USA.

      Carrie Fisher was different in that WE gave her that title.

    4. Re:So what's next? by T.E.D. · · Score: 1

      Meh. I'll give you perhaps a half credit for that one. My main problem with Buttercup is that she tried to talk with an accent, as did her costar (not very American at all), and her character basically existed as the movie's McGuffin to be rescued. In other words, she was a fairly generic European romantic "princess". That was a European princess, invented by some Americans.

      Princess Leia swore, punched people, shot people, turned wrenches, led a rebellion, etc. That's how we do it.

      One user on Twitter I thought summed it up well; this was from @osheamobile:

      Be Princess Leia in 2017

      Fight on the front lines. Strangle fascists with the chains they would have you wear. Be a motherfuckin' general.

    5. Re:So what's next? by x0ra · · Score: 1

      Georges Lucas did, not any of "us".

    6. Re:So what's next? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Mere princess? We have a queen. And Aretha Franklin is still alive.

  55. Re:The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I was wondering the same thing. Angelina Jolie is iconic?

  56. Re:The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    let's face it, this http://rebellioustimes.com/wp-... was the only reason Carry Fisher became a legend.

    yeah, yeah, yeah...

  57. Re:The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

    I think he's getting her mixed up with Alanis Morissette.

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  58. Self rescuing princess by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Self rescuing princess.

  59. Re:The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Weren't you the guy who was so awesome at it they fired you?

    I was a video game tester from 1997 to 2004. Yes, my boss tried to fire me because I was so awesome. When he got promoted into management and made a big deal out of the fact that I got a 2% raise, I informed him that it was nothing as I had gotten a 50% raise in my first year. It pissed him off that I made more money than him for five years. Somehow he got this misinformed idea that being the manager meant he was the best tester in the department. He wasn't. He was very good at lying about his numbers — and rode the company into bankruptcy. I was the third of a dozen senior testers who headed for the exits.

    And then you couldnt get another job for a long time [...]

    I was out of work for two years (2009-10), underemployed for six months (working 20 hours per month), and filed for chapter seven bankruptcy in 2011. For the next two years I worked seven days a week on multiple contract assignments.

    [...] and then you got hired to go government IT because they hire anyone?

    The government IT position that I got hired for in 2014 required 10+ years of IT experience and a security clearance. My contracting agency gave me an extra month of pay as a Christmas bonus because I'm so awesome. ;)

  60. Re:The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by Adriax · · Score: 1

    I'm pretty sure this had a bit to do with it too.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

    --
    I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it!
  61. Re:The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by HornWumpus · · Score: 1

    Do yourself a favor, fast forward to the stark raving naked part. The rest is just awful.

    The main character was, IRL, apparently just a queen bitch, who's _only_ redeeming quality was that she was pretty. They tried, but the unlikeable junkie cunt part came through in the movie. When she dies of AIDs I suspect 99% of the audience was thinking: "Good, I hope she suffered, a lot.' Which, I suspect was not the director's intent.

    --
    John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
  62. Fappening? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Does this mean a Carrie Fisher fappening leak is more or less likely to happen?

  63. Re: The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The jury has deliberated and we have decided that on balance of the evidence and the stipulations made here on slashdot, that Tomb Raider was indeed iconic.

  64. Re:The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You're right, you get to pick who is iconic to whom.

  65. Re:The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 4, Informative

    Most people can instantly recognize a picture of Princess Leia. Far fewer could recognize a photo of Lara Croft, and even fewer would recognize Mrs Smith.

    The main reason that Carrie had little success beyond Star Wars is because she was too busy snorting cocaine up her nose, and she has openly acknowledged the negative effect of drugs on both her health and career.

    In 1977 I fell in love with Princess Leia, and there is still a warm place in my heart whenever I think of her. Carrie, wherever you are out there among the stars, may the force be with you.

     

  66. I do not get it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Is carrie fisher a sentient robot? Did she invent hyper space travel? Did she do ANYTHING for science at all?

    No, one more worm food bag that accomplished nothing of value.

    When this site figures out what science and technology is, wake me up

  67. 2 days after another star princess also died by stud9920 · · Score: 3, Informative

    On Christmas day (Isaac Newton's birthday), one of the people who studied galaxies far, far away and the dark side of matter passed away. Vera Rubin

  68. Re:The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    what does a game tester do that my nephew doesn't? He's playing the games hours at a time too.

  69. Re:Isn't it ironic by GloomE · · Score: 1

    So you're bearing false witness?

    None of us actually believe that 2016 is some sort of malignant entity. We just identify patterns and make a narrative to help deal with the negative things that happen.

    Unlike others who really do believe in talking burning bushes, crackers turning into human flesh and horses flying to heaven. And are willing to kill others to "prove" it. Or use it as an excuse to abuse children, mistreat women.

    Happy Holidays!

  70. Re: The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by RoccamOccam · · Score: 2

    Debbie Reynolds iconic? Without question.

  71. Re:The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

    what does a game tester do that my nephew doesn't? He's playing the games hours at a time too.

    Write bug reports to convince the development team that the problem is in the code and not with the tester. For example, in an racing game that's under development, the quickest way to flag a crash bug is to drive the car in reverse from starting line. A counter in the code becomes negative and causes the console to crash. The programmer always whine that's not how players play the game. But tricks like that is how the testers test — not play — the game.

  72. Re:Thanks Trump by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    this has been a trump of a year

    If only Hillary would have won the election (YES I KNOW SHE WON THE POPULAR VOTE, BUT THAT'S NOT THE VOTE THAT REALLY COUNTS, IS IT?) none of these celebrities would have died. Shame.

  73. Re: The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Her tits are (or were), at least.

  74. No, you don't get it by DanDD · · Score: 1

    Fiction, especially science fiction, is a form of literature. Literature explores and expands the human condition. Carrie Fisher's acting & the science fiction she helped bring to life inspired the dreams of millions, maybe billions. She embraced that role her entire life.

    Some of those dreams translated to a reusable rocket actually landing on a floating barge at sea. Maybe someday even your myopic ass will have a chance to holiday in orbit, the moon, or on Mars. But you'll probably just bitch about the toilette and packaged food.

    Science without dreams is pretty damn boring. Carrie Fisher may have done more for the dreams that fuel science than you, Mr. Anonymous Coward, could ever hope for.

    --
    "Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race." - H. G. Wells
    1. Re:No, you don't get it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So you are claiming it was a space movie from the 70s that inspired these events and not the ACTUAL space missions in the 70s that inspired today's space missions...

  75. Re:The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I think he's getting her mixed up with Alanis Morissette.

    No, no, she's ironic. I think you're getting Alanis mixed up with Lindsay Wagner.

  76. Darth Donald killed Princess Leia? by shanen · · Score: 1

    Seriously, I was expecting to find that sort of comment in the discussion, though I wouldn't know how to mod it (if'n I ever got a mod point to bestow). The stress of Trump is certainly making me feel bad these days, and stress can elevate blood pressure and even cause heart attacks...

    Seems like a number of prominent people have had unexpected and fatal heart attacks recently, but I think the sample size is still too small. The BIG stress should be on people in OTHER countries. "The big monster is loose, and it's ANGRY and ORANGE." Of course the punchline is that even if the death rate does increase, Trump will just blame it on the repeal of ObamaCare and the Democratic Party interference that is preventing "something terrific" from replacing it.

    Lemonade time? There's a great business opportunity for a new news network featuring less Trump. Light Trump News (LTN) will promise the absolute minimum of Trump-related stories. Lots of stories about cats doing interesting things.

    Still sorry to hear about her death, even though I was more of a Trekkie.

    --
    Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
    1. Re:Darth Donald killed Princess Leia? by Gr8Apes · · Score: 1

      Seriously, I was expecting to find that sort of comment in the discussion, though I wouldn't know how to mod it (if'n I ever got a mod point to bestow).

      Well, hopefully "informative" or "insightful" ;) But seriously, the older white population voted in large numbers for Trump, and it's a fact that older people are the most likely to have those conditions. So I'm not sure stating a fact is anything more than... stating a fact. It's also a fact that both candidates were largely disliked by the voters, so the rest of the statement is only taking slight poetic license with how many must have felt casting their vote. Maybe a "creative interpretation" mod would be appropriate? (I obviously need more coffee)

      There's a great business opportunity for a new news network featuring less Trump. Light Trump News (LTN) will promise the absolute minimum of Trump-related stories. Lots of stories about cats doing interesting things.

      I personally would like a source that just reported the news. No opinions, no editorials, no politicalization. Just the facts.

      Still sorry to hear about her death, even though I was more of a Trekkie.

      ST is a great concept in a relatively solid universe driven by realistic characters with flaws. Obviously some license taken to help the story lines along regarding aliens. SW is a romantic fantasy adventure set in space, which is where Episodes 1-3 completely and totally failed.

      --
      The cesspool just got a check and balance.
    2. Re:Darth Donald killed Princess Leia? by shanen · · Score: 1

      ACK but no extension.

      --
      Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
  77. Re:The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I think he's getting her mixed up with Alanis Morissette.

    No, no, she's ironic. I think you're getting Alanis mixed up with Lindsay Wagner.

    No, no, she's Bionic. I think you're getting Lindsay mixed up with Lynda Carter.

  78. Re:I don't care by Rakarra · · Score: 1

    It's nerd culture. It's more relevant to Slashdot than many things posted here.

  79. Direction of causality? by shanen · · Score: 1

    Perhaps the most insightful of the posts (currently) moderated insightful, and I actually count it in Slashdot's favor that there weren't any (visible) funny mods.

    Or maybe seeing a humorous aspect somewhere in this story would have been a good thing? Creativity is a good thing and linked to humor, and I even had the impression that she played her iconic role with an edge of humor and wit. Maybe it was just in the script?

    What bothers me is the edge of criticism of her lifestyle almost to the point of blaming her for her own death. Angry moralizing, but the offensive part is that I bet the critics would have done the same things or worse if they had the opportunities. It was her great success in the role of Princess Leia that created the temptations she faced and struggled with for the rest of her life.

    If she had bungled the role and the movie had flopped, maybe she'd still be alive? Is that the conclusion we should reach? I hope her life had more meaning than that, and if so, much of it was related to the ideals of the character she brought to life so many years ago.

    --
    Freedom = (Meaningful - Coerced) Choice != (Speech | Beer^2), and sad sock puppets' bad mods avail them naught.
  80. Putting down the dead by Deadstick · · Score: 1

    ...is for people who know nobody will give a shit when they go.

  81. Re:The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by tsa · · Score: 1

    Ha, we always did that on the Commodore 64. Turn the car around immediately after the start and drive in the wrong direction. You couldn't do that in all games but the computer never crashed because of it.

    --

    -- Cheers!

  82. She died days ago by p51d007 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    My guess, since she was "flat line" for 10-15 minutes at least, is she was pretty much gone before arriving to the hospital. Keeping her on a ventilator, "technically" kept her alive until she could make it past Christmas. Who the hell would want to remember your wife, daughter, mother "dying" on Christmas. Another thing that may or may not show up if there is an autopsy, made public, is considering her youthful lifestyle, "sex, drugs and rock & roll", her system was probably weakened. Then on top of that, she was told to lose a bunch of weight for the star wars movie, which she did. Who knows how she lost it. Training or drugs? Couple that, with the extended book tour she's been on, requiring a lot of traveling inside a pressurized aluminum tube (airplane), can cause a weakened heart to go out, not to mention any DVT clots that may have broken loose. Just a little warning for the youth, from someone who is close to her age, TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF in your youth...you can't wreck your body that much in your 20's and 30's and expect it to behave in your late 50's and higher.

  83. Re:The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Being a star in the biggest movie franchise of the 20th century doesnt make you iconic?

    I wasn't aware that Ms. Fisher ever appeared in a Bond film.

  84. Rest In Peace.. by Jagoantogel · · Score: 1

    We Lost somene that really care about the humanity... TOGEL SGP

  85. correction by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I felt a great disturbance in the force, as if millions of [male teenage fantasies] suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.

    She played an iconic new kind of fantasy princess that boys and girls alike could love - beautiful yet heroic, vulnerable yet brave, etc. a great CHARACTER played by a good ACTRESS.

    Lots of people die all over the world every day. Every single one of us will die. Most humans die having lived lives of poverty and varying levels of misery. Carrie Fisher died having lived a life of fame and fortune, and it's quite likely that her own lifestyle (heavy drug use) contributed to her sadly premature demise. She's not unique in that, plenty of people in all walks of life have self-destructive tendencies and habits.

    It's very sad for her friends and family to lose her, but her fans need to keep some perspective: you did not really KNOW her, you mostly just liked the characters she played. You did not have her, the actual person, in your home as a guest; you had a DVD of her performances on a screen in your home. You are not personally mourning her actual loss, you are just sensing the loss of an icon of your youth, the loss of the opportunity to see any future performances, the reduction in possible future plot lines in a film series you like, etc. The Force does not exist, and Carrie did not become "one with it". To her REAL friends and family (rather than people followed her on Twitter, "friended" her on Facebook, or otherwise used social media to convince themselves she was their friend) this is a very real loss, and they certainly need support and sympathy as ALL loved ones of ALL who die need. Being a wold-famous entertainer, however, does not make her death more important than the death of another person to those outside her personal circle. Mass media really warps the perspectives of large parts of the population. The funny part is that she seemed to have a better perspective on this sort of thing than many of those who never met her and did not know her (the real person) yet who now think they are mourning her loss.

    RIP Carrie Fisher.

  86. Re: The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    like 1970's style

  87. Re:The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by Aighearach · · Score: 1

    My advice, look up "iconic" in a dictionary. It might not actually have a restriction on output quantity at all.

    You might actually find that a famous actor who is only known for one thing is often more iconic than another actor who is known for many things.

  88. Re:The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    She looks a lot like Stevie Nicks in that second photo.

  89. Pretty sure the people saying that... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Are being ironic or satirizing Hollywood's 'Nothing is sacred in the pursuit of moar moniez!'

    Honestly they should have left them immortalized as their 70s era selves, made the sequels not involve a handing over (if they had to make the sequels at all.) and been happy with the generations they inspired and the fictional universe they helped breath life into through their onscreen depictions.

    Having said that, how soon isn't too soon to call filming more Star Wars movies 'beating a dead actress'?

    And to Fisher's offspring: My condolences on your loss, I hope your time together was memorable and that she helped sow the seeds for you to grow into the kind of person she will be proud of in the future.

  90. Share the story! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It sounds quite interesting!

    I assume you can do so without personally identifying yourself.

  91. Re:The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

    You couldn't do that in all games but the computer never crashed because of it.

    That's because you were playing a finished game. If the programmers did their job, the game shouldn't crash at all. Some developers find it easy to ship a buggy game and work on a patch in the meantime.

  92. Rereleases by hackwrench · · Score: 1

    Blame rereleases. In the original cut, Han dies first.

  93. Doing anything risks damaging... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    your heart, lungs, dna, or pretty much every other part of your body.

    As a counterexample to Fisher: Ozzie Osbourn and plenty of other 'rockstars' are still alive, despite abusing as many if not more drugs than Fisher did.

    The key thing in life is not to take ANYTHING in quantities sufficient to damage you. We don't know what those quantities are for all substances, but over time we're getting there. It would be a lot better for humanity if we invested heavily in health care for a generation or two and following both regular people and substance abusers on a weekly basis. The correlation between particular substance abuse and certain health conditions might be more readily exposed, as opposed to relying on chronic substance abuses who may or may not have had predispositions that lead them there and actually caused the conditions.

  94. Iconic by hackwrench · · Score: 1

    Alright, you're using that word too much. Afraid it will fall back out of style. Most of my life, icon referred to people certain churches revered, and then computer images and just this decade, to people and characters in media.

    1. Re:Iconic by MrKaos · · Score: 1

      I think you're spot on. Anyone who is able to retire from just one role when they are in their early 20's has earned the title 'Iconic', everyone else is jealous. So let us revisit the meaning of the word.

      Iconic:of, relating to, or characteristic of an icon.

      We are all looking at her career from the end, looking back, however no one knows where their life will lead. People recognized her for her work, I don't give a shit about her coke habit or the rest of whatever, she made a movie, bought aspects of her personality to the role and everyone liked it. So what if she was a shit actor or couldn't get another role because that one was so huge. I don't understand why people are begrudging her what she earned.

      Nichelle Nicols is an icon, for one role, so is William Shatner, so is Mark Hamil. Some people only do one thing in their life that becomes their life. I wonder how many times she sat in a restaurant and head someone say 'Look, there's Princess Leia!' - That's what it means to be an icon.

      Personally, I think it would kind of suck.

      --
      My ism, it's full of beliefs.
  95. Re:Iconic 2 by hackwrench · · Score: 1

    Until sometime in this decade, I never heard "iconic" refer to media/media personalities at all

  96. Re:The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by jeaton · · Score: 1

    James Bond franchise total gross: $7,077,929,291
    http://www.the-numbers.com/mov...

    Star Wars franchise total gross: $7,127,290,925
    http://www.the-numbers.com/mov...

    This despite the Bond franchise putting out 25 films to the 9 accounted for Star Wars, not to mention the SW merchandising rights, which are work far far more than Bond.

  97. Re:The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by blindseer · · Score: 1

    Most people can instantly recognize a picture of Princess Leia. Far fewer could recognize a photo of Lara Croft, and even fewer would recognize Mrs Smith.

    Is that because of the popularity of the films or because of the unusual costume? A bit of both I suspect.

    --
    I am armed because I am free. I am free because I am armed.
  98. Those names are ridiculous by SuperKendall · · Score: 2

    Sissy Spacek, Cindy Williams, Glenn Close, Jessica Lange, Meryl Streep, Sigourney Weaver, Cybill Shepherd, Anjelica Huston, Kim Basinger, Kathleen Turner.

    BWA HA HA HAH AHAHAH!

    Most of them are 7-10 years older for one thing. Of the ones that aren't, they are totally different types and simply were nowhere near as fiery as Carrie was.

    Everyone of these names are better actresses

    I don't think you quite understand. Carrie Fisher was not really a great actress. She was a perfect Princess Leia.

    All of those names listed COULD have done the role, but the movie would have been worse for it, in many cases disastrously so.

    Maybe that counterexample from the original response to my post was Natalie Portman, a great actress also but nearly unwatchable in the Star Wars prequels... though like I said that's a pretty different situation and not really compatible. Star Wars was good source material, the prequel scripts unsalvageable by any actor.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re:Those names are ridiculous by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nostalgia is a hell of drug. Get to rehab.

      Of the ones that aren't, they are totally different types and simply were nowhere near as fiery as Carrie was.

      Young Kathleen Turner not as fiery as Fisher? You are on drugs.

      Supposedly Fisher doesn't feel she did a good job portraying Leia. At 19, she didn't even really want to be an actress, but just did it because it seemed fun. During TESB, she was already addicted to cocaine and had overdosed once. She was so short that she had to stand on a box for most scene with Ford. Her stature and lack of screen presence, her lack of experience as an actor are all on display during the movie if you just stop mainlining nostalgia.

      Star Wars was good source material, the prequel scripts unsalvageable by any actor.

      Fisher once said to Lucas, "You can type this stuff, but you can’t say it”. The movie dialogue of Star Wars was only slightly better than the wooden and awkward prose of the prequels.

    2. Re: Those names are ridiculous by cyber-vandal · · Score: 1

      Wasn't it Harrison Ford that said that?

  99. 2016 == end of time by Thud457 · · Score: 1

    The rapture's happening right in front of your eyes yet you don't see it.

    --

    the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

  100. Re:The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And your point is???

    The Jabba/Leia sex scene still hasn't been officially released.

  101. Re:The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by Tough+Love · · Score: 1

    Angelina Jolie is iconic? What movie has she even been in that was iconic?

    Mr and Mrs Smith was an absolute blast.

    --
    When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
  102. Re:The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by Tough+Love · · Score: 1

    Is that because of the popularity of the films or because of the unusual costume? A bit of both I suspect.

    Now when I look at those films again they look like absolute crap. Wooden acting, cheesy costumes, lame story, rotten screenwriting, stupid physics, cheap effects, and to be frank, Leia isn't that hot. Seemed fine at the time. I'm kind of embarrassed about that.

    --
    When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
  103. Re:The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why would anyone who cannot immediately identify a host of differences between USING software and TESTING software be on Slashdot at all?

    I sense an angry little man who wants to lash out because he needs a hug.

  104. Re:The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by kuzb · · Score: 1

    She's been in more hit movies than most actresses, is talented, and instantly recognizable. Carrie Fisher is usually only recognizable when she's rattling off Star Wars quotes in parodies.

    --
    BeauHD. Worst editor since kdawson.
  105. Re:The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by voxelman · · Score: 1

    Exactly, it has always amazed me that programmer education has included so little content about why programs fail. Weak management of boundary conditions is a testers gold mine in my experience.

  106. Re: The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The thumb blasting was intense. She was hospitalized. Harrison ford dumped after that saying she was ruined and ducking a coffeee can was better.

  107. Re: The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Who the heck is Debbie Reynolds???

  108. Re:The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by tsa · · Score: 1

    Actually it was because the programmers very cleverly made it so that the biggest deviation the car could make from straight on was about 45 degrees, and you couldn't get far off the road because there were either trees and fences in the way or the program just wouldn't let you.

    --

    -- Cheers!

  109. In 1977, at age 7, a movie changed my mind forever by TigerPlish · · Score: 1

    As it happens, I arrived to Star Wars a bit late, about half a reel late. As I walked up the ramp in Plaza 1 theater in Plaza Las Americas, PR, the screen came into view, just as R2 and 3P0 were climbing up a dune in Tatooine. Now that I think on it, it was curious timing.

    Having missed half the first reel, I stayed for the next show, and saw the whole thing. The movie changed something in me. Changed my mind. I won't say it saved or changed my life, but it awoke something in me, something that I guess eventually led to my attraction to technology of all sorts.

    I didn't know shit from shinola back then, and I still don't now, but the character of Leia stuck with me to this day. The Plaza twins 1 & 2 are gone, Leia is gone, but the sweet memories of that moviehouse and that film, I'll take to the grave. "Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope" -- that phrase, that voice, that hologram still resound in my mind, in a place close to my heart.

    How odd, since I unplugged from pop culture sometime like 25 years ago, I didn't know of her struggle with bipolar disorder. I must read her books on this... because it is a cross I bear, and have bore, since before I saw the film. Yes, I found treatment, no, i'm not "cured," yes, it's a cast-iron bitch to live with. So maybe her passing will introduce yet more people to how she dealt with it, and that is a good thing.

    When I heard the news, my mind immediately played that bit of the soundtrack, her leitmotif, with that reedy little oboe. Yes, it struck tears.

    RIP Carrie Fisher, long live Princess Leia Organa Solo.

    --
    The "Civilized World" jumped the shark ca. 1973.
  110. Re: The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    She can't act. This is the truth. She simply can not act. We seen it again in the recent Star Wars trek.

  111. Re: The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Right. I couldn't even fit my dick in the octopussy doll. And my dick is small. Like all slashdotters.

  112. Re:The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by advocate_one · · Score: 1

    so nothing about her other career as a script doctor... one of the best in the business... http://www.independent.co.uk/a...

    --
    Donald 'Duck' Dunn: We had a band powerful enough to turn goat piss into gasoline.
  113. Re:The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by TheRaven64 · · Score: 1

    Note that he said 20th century and you've included figures from the 20th and 21st. It looks as if, if you just include the films from the 20th century, Bond comes in at around $4bn, Star Wars at about $3bn. That said, none of the numbers are inflation-adjusted, so simply counting the total number of dollars favours the later films: I very much doubt that Tomorrow Never Dies actually made anywhere near as much as Goldfinger, if you adjust for inflation.

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    I am TheRaven on Soylent News
  114. Re:The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm kind of embarrassed about that.

    Why?

    Things evolve over time. People, in general, evolve as well. There is nothing wrong about having liked something in the past and discovering that you no longer like it quite as much in present day. That is completely natural and nothing to be embarrassed about.

  115. True story by pigsycyberbully · · Score: 0

    I spent the day talking to a man who kept on falling over. The reason he kept on falling over is he was too fat and was not taking a big enough step because he could not support his weight so he would take little steps which meant he was not supporting his stomach, and thus he was falling over.

    His speaking voice was like somebody who had his own fist in his mouth. He said he used to be a well-known East End Jewish, gangster. When sitting down he would lean to the side so he could squeeze out a fart that sounded like a drowning trumpet player.

    He had stretchmarks on his triple chins, he had a gruesome looking stomach scar that sunk into the cavity of the fat. The scar was from two previous gastric band surgery operations that he had managed to break by forcing the food that come up back down. Not suitable for band surgery.

    He kept on telling us = us pronoun (group) not the country U.S. ) how he enjoyed running over a bunch of Palestinian children at full speed in a jeep. His wife said he had never been there because he is too fat to fit in the seat of a aircraft.

    His wife was saying he is looking to purchase a new motor vehicle but the "car dealers" would not allow him to sit in the seat of the car or to test drive it because he would damage their vehicles suspension.

    He was covered in gangster jewellery Bling Bling and he is 64 years old and has never worked ever and had been claiming disability allowance because he was so fat from the year dot.

    He was a repulsive sarcastic pathetic evil bastard with a spiteful tongue. A senior citizen suggested that he was a "typical Jewish man" and we should get the Irishman, to deal with him because Irishman are good at dealing with "Jewish people". ??? ( is that anti-Semitism? ).

    The Irishman examined him and said "the reason you are falling over is because you are too fat and if you do not want to fall over go on a diet or else do not walk".
    The Jewish man said he had been to Ireland and they were all retarded terrorists and then giggled meaning he was joking?
    The Irishman asked him whether he travelled by cargo ship and did they use a crane.

    The Jewish man become very friendly and polite. What is it with Jewish people and Irish people?

    Anyway to cut a long story short those who do die should not. Those who do not die should.

  116. Re:The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    An iconic person is anyone who is highly clickable. Really.

  117. Re:The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by MrKaos · · Score: 1

    I think he's getting her mixed up with Alanis Morissette.

    No, no, she's ironic. I think you're getting Alanis mixed up with Lindsay Wagner.

    No, no, she's Bionic. I think you're getting Lindsay mixed up with Lynda Carter.

    No, no, she's Psionic. I think you're getting Lynda Carter mixed up with Sissy Spacek, in "Carrie".

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    My ism, it's full of beliefs.
  118. Re: The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hardly, and learn to spell.

    Don't get me wrong, I loved the metal bikini and wish the critics of that would just shut up. But Carrie was a legend for playing a character that people liked. She was a female badass without that being forced on us by sjw types like with the newer movies. Her character killed the being who had her put in that metal bikini after all, not for that reason, but because it needed doing. That's just how Leia was and Carrie brought that out with enormous presence, confidence, and of course beauty and grace that will be missed.

  119. A little joke that's understood by MrKaos · · Score: 1

    It's all over the world, a fact of history. That when you die, you'll become something worse than dead, you'll become, a legend.

    I bet no one looked at Neil Armstrong and said Hey pal, you only landed on the moon once, you're a one hit wonder. I'm fairly certain that many of them regret being so famous, perhaps a little unexpectedly, and that living a legend is a curse that costs them their freedom. I don't think you would be able to handle the pressure of being so recognizable out of one role.

    Then again, perhaps you are jealous you aren't a space princess, I will never know.

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    My ism, it's full of beliefs.
  120. Thank you by SphericalCrusher · · Score: 1

    RIP Carrie Fisher aka Princess and General Leia. You will be remembered. Thank you for everything.

    --
    "Instant gratification takes too long." - Carrie Fisher
  121. Re: The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The problem with the recent Star Wars movie was that JJ Abrams can't direct, and Disney put a SJW in charge of the overall project. Both of those things resulted in a bland, boring and yet confusing script full of politically acceptable messages from a carefully measured diverse cast, and of course the characters from the old movies, not having been subjected to that during their spectacular successes were minimized and made into two dimensional objects. Princess Leia of the original trilogy would never have behaved like she did in that sorry excuse for a movie, neither would Han with his smuggler turned rebel turned general turned....oh forget about that, he's a smuggler again for no apparent reason. Just like Leia is a leader but with no support from anywhere and no resources either. Leia would get those things first because she'd know she needs them. She grew up with that, she was a natural leader and a skilled politician. What they had Carrie do in this last sorry excuse for a film was just awful, but it wasn't her.

  122. Re:The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Who?

  123. Re:The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

    Actually it was because the programmers very cleverly made it so that the biggest deviation the car could make from straight on was about 45 degrees, and you couldn't get far off the road because there were either trees and fences in the way or the program just wouldn't let you.

    That's very old school. I worked on a racing game that supported 32 players doing four-way split screen mode on eight Xboxes networked together. One-third drove straight, one-third drove in reverse, and one-third did doughnuts at the starting line. It was crazy. But the game didn't crash and network play worked.

  124. Re:The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

    Exactly, it has always amazed me that programmer education has included so little content about why programs fail. Weak management of boundary conditions is a testers gold mine in my experience.

    That may be true for Computer Science programs. When I went back to community college to learn computer programming, we were taught to look at the edge cases that might cause a program to fail. Being a software tester made it easier for me to bulletproof my own programs.

  125. Re:The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

    Why would anyone who cannot immediately identify a host of differences between USING software and TESTING software be on Slashdot at all?

    I've found when it comes to video games that most people can't distinguish between PLAYING and TESTING. They think it's all fun and games. I had that problem with new hires fresh out of high school. First, I informed them that I played the Atari 2600 console in the 1980's (most youngsters don't think video games existed before the 1990's). Second, I introduced them to another tester who assembled arcade machines in the 1970's and 1980's. Third, I introduced them to another tester who tested pen and paper games in the 1970's. After their heads explode, they are ready to learn that testing video games is not the same as playing video games.

  126. Re:The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by tsa · · Score: 1

    And I was talking about games on the Commodore 64 :).

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    -- Cheers!

  127. I find your lack of etiquette disturbing by AttillaTheNun · · Score: 1

    Seriously, the number of inappropriate posts on here is shameful.

    "It's not the band I hate, it's the fans"

  128. Re: The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Don't worry, you'll be gone soon along with the rest of these "icons" that nobody even recognizes anymore.

  129. Re:The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by skam240 · · Score: 1

    Of course the dollar amounts are pointless as I feel it should have been pretty clear I was speaking in the context of cultural impact.

    "A generation or two worth of children grew up..."
    "Shoot, the combined cultural impact of..."

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  130. Re:The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    fuck off. I am 57 and do not intend to die until my 90's (as most of my relatives have) so I can fuck with your generation for a few more decades!

  131. Dick by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Was this over a psychic dick

  132. Re:The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    > I think he's getting her mixed up with Alanis Morissette.

    No, no, she's ironic. I think you're getting Alanis mixed up with Lindsay Wagner.

    No, no, she's Bionic. I think you're getting Lindsay mixed up with Lynda Carter.

    No, no, she's Psionic. I think you're getting Lynda Carter mixed up with Sissy Spacek, in "Carrie".

    No, no, she's Teutonic. I think you're getting Sissy Spacek mixed up with Madeline Kahn, in "Blazing Saddles."

  133. Re: The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by Plumpaquatsch · · Score: 1

    Debbie Reynolds iconic? Without question.

    And now she's dead too. Broken Heart Syndrome?

    --
    Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
  134. Re: The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by iamhassi · · Score: 1

    The jury has deliberated and we have decided that on balance of the evidence and the stipulations made here on slashdot, that Tomb Raider was indeed iconic.

    Have to disagree, at least not in the context of Star Wars in which we're speaking about. Perhaps people don't know her name as much as Angelina but I guarantee they know her character better. If you asked 100 random people "What movie has the character Princess Leia?" and "What movie has the character Lara Croft?" more will remember Star Wars than Tomb Raider. And isn't that what "iconic" means, being widely recognized and well-established?

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    my karma will be here long after I'm gone
  135. Re:The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by iamhassi · · Score: 1

    what does a game tester do that my nephew doesn't? He's playing the games hours at a time too.

    Game testers try to break the games by not playing them properly. If the game say "turn left" a game tester would turn every direction but left.

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    my karma will be here long after I'm gone
  136. OMG you fucking faggot!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I felt a great disturbance in the force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happned

    That is, by far, the queerest thing I have ever heard.

    Fucking grow a pair, will ya??

  137. Re:The Character, Princess Leia, Is Iconic by kuzb · · Score: 1

    Yeah, but that had more to do with the milking to death of the franchise and re-releasing the same shit every few years with slightly different scenes. If Bond movies came out remastered every 3 years you can bet they would have destroyed star wars in terms of profit.

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