OUR BLESSED REBEL QUEEN

Essays on Carrie Fisher and Princess Leia Linda Mizejewski, Tanya D. Zuk (Editors), Wayne State University Press (OCT 5) Softcover $34.99 (320pp), 978-0-8143-4685-3, CULTURE

Our Blessed Rebel Queen is a collection of academic essays on both Carrie Fisher and Leia Organa, the intersections and impact of the two women, and Fisher’s enmeshed, often fraught relationship with the character of Leia.

In two sections, the book addresses Leia/ Carrie and Carrie/leia, with the first focusing on the character Leia Organa and her role in fandom, politics, and commercialism, as well as how she overlaps with Fisher. The second portion focuses more on Fisher and her work and family, although it includes examinations of Leia, too.

Individual essays center on topics like the role of Leia’s image in the resistance and political protest; the commodification of Fisher’s image and what that meant for her professionally, commercially, and personally; Leia’s role in Star Wars fandom, and what it meant for girl and women fans; and Fisher’s honesty about aging, addiction, and mental health. And because Fisher was an outspoken advocate, the essays discuss celebrity activism, speaking truth to power, and challenging the status quo.

Research-based and comprehensive, some essays lose themselves in the details, veering into too academic territory. The essays that are the most engrossing cover the relationship between Leia and pop culture, or are more personalized, as with cover artist Lindsay van Ekelenburg’s appendix, which details her personal struggles and what Carrie Fisher/princess Leia meant to her, as well as her surprise success with the painting; it discusses connecting with fellow Star Wars and Leia fans, and how those human connections make the Star Wars fandom what it is.

Our Blessed Rebel Queen is a smart sociological take on Carrie Fisher and her alter ego Leia Organa; its essays examine the relationships between fans and the two women. JAIME HERNDON