Mark Hamill’s Carrie Fisher Tribute: “Making Her Laugh Was a Badge of Honor” (Guest Column)

JANUARY 02, 2017
6:25am PT by Mark Hamill

"She was a handful, but my life would have been so much drabber if she hadn't been my friend," Hamill writes in a remembrance of his late 'Star Wars' co-star.

“She was a handful, but my life would have been so much drabber if she hadn’t been my friend,” Hamill writes in a remembrance of his late ‘Star Wars’ co-star. Albert L. Ortega/Gettyimages Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill

Carrie and I occupied a unique area in each other’s lives. It was like we were in a garage band together that somehow hit it huge. We had no idea the impact Star Wars would have on the world. I remember we were out on tour right before the movie opened. By the time we got to Chicago, there was a crowd at the airport. I said, ‘Hey look, you guys, there must be somebody famous on the plane.” I was looking around to see who it might be. And then in the crowd I saw a kid dressed in a Han Solo vest. Then I saw girl dressed like Princess Leia. I said, “Oh my God, look, Carrie, there’s somebody dressed just like you. She’s got the buns on her head!”

The first time I met Carrie was at dinner in London before we started filming together. I had been the first one to go over to Africa with Sir Alec Guinness and the robots, to do all the desert planet stuff, then I came back to London and then Harrison Ford came over. Carrie was the last piece in the puzzle to come to London. So I said to the production office, “I’d like to meet her before we work together.” They worked out that we’d meet for dinner. You know, she was 19 years old at the time. I was a worldly 24. So I was thinking, “Oh my God, it’ll be like working with a high school kid.” But I was just bowled over. I mean she was just so instantly ingratiating and funny and outspoken. She had a way of just being so brutally candid. I’d just met her but it was like talking to a person you’d known for ten years. She was telling me stuff about her stepfather, about her mom, about Eddie Fisher — it was just harrowing in its detail. I kept thinking, “Should I know this?” I mean, I wouldn’t have shared that with somebody that I had trusted for years and years and years. But she was the opposite. She just sucked you into her world.

I was so middle class. Growing up, the closest thing to a celebrity we had was our next door neighbor, who was a baggage handler who returned Jerry Lewis’ wallet that fell on the tarmac in San Diego. But Carrie was something completely different. She dropped out of high school to be in the chorus of “Irene” on Broadway. I was just in awe of her.

She was so committed to joy and fun and embracing life. She had an Auntie Mame quality to her. I would do crazy things to amuse her on the set. Making her laugh was always a badge of honor. I remember during Empire we were split up storywise; it was a difficult film to shot and there was a lot of tension on the set. I was off in the swampland with the puppets and robots, but at least Carrie and Harrison got to work with human beings. Once at lunchtime she said, “You should try on my jumpsuit.” I said, “The one-piece white jumpsuit? You’re what, 5’2”? I’ll never get in!” She said, “Just try.” I put on that Princess Leia zipper jump suit and it was so tight I looked like a Vegas lounge singer. If that wasn’t ridiculous enough, she had me put on one of those bald cap masks with the Bozo hair and glasses and nose and then she walked me around the back lot.

The lengths I would go to hear her laugh — there were no limits. I loved her and loved making her laugh. She would do these crazy things and make me do these crazy things, but I really don’t think they were crazy after all. In a way, it was a defense mechanism for her. She was so off the wall, she could use it as protection. Part of what was so poignant about her was that she was vulnerable, that there was this glimmer of a little girl that was so appealing and it roused the protective nature in my personality.

I’m grateful that we stayed friends and got to have this second act with the new movies. I think it was reassuring to her that I was there, the same person, that she could trust me, as critical as we could sometimes be with each other. We ran the gamut over the years, where we were in love with each other, where we hated each other’s guts. “I’m not speaking to you, you’re such a judgmental, royal brat!” We went through it all. It’s like we were a family.

When you were in her good graces, you couldn’t have more fun with any person on the planet. She was able to make you feel like you were the most important thing in her life. I think that’s a really rare quality. And then you could go 180 degrees opposite, where you were furious with one another and wouldn’t speak for weeks and weeks. But that’s all part of what makes a relationship complete. It’s not all one sided. Like I say, she was a handful. She was high maintenance. But my life would have been so much drabber and less interesting if she hadn’t been the friend that she was.

In: hollywoodreporter.com

Lescano: “Una generación sin porno se va a dedicar más al deporte y al estudio”

El congresista de Acción Popular explicó a RPP Web todo sobre el proyecto de Ley para suspender el contenido pornográfico en internet.

De aprobarse este Proyecto de Ley solo forjará futuros expertos en ingeniería de sistemas, hackers y crackers improvisados en el Perú.

De aprobarse este Proyecto de Ley solo forjará futuros expertos en ingeniería de sistemas, hackers y crackers improvisados en el Perú.

Del Congreso de la República depende el destino de las páginas pornográficas en el Perú. El proyecto de Ley que presentó el legislador Yonhy Lescano (Acción Popular) busca limitar el contenido para adultos en las páginas para que ni chicos ni adultos puedan tener acceso a él

Aunque todavía no ha pasado a las comisiones congresales para que sea evaluado y votado, la iniciativa ya ha generado reacciones diversas en Facebook y Twitter. Que es decisión de cada uno, que corta las libertades. Los argumentos en contra son diversos. Lescano conversó con RPP Web sobre su proyecto y explicó el motivo que lo llevó a presentarlo.

“Una generación sin pornografía se va a dedicar más al deporte y al estudio. La pornografía produce adicción y distorsiona la conducta sexual de las personas, están estimulados (por lo que ven) y así van a violar a niños o mujeres”, dijo el legislador.

Los antecedentes. Tomó como ejemplo los casos de Corea del Sur y el Reino Unido. En el primer país, la restricción a este tipo de páginas es total, incluso Lescano comentó que en una visita pudo comprobar que esto se cumple estrictamente. Intentó ingresar a una de estas páginas y no tuvo éxito. “El sistema funciona muy bien allá”, dice.

En el segundo país las restricciones son parciales. Sin embargo el Congreso ha cerrado cada vez más el cerco a la industria en tema de contenidos y de inscripciones. Estos son los principales ejemplos del acciopopulista para crear el proyecto en el Perú.

“En otros países pasa, donde se ha impulsado la educación hay un mejor nivel educativo. Se ha prohibído estas páginas para evitar delitos sexuales y se ha conseguido, en Corea del Sur por ejemplo. Pensamos que esto es importante para evitar delitos sexuales”, dice.

Presentó el proyecto que creó con el apoyo de sus colegas de bancada que están de acuerdo con la medida. Sobre las voces críticas que aluden a una distorsión en las libertades, el legislador responde tajantemente: “La libertad debemos canalizarla adecuadamente. (El porno) La distorsiona, tiene más efectos negativos. ¿Qué cosa que tenga que ver con el interés público tiene la pornografía?, ¿Qué libertad se corta?, absolutamente nada”, comenta con voz enérgica.

¿Recorte de libertades?

No hay comparación entre la internet y el contenido televisivo, al menos en este caso para Lescano. “La pornografía es pornografía, no se puede comparar con los contenidos televisivos. En otros países los chicos tienen primer nivel porque no los envenenan con estos contenidos. Somos muy permisivos en aras de la llamada libertad, yo creo que es una distorsión de la libertad”.

Ahora la pelota rodará en el campo de las comisiones de Educación y Transporte, donde será probablemente discutido este proyecto, informó a RPP Web el congresista. Si es aprobado, irá al Pleno donde deberá ser refrendado por la mayoría. Entonces la realidad de un país sin pornografía sería realidad.

El siguiente paso sería ordenar a las empresas de comunicaciones a que bloqueen los contenidos. Y luego, la reglamentación para que los infractores cumplan una pena y para que no se le saque la vuelta a la ley. “Las empresas tienen que cumplir las medidas. Veo como padre y político que esto (el contenido porno) no nos trae nada bueno, hay que preguntarle a los papás y las mamás si están de acuerdo”, aseguró.

El congresista sabe que se acercan días de intenso debate, el mismo que ya empezó en las redes y que continuará por varios días más.

En: rpp

Proyecto de Ley aquí: PL-00825-2016-1221

Proyecto de Ley en página del Congreso de la República del Perú

South Carolina lawmakers propose pornography block on new computers

State Rep. Bill Chumley, R-Spartanburg, said the Human Trafficking Prevention Act would require manufacturers or sellers to install digital blocking capabilities on computers and other devices that access the internet to prevent the viewing of obscene content.

Representative William M. "Bill" Chumley. In: www.scstatehouse.gov

Bill sponsor: Representative William M. “Bill” Chumley. In: www.scstatehouse.gov

By Brendan O’Brien

Computers and devices sold in South Carolina that can access the internet would be required to have filters installed to prevent people from viewing pornography, although buyers could pay a $20 fee to remove the blocking software under a proposal before the legislature.

The amendment would require manufacturers or sellers of computers and internet-accessible devices to install software that blocks pornography, according to a draft of the amendment filed with the South Carolina General Assembly on Dec. 15.

One of its sponsors said on Tuesday the amendment would help raise money for the state’s task force to combat human trafficking, adding that the measure would not restrict their legal liberties, indicating it would allow for viewing adult pornography.

“This is a way to preserve freedom, not raise taxes and combat a serious problem all in one,” State Representative William “Bill” Chumley, a Republican, said in an interview.

Buyers over 18 in South Carolina would have to pay a $20 fee to have the block removed. Manufacturers or sellers would pay a $20 opt-out fee for each computer or device sold so they didn’t have to install the blocking software, according to the proposed measure.

The amendment did not address any technology challenges or whether the filter would be a barrier to interstate commerce for technology firms that sell their devices nationwide.

There was no timetable for debate and a possible vote. Chumley has told local media that he sees the amendment as a starting point for debate and that the proposal he co-sponsored may be adjusted.

The amendment corresponds with the Republican Party’s national platform that calls for states to get tough on pornography, adding that the internet has become a safe haven for predators.

“Pornography, with its harmful effects, especially on children, has become a public health crisis that is destroying the lives of millions,” the GOP said in its platform. “We urge energetic prosecution of child pornography, which is closely linked to human trafficking.”

In April, a Republican-backed resolution in Utah declared pornography a public health hazard and an epidemic that normalizes violence against women and children and makes men less likely to want to get married.

(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Milwaukee; Additional reporting by Jon Herskovitz in Austin, Texas; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)

In: reuters 

See: South Carolina statehouse profile – Representative William M. “Bill” Chumley 

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