Yesterday the world was shocked to hear of the death of famed sci-fi icon Carrie Fisher, and while most people mourned her passing one vile woman did not.
Katy Hopkins (who I will refer to as C*nty Hatekins for the rest of this article) instead decided to tweet a mean spirited message to all those who thought Carrie was an icon.
Hatekins tweeted saying she didn’t want to spend time on her radio show talking about Fisher only hours after she’d passed away.
To be fair, most people came up with some, appropriate, responses:
Many people were rightly offended by her initial tweet but in my opinion it was her second tweet that struck a chord.
And while it would be easy to attack her, as she so often does in that embarrassment she calls a column, we’re going to take the higher ground (well as much as we can) and attack the argument.
Because the argument that Carrie Fisher is not an icon is just plain wrong.
Carrie Fisher will of course be best remembered for the iconic role of Princess Leia but she was so, so, so much more than that.
Carrie was a tireless ambassador for the mentally ill and a champion for those suffering from depression and bipolar disorder.
Fisher always spoke about addiction and mental illness in a forthright way, bringing it into the light in the days before celebrity advocacy or the seriousness of mental illness was as accepted as it is now.
She once said:
I am mentally ill. I can say that. I am not ashamed of that. I survived that. I am still surviving it, but bring it on.
It was this tenacity in the face of all odds that have made her into a feminist icon, someone who refused to be seen as hysterical or a woman who was unwell. She was beloved because she was smart, talented, funny and above all else kind.
In her time Carrie appeared in over fifty films and worked tirelessly for fifteen years as a script doctor on numerous projects, becoming one of Hollywood’s top script polishers.
Through Leia she let a generation of young people know that they didn’t have to be a damsel in distress, they could be a hero and just as badass, if not more so than any man.
Around the world millions of people know who Carrie Fisher is, dressing up as her most famed character, hunting down her action figure or her autograph, she was and always will be simply beloved.
Unlike Hatekins who ekes out a living being nothing more than a hypocrite and troll.
And when the brook of fame she drinks from has long since dried up, forcing her to appear on some other tedious programme to inflate her profile people will still be watching Star Wars and aspiring to be Princess Leia.
While no one want to be Katie Hopkins.
More of a concept than a journalist, Tom Percival was forged in the bowels of Salford University from which he emerged grasping a Masters in journalism.
Since then his rise has been described by himself as ‘meteoric’ rising to the esteemed rank of Social Editor at UNILAD as well as working at the BBC, Manchester Evening News, and ITV.
He credits his success to three core techniques, name repetition, personality mirroring, and never breaking off a handshake.