WASHINGTON (MEDIA GENERAL) – America’s top leaders may wield enormous power in Washington, but even they couldn’t escape the Force of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” this opening weekend.
“Has the president seen the new ‘Star Wars’ film?” asked a White House reporter.
“I am confident that the president, at some point, will see the movie,” affirmed White House press secretary Josh Earnest.
And, he’s not alone.
First Lady Michelle Obama invited Gold Star military families to screen “Star Wars” on Friday evening in the White House Family Theater.
Millions more Americans are expected to pack theaters, along with global moviegoers, to make “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” one of the highest-grossing movies of all time.
In Washington, the biggest names in politics are joining the masses jumping on the Jedi juggernaut.
“The Force… it’s with you,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) tweeted cheekily.
Cruz included a two-minute video depicting himself, the staunch conservative presidential candidate, as “The Jedi.” On the other end of the political spectrum, images of President Barack Obama flash on-screen as the narrator ominously introduces “The dark side.”
House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), the man second in line to the presidency, unveiled himself as a card carrying “Star Wars” geek, in a tweet to the Philadelphia Police Department.
Philly PD bemoaned that plot spoilers aren’t illegal, complaining, “We enforce the laws – we don’t make them. Sorry.”
The man who does write the laws apparently felt the same way. Speaker Ryan responded regretfully, “Knew we forgot to put something in the omnibus.”
The omnibus bill has a price tag of $1.1 trillion – a smidge higher than the $2 billion the new “Star Wars” installment is projected to eventually gross at the box office.
Rep. Derek Kilmer, a Washington state Democrat, celebrated opening day with a #TBT post showing his daughters in full fan regalia.
No reviews have rolled in just yet from former Vice President Dick Cheney, who famously embraced the Darth Vader moniker, saying he was “honored” to be compared to the legendary “Star Wars” villain.
Most critics have applauded director J.J. Abrams’s interpretation of the franchise that first debuted in 1977.
So, as Congress kicks off its holiday recess, odds are, enjoying the movie, they will be.
Follow Chance Seales on Twitter @ChanceSeales.
