AOC got cult classic movie Spaceballs trending on Twitter
The Schwartz was with social media this week, as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez cited the cult classic film.
- Co-author of two Gen X pop-culture encyclopedia for Penguin Books. Won "Headline Writer of the Year" award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism.
The classic 1987 Star Wars spoof Spaceballs started trending on Twitter on Wednesday, but not because of anything really involving the film itself. (C'mon, where's that sequel, Spaceballs: The Search for More Money?) Instead, the film was cited by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in a Twitter response to Sen. Rand Paul.
Paul, a Republican, started things off by addressing Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat, by her nickname and Twitter handle, saying, "No AOC, the world will not end in 12 years."
Her response invoked the Mel Brooks film. "Hey Senator!" she wrote. "Would you like me to also take your comments out of context and pose them as your earnest position, as you have chosen to do with me? I assume the answer is yes, especially given that the GOP climate agenda is about as fictional as Spaceballs anyway."
Hey Senator! Would you like me to also take your comments out of context and pose them as your earnest position, as you have chosen to do with me?
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) January 15, 2020
I assume the answer is yes, especially given that the GOP climate agenda is about as fictional as Spaceballs anyway. https://t.co/42FKq4VMjW
According to The Hill.com, Ocasio-Cortez has frequently mentioned the importance of taking action on climate change within the next 12 years to avoid irreversible damage, a figure mentioned in a 2018 report by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. In a 2019 tweet, she wrote, "Climate change is here + we've got a deadline: 12 years left to cut emissions in half."
Climate change is here + we’ve got a deadline: 12 years left to cut emissions in half.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) April 17, 2019
A #GreenNewDeal is our plan for a world and a future worth fighting for.
How did we get here?
What is at stake?
And where are we going?
Please watch & share widely ⬇️pic.twitter.com/IMCtS86VXG
Sure, some social media users wanted to argue the politics, but others were just happy to see the cult classic film get its due decades after its release. "Thank you, AOC, for bringing Spaceballs back to the cultural forefront where it belongs," wrote one Twitter user.
Thank you @AOC for bringing Spaceballs back to the cultural forefront where it belongs.
— dan gregor (@gregorcorp) January 15, 2020
I see Spaceballs is trending!#80s pic.twitter.com/dytE9MRLIV
— Everything 80s (@SolidGold80s) January 15, 2020
saw Spaceballs was trending and started to worry but he alright yall pic.twitter.com/i9dKHGcItN
— Jeremy (@Pimp_Lord619) January 15, 2020
Absolutely furious that Spaceballs is trending because of a politics thing. For about 25 seconds I thought we were finally getting Spaceballs 2: The Search For More Money
— jackson (DJ Horse Jeans) (@Horse_Jeans) January 15, 2020
ALL THE SPACEBALLS MEMES pic.twitter.com/g9ZpOqq3mN
— Must Love Slime Puppies 🍞🌹 (@AmbrosiaVoyeur) January 15, 2020
Spaceballs isn't in the news that often, but it's a geek favorite. Tesla CEO Elon Musk gave his Roadster a "Maximum Plaid" mode, referencing the movie.
