The Obama Presidential Center has been controversial from the start, with locals complaining about cost overruns and the aesthetics of a sprawling complex that many call unattractive. Construction is complete and opening day is set, but the debates about taxpayer money and local impact are far from over.

Now, to mark May the Fourth, Obama released a short series of videos with Mark Hamill that trade on Star Wars jokes while pitching the center as a place for inspiration and civic engagement. The pairing read as a celebrity endorsement meeting political branding, and it landed poorly with critics who see the center as a partisan project.

In the clips Hamill asks when he can visit and Obama replies about ticket sales, sidestepping the celebrity’s question while making clear the center will charge admission. That detail annoyed some viewers who object to paying for access to a presidential site touted as a civic resource.

The videos lean hard into pop culture, with playful nods to Star Wars and Hamill doing a Yoda impression. For opponents this feels like an attempt to soften the center’s political edge with nostalgia and humor, trading substance for spectacle in the promotion.

Here is the quoted exchange from the clip, reproduced exactly as released:

“Mark, I am glad you are here. I want to tell you about someone,” Obama tells Hamill. “A young person born into ordinary circumstances but restless, unsatisfied. A kid with big dreams. A bit of a rebel.”

“They join a scrappy group of underdogs and set out to change things,” the former president continues.

Hamill then jumps in, guessing “by blowing up a giant space laser?!”

“Mark, this is not about you, as wonderful as you are,” Obama clarifies. “This is about them. This isn’t a monument to my legacy. It’s a gateway to yours.”

He goes on to pitch the center as “much more than a museum. It is an entire campus built to empower you. A place to come together, get inspired, and become a Force — for change,” he adds, before asking Hamill, “See what I did there?”

“Strong, the dad jokes are,” Hamill offers in his best Yoda impression.

That copy reads like a fundraising pitch dressed as inspiration, and critics say the language frames the center as a vehicle for political influence more than a neutral historical space. The use of phrases like “gateway to yours” and “become a Force — for change” especially rankles conservatives who view the Obama years as a cautionary example, not a blueprint.

Conservative critics point to unfinished policy problems and international headaches from the Obama era as reasons to be skeptical of the center’s message. They argue the center will push progressive narratives on visitors, including young people and students who are the stated audience for its programs.

Adding a cultural figure like Mark Hamill, who is outspoken about his political views, only deepens the concern that this is less about preserving presidential history and more about promoting a partisan outlook. To opponents it feels like a celebrity-backed civics camp with a clear ideological tilt.

Beyond messaging, taxpayers and neighbors still question whether the price and footprint of the center were justified, and whether promised local benefits will materialize. Those practical worries mix with ideological ones to make the center a potent political symbol in an already polarized moment.

For now, the May the Fourth videos are a public relations gamble: a playful attempt to broaden appeal that has instead highlighted the divide over what the Obama Presidential Center represents. The center opens in weeks, and the debate over its cost, content, and impact will likely continue to shape local and national conversations.

People reacted online with a mix of amusement and scorn, sharing memes and critical commentary about the center’s look and the celebrity cameo. Those responses underline how culture and politics collide in modern presidential memorials, where image control meets internet commentary.