Remember this time last year? How we were all still giggling about the possibility of Donald Trump as the U.S. President?
Yeah, it got a lot less funny once he actually cinched the Republican nomination. Since realising Trump has a 50-50 chance of sitting in the oval office come November, the world has been freaking out a little. So much so that the Avengers have been called in. Sort of.
On Wednesday Joss Whedon (yes that Joss Whedon) released Important, a short video featuring a huge cast of Hollywood A-listers, including basically the whole Avengers team. If you ever wanted to watch Iron Man tell you to to be politically responsible, then this is the video for you.
The video is part of Save the Day, Whedon’s new short-form digital production company dedicated to combating the apathy and misinformation currently plaguing U.S. politics. Best known as the man behind Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Toy Story and The Avengers, Whedon invested US $1 million of his own money to set up the company which is “dedicated to the idea that voting is a necessary and heroic act”.
The full Save the Day mission statement reads:
“Every voice in this wonderfully diverse nation should, and must, be heard. That the only thing that can save democracy is the act that defines it. We are committed to fighting the apathy, cynicism, and honest confusion that keeps citizens from using their vote. And to reminding an increasingly out-of-touch and compromised set of representatives that they are answerable to the people they were hired to serve.”
Along with the Avengers team of Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johanssen, Don Cheadle and Mark Ruffalo, the video also features Neil Patrick Harris, Julianne Moore, James Franco and the police sheriff from Stranger Things.
And because getting people to vote in America is a little harder than here in Oz (there’s no sausage sanga), our celeb pals are offering an incentive if people register to vote.
With that in mind, let’s hope Americans make the right choice on November 8.