Joss Whedon sure knows a lot of celebrities who were willing to show up for his video about the importance of voting. The result is a winning combination of humor, couched threats, and bribery in the shape of Mark Ruffalo’s exposed genitalia.
Save the Day is a super PAC spearheaded by Whedon that’s trying to get as many people in the voting booth as possible this November (separately, not all at once). They seem to be hoping that those voters will go for Clinton, but it’s probably hard to measure results. If people do respond to the urging of celebrities, this short video has someone for everyone—Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, Taran Killam, Julianne Moore, Keegan-Michael Key, Don Cheadle, James Franco, Jesse Williams, Cobie Smulders, Matt McGory, Leslie Odom Jr., Martin Sheen, Neil Patrick Harris, and a few easter egg people you might only recognize if you’re a general fan of the Whedonverse.
Whedon
told BuzzFeed News, “It’s about targeting people who either aren’t going to vote or have been anesthetized out of voting — fighting the sort of apathy and cynicism that says, ‘It doesn’t matter if I vote.’” He believes it “matters more than any single thing you’re going to do in the next two years. It’s the exact definition of democracy. It is a heroic and necessary act.”
It also sweetens the deal, in that if you do vote, Mark Ruffalo will do a nude scene in his next movie. Apparently, when he got the script, Ruffalo told Whedon, “Joss, I don’t think anybody wants to see me naked.” He is wrong. It’s cool that this promise is being made without specifying who has to win for it to happen. We will need it as a nation, either way.
