What is The Purge?
The
movie The Purge is set in an unnamed American
town in the year 2022. An unknown event
has occurred that has led to a group known as the New Founding Fathers to take
over control of the government and institute an event known as the Purge. This event takes place on March 21st
from 7pm to 7am in which all crime is legal.
The movie follows the Sandin family as they attempt to survive the night
while barricaded inside their house that is protected by a security system that
the father, James Sandin, sells. Their
plans go horribly awry however, when their son Charlie opens the barricades to
the house to let in an unknown man calling for help on the street. The stranger is being pursued by a group of
Purgers, people actively partaking in the Purge, who then accost the family for
harboring the stranger who had killed a member of their group as they tried to
execute him. They demand that the Sandin
family produce the vagrant and give him to them or they will break into the
Sandin home and kill everyone inside.
The movie continues with James and his wife, Mary, frantically searching
for the stranger before the deadline given to them by the Purgers expires. The Sandin family finds the stranger and
while attempting to tie him up and give him to the Purgers they experience an
epiphany and decide to fight back against the people who are trying to invade
their lives. The movie comes to a close
with James dying after killing a large number of the Purgers and their
neighbors arriving to help them fight off the Purgers. The neighbors’ motives however, are not pure
and they then try to kill the rest of the Sandin family. The stranger that Charlie let into the house
saves the rest of the Sandin family and helps them to survive the rest of the
night in peace (The Purge)
The Purge, while set in the near future,
is a vivid depiction of the social and economic stances prevalent in today’s
society, particularly the “Us versus Them” and the “Haves versus the Have-nots”
mindsets. While cloaking its portrayal
of these views in the guise of entertainment, The Purge seeks to show a hyper-realistic version of where our
current society’s moral standpoints are and where they could eventually lead
us. The
Purge seeks to use sensational violence and storytelling to illustrate
where our current society’s social dichotomies, acceptance of mob mentality,
and disregard of responsibilities could lead us.
Social
dichotomy is by far the most prevalent topic being presented in the movie. This
“us versus them” mindset is referenced many times throughout the movie and is
not limited to just the example of the Sandins and the Purgers; however this is
where the majority of the references take place. One of the first glaring examples of this
dichotomy occurs when the Sandin family is sitting down watching the
commencement address for the Purge.
During this address the announcer makes mention of the Purge being
sanctioned by the government but that government officials are exempt from
being purged (The Purge, 15:00). This
of course shows that while the government leaders make the rules, they don’t
always apply to them. During the initial
monologue of the leader of the group to the Sandin family the leader makes
references to them being the “haves” and “one of us” while consistently
referring to the stranger that Charlie let in as “homeless swine”. During this speech, the leader also refers to
his group as “fine” and “very educated” further seeking to show their belief
that they are in the right and that being one of them, the Sandins should
return the stranger to them (The Purge,
33:09). This pattern of speech continues
during their later dialogues particularly when James is making plans with his
family to find and return the stranger to the Purgers saying “it’s him or us
Charlie” (The Purge, 37:32). During one of the final scenes in the movie,
what remains of the Sandin family is seemingly saved by the timely arrival of
their neighbors. The neighbors however
seek to kill the Sandin family themselves and inform Mary that the only reason
they were saved is because “you belong to us not them” (The Purge, 1:11:40).
The
idea of mob mentality being right is a theme that is subtly hidden during the
scenes leading up to the invasion of the Sandin home by the Purgers. While the Sandins are shown going through
their normal family activities during the opening scenes, you can hear various
news reports in the background coming from the television and radio. Many of these reports are from the audience
of these various programs showing their support for this event, including a
psychologist stating that the Purge provides a catharsis for the American
public, allowing for the containment of violent behaviors during the rest of
the year (The Purge, 6:09). A later scene shows the daughter, Zoey,
saying goodbye to her boyfriend as he climbs out the window while a neighbor
sharpens a machete in his backyard with the only comment being “somebody’s
getting ready for tonight” (The Purge,
7:02). One of the last major examples of
this blasé attitude toward violence occurs when James is checking his security
cameras in anticipation of locking down his house and sees two of his neighbors
walking the streets carrying various weaponry.
He remarks that they are going hunting and seems more concerned with the
fact that he didn’t know that those two were friends and not the fact that they
are going to murder fellow human beings (The
Purge, 13:45).
One
of the last major themes in this movie would be the lack of responsibility that
people take in regards to their own actions.
At the beginning of the movie we find out that James Sandin is a
security systems salesman whose customers include almost his entire community,
as well as himself, and that he has managed to become the top salesman in his
division. This leads you to believe that
these security systems are the best available and his family will have no
problems lasting out the night. This is
not the case however, when James admits to his wife that if the Purgers really
want in, they will get in, and that the systems are more of a deterrent and not
made for worst case scenarios (The Purge,
36:12). During the dialogue scenes
between the leader of the Purgers and the Sandin family, there are many
references made to the public’s “right to Purge” and “cleansing their souls” (The Purge). What everyone fails to mention however, is
that what they are doing is still murder and that even though it’s legal, it is
still morally wrong.
While
cloaked in action and presented as entertainment, The Purge seeks to enlighten people as to the potential ramifications
of the negative aspects of our society.
Although such an event as the Purge is unlikely to actually occur, it
serves as an interesting example of just what could happen if our society
continues to follow the “Us versus Them” mindset and refuses to learn to accept
responsibility for their actions.
WORKS CITED
The
Purge. Dir. James DeMonaco. Perf. Ethan Hawke, Lena Headey, Max Burkholder,
Rhys Wakefield. Universal Pictures. 2013. Electronic File.
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