The Purge is a series of films, which shows a dystopian America. In order to keep violence and crime under control, the country goes through an annual event on the 21st of March, called “the purge,” during which all criminal activities are legal for twelve hours.
The purge is not a real event; it is a fictitious event used in the universe of the thriller movie series “The Purge,” which is based on the same-named horror franchise. The series conceptualizes the idea of crime and violence being deterred if people are allowed to let their urges out once a year.
Read on to find out about the movies in the franchise and what other themes are present in them.
What Is The Franchise All About?
The Purge is set in a near-future world in which the New Founding Fathers of America have assumed power in the United States. In response to escalating crime rates, unemployment, and social unrest, the New Founding Fathers instituted The Purge as an annual holiday.
Every year, American citizens are granted 12 hours of total freedom to commit whatever crimes they want. Except for the use of weapons of mass destruction or the targeting of high-level government leaders, almost any crime is acceptable during those 12 hours.
The Purge franchise isn’t subtle when pinpointing real-life issues. This series proves you don’t need intricate special effects or supernatural monsters to make good horror, just a few colorfully dressed people doing their best to murder one another.
Take a look at it here:
Different Purge Movies
The Purge franchise now consists of five films and a two-season television series.
The Purge (2013)
The First Purge takes place in the near future landscape of 2022. The Purge has now been an annual event for several years, and some enterprising individuals, such as security salesman James Sandin (Ethan Hawke), have devised methods to profit from it.
Sandin and his family are followed when they learn their opulent home isn’t quite as Purge-proof as they imagined. This film also introduces Dante Bishop, a character who appears in all three previous films (Edwin Hodge).
The Purge: Anarchy (2014)
Set in 2023 during the seventh annual Purge, this sequel takes place during the seventh annual Purge. Anarchy introduces Leo Barnes (Frank Grillo), an LAPD officer who aims to use The Purge to assassinate the drunk driver who killed his kid.
Instead, he finds himself defending a mother and kid caught up in the night’s mayhem. This film also reveals Dante Bishop’s history, exposing him to be a member of a burgeoning resistance movement against the New Founding Fathers.
The Purge: Election Year (2016)
The Purge: Election Year (2016) Senator Charlie Roan (Elizabeth Mitchell) is introduced in this film as a presidential contender campaigning on a promise to abolish The Purge.
In response to a serious political threat, the New Founding Fathers change The Purge laws to remove all protections for high-level government officials.
To survive another Purge, Roan is forced to rely on Barnes (now retired from the LAPD and acting as her director of security) and Bishop’s resistance group. If Roan survives and wins the presidential election, she will be able to provide new hope to a darkening America.
Themes In The Purge
The movies are a very good commentary on political and social issues in real life. The purge has various underlying themes that could be reasons for or against it happening in the United States.
- Poverty And Social Inequality
One recurring motif is that the rich are more important than the poor and that the poor must be exterminated. Because the wealthy can afford far more extensive means of protection, the poor are significantly in danger and are often the victims of this terrible night.
Many movies today are based on the theme of good versus evil, but the tides are a bit turned in this movie. The lines between good and evil are blurred.
In truth, it was a homeless man who infuriated a group of wealthy people, triggering the chain of events that distinguished this specific evening. People believe they are fulfilling their civic duty by venting their rage and hatred on this night.
This will reduce their desire to commit crimes for the remainder of the year, as well as eliminate persons who are more likely to commit a crime.
They feel that by supporting the purge, they can keep crime down for the remainder of the year. Rather than the rich becoming richer and the poor becoming poorer, the poor are being destroyed.
Everyone is trying to protect their families, and everyone has evil in them, which must be mitigated by purging. Of course, everyone has a right to purge, but it is also their civic duty. This movie has an underlying theme that all people are evil and can only be good if evil is appeased.
- Hatred And Repression
The Purge exploits people’s rage. It assumes that everyone has deep-seated wrath and hatred that must be appeased to keep it in check. In other words, people are fundamentally bad, and that evil requires an outlet to prevent it from spreading throughout their life.
The characters in the film feel that this one night of crime will help them be calm and law-abiding the rest of the time. Anger, on the other hand, usually breeds more anger, and violence, on the other hand, breeds more violence. And, as we witness after the first film, change occurs not by murdering everyone, but by drawing the line at killing.
The movie The Purge misses one critical point. It assumes that any damage done during the night of the purge won’t cause bad feelings for the rest of the year and that at 7:00 AM when the purge is complete, the violence will end.
- Power And Powerlessness
The concept of power and powerlessness is fundamental throughout the film. While many individuals preferred to stay at home and wait out the storm, others flocked to the streets to exercise control over their perceived opponents.
In most situations, it was the wealthy who had authority over the impoverished.
Those with weapons had an advantage over those without. Those who could afford security systems could protect their family, while others could not and were killed because they lacked the power (or money) to defend themselves.
Conclusion
The purge is not a real event, but a fictional one. It is just a story but one with a lot of lessons to look out for.
