The American Horror film, “The Purge” was released in the year 2013. Writer and Director James DeMonaco used his film to tell a story of a catastrophic event that would allow the government to encourage it’s citizen to participate in an annual purge. This story was supported with the idea that if people were given the choice to cleanse all their law breaking desires in this one day, then crime would decrease for the rest of the 364 days of the year. This film was disturbingly intriguing, in which it drew in audiences all over the world. Despite its mixed reviews, this low budget horror film sparked an interest in different parts of the United States. Obviously our Government today would never allow such an idea to become a historical event, however cities like Phoenix and Louisville decided to reenact the film for their own enjoyment. So even though these cities do succeed in initiating a mass hysteria, our country is smart enough to not allow this fictional tragedy to change our long lasting stability that our government has established.
Today we are constantly absorbing everything that we encounter. Films have always been a great way for people to share their popular interests and passions. It also was created to entertain us with new and interesting ideas that keeps us coming back for more. “The Purge”, showed us an alternate reality that has the ability to cleanse ourselves with the sins we want to commit. Many people, including myself was entertained by this film but was also traumatized by the amount of violence and twisted humor that our world has or could have. In Peter Forbes, “The Power of Story in an Age of Consequence”, he goes onto state that it is “... our ability to judge between what is real and what is artificial”. One would see this film and say that it is artificial, and then another would look at this and think of how it could possibly become reality. In the cities of Detroit and Louisville, young adults abused this story and began to threaten it’s town with a date of their own, “Purge”. The weekend it was suppose to occur, mass panic broke out, making families flee to their homes. This was all thanks to a flier that was posted around the neighborhoods. Even though Vierira’s, “Will The Hunger Games Spark a Revoluion?”, argues that, “There is clear evidence pointing to the fact that the movies are meant to be a call for action”, we can say that DeMonaco had no intention of using his twisted film as a suggestion to moderate our existing government.
The film was mostly shot in one house where the masked villains broke into, in order to satisfy their desire to purge on this innocent family. Personally, when I watched this horror film, I admired the unique aspect to it’s story, however, I did not leave the theater thinking of a way to make this false reality a true reality. Forbes later states, “Stories help us to imagine the future differently and thereby change the way we act in the world.” This was the case for the people who decided to threaten our authority and participate in actions that they copied from this horrific blockbuster. I believe that many films today are invented because the creator wants his story to be shared and remembered. I do not believe that DeMonaco was aware of the influence he had when he was creating this alternate structure of our government. Culturally the film did not concentrate on a certain race or religion to partake in the Purge. He seemed to keep his characters neutral in this aspect and not have their choices be chosen because of what they ultimately believe in. Vieria explains that, “The hunger that gives the movies their title is and has always been a powerful incentive for political action”. The title “The Purge” truly sums up the entire idea of this film. Very much like the film, “The Hunger Games”, the whole idea was an initial bash on the worlds political government. Both films allowed their government to become corrupt , and utilize their power in a way that portrays a negative effect on it’s citizens. When Forbes describes that, “Stories help us to imagine the future differently and thereby change the way we act in the world,” we know this to be true by the events that occurred because of this toxic film.
In conclusion, I believed that, “The Purge” did have a tremendous influence on our modern world today. Even though our Government would never support such a barbaric way of living, the idea of having people given the choice to break as many laws as possible for one day is very plausible. Cities used the story to create a panic for pure enjoyment. It maybe a artificial way of looking at reality, but it’s influence truly engaged many people. It makes you rethink what type of films should be allowed to be shown and what shouldn’t. So unlike Viera, I do not foresee future reenactments continuing on behalf of this film. However, I choose to support Forbes accusations on how the stories that are created for this life will initially effect our future, even if it may be unrealistic. So in the end, the story of “The Purge”, will be soon forgotten and those who found it entertaining, will move on to the next haunting story that they can use to fuel their distorted image of life.
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