‘The Purge’ presents a situation to consider

Photo by Yumi Kimura  [CC-BY-SA-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

 

Lauren Bana/Staff Writer

With crime rates remaining high in the United States, I’m sure most of us have wondered if there was anything we could possibly do to lower them further.

The recent release of the film “The Purge” has a lot of people thinking that the idea behind the plot would be an interesting solution to the issues with the crime in our country.

Of course, I’m not suggesting that we actually allow one day out of every year to enable all forms of crime to be accomplished without punishment, but I do believe that it presents an interesting situation.

For those of you who are not yet familiar with the film’s plot, the story focuses on a family in the U.S. in the year 2022. They are basically fighting for their lives within the 12-hour period in which the entire U.S. is allowed to commit any crime, including murder, without any consequences.

The director and screenwriter of the film, James DeMonaco, certainly enticed thousands of moviegoers with this thought provoking storyline, and has allowed all of America to question the political statements the film is trying to make.

Being that the main antagonists of the film were college students, I saw it fit to question whether or not college students would really even agree with the ideas represented in the film.

Senior Carlos Gonzalez stated that he could see how college students “could harbor a lot of negative emotions from the stress that we get in college.”

“I could see myself doing some crazy stuff if we were allowed a ‘purge’ once a year,” said Gonzalez.

I think we could all agree that college life might drive us crazy with stress and anxiety, but would we really go out killing people just because we don’t like them on a day like “The Purge?”

If we could lower crime rates in the way that DeMonaco tried to explain with this film, it could be great, but it could almost just as easily be terribly disastrous.

 

lauren.bana@fiusm.com 

Source:

1. “Crime in the United States,” via FBI.gov

2 Comments on "‘The Purge’ presents a situation to consider"

  1. Lauren,

    I wish the movie-makers might have dealt more with the original proposition of this film – that murder is legal. I think if the movie-makers might have stuck more to that aspect than making the movie into just another horror movie, then the movie might have been more interesting and enlightening. For example, a question about humanity and our condition could have been creatively explored. Or a question about the place of government could have been thoughtfully and artistically brought out. But (as another person in another place has already said) this film quickly becomes about the typical home invasion film.

  2. James E. Houston | June 19, 2013 at 2:34 PM | Reply

    Better opportunities for our nation’s Youth, Adults & the Elderly. Jobs & Education Not MURDER!
    Violence is not the answer!
    Number One #1 Jobs & more accessibility to educational opportunities. I can’t stress that enough!
    Social services, Mental health & affordable education is the way.

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