When the first trailers began dropping for The Purge back in 2013, the intriguing nature of its concept was immediately apparent. Whether it was an abstraction of our darkest instincts or just the morbid fascination it inspired, it was already clear that this was a film destined to become a hit and spawn a franchise. That’s exactly what happened, and The Purge franchise now consists of five films, a 20 episode TV series, and a sixth film on the way.
It’s a seemingly simple but terrifying concept. In the world of The Purge, the ruling elites are known as “The New Founding Fathers of America.” We learn that years of rising crime and poverty pushed the country to the brink until they introduced “The Purge” as a way of allowing society to let out their pent-up frustrations.
The way it works is that for one night a year, for 12 hours between 7pm and 7am, all crime is legal and emergency services are unavailable for that period. The event was said to have drastically reduced crime rates and legal unemployment down to one percent, since many in the so-called lower classes are usually eradicated on Purge Night.
With more than enough scope for violence, terror, and anarchy, the films have always been entertaining, while slowly drawing out a more nefarious plot at the center of the Founding Fathers’ true agenda for creating The Purge.
However, despite its cult popularity and huge commercial success, the films have never truly tried to be realistic. As a result, there are many aspects of them that simply don’t tie up very well. Here’s a list of the most glaring things about The Purge franchise that don’t make sense.
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10 People Don’t Take Full Advantage
If society were really given a chance to commit any crime legally, there’s certainly a good chance that the kind of violence and anarchy depicted in the films would abound.
Mob mentality is a very real thing in society, and human beings have displayed shocking tendencies for violent and destructive behavior even with the law in full effect. However, if all crime really were legal for 12 hours, it makes no sense that people would only choose violent crime.
What About Financial Crime?
Of course, there will likely be large swathes of society that do choose that route. However, what would also be just as likely is that people would try to commit theft and financial crimes to get rich.
Between hacking, knocking over ATMs, or trying to get into banks, the fact that no one in The Purge films seems at all concerned with using Purge night as an excuse to get rich is probably the most nonsensical thing about the films. It’s probably left out, in part, because such acts would cripple society.
9 An Arsonist’s Dream
While the general anarchy in the films does lead to plenty of destruction and fires everywhere, the scale of arson attacks in particular seems pretty low. The films do go on to mention some restrictions, such as not allowing the use of class 5 weapons or explosives, and not being allowed to attack government officials — but nobody said anything about arson.
Pyromaniacs Would Have a Field Day
Arsonists have a pathological fascination with setting fires. If the world of the Purge franchise were real, pyromaniacs would likely raze entire cities if they were allowed such freedom.
Given the relatively moderate number of arson attacks and major fires in the films, it’s hard to believe that the damage done in them is nowhere close to what it should be if the films were realistic.
8 It Happens Too Soon
Even though the films are rooted in a concept that has aspects of reality, at its heart, The Purge films still fall under the sub-genre of dystopian movies.
However, when such themes are usually present in a film, it always makes more sense to imagine such an existence far into the future. Given the timelines presented in the films, that dystopian world begins in March 2017.
An Unrealistic Timeline
Given that the first film came out in 2013, the world as we know it, despite all the challenges of modern society, is a far cry from going down such an extreme path. The idea of society crumbling to that extent and the rule of law and centuries of constitutionalism going out the window that easily makes no sense in our lifetime.
7 Society’s Acceptance of The Purge
The First Purge
- Release Date
- July 4, 2018
- Director
- Gerard McMurray
- Cast
- Y’lan Noel , Lex Scott Davis , Joivan Wade , Mugga , Patch Darragh , Marisa Tomei
As the films progress, we learn that large portions of society are heavily against the Purge. That fact becomes more significant once the ulterior motives behind it are revealed, and we learn just how malicious the ruling class is.
But what makes no sense is how, if the crime rate really had dropped so drastically, that would mean no one ever sought revenge for crimes against them after the Purge was over — which is just not possible to believe, especially in all the years it has been going on.
Vengeful Human Nature
We know from countless examples throughout history that seeking revenge is part of human nature and society. Whether it’s on an individual basis, or on a racial, religious, or other kind of group basis, it’s hard to believe after so many atrocities and wanton killings, everyone just goes back to living peacefully the rest of the year.
6 The Purgers Lack Fear
While it’s certainly conceivable that a great many people would take advantage of purging if it were real, the sheer number of people and groups in the films that actively participate in purging seems overblown.
In reality, it’s more likely that only real hardened criminals and maybe people with sociopathic or psychopathic personalities would brave the streets on a real purge night, and most everyone else would stay home.
Survival Is a Human Instinct
While most people may be prone to temper outbursts and even occasionally vent about things they wish they could do, the average person in society simply wouldn’t have it in them to go purging in mass numbers, even if they wanted to.
Aside from the courage it would take to brave the streets on that night, knowing you could be killed yourself, killing or maiming someone else is, thankfully, just not something everyday people could ever bring themselves to do, even if there were no consequences.
5 The Crime and Poverty Stats
In the films, we’re told that as a result of the Purge, crime has almost been reduced to zero the rest of the year, and unemployment drops down to one percent. In reality, there’s no way the amount of chaos and destruction that happens on Purge night could ever lead to a peaceful and better society with less crime the rest of the year.
Wishful Thinking at Best
We’ve touched on revenge, but there’s also the economic fallout from all the destruction caused. The mental and emotional turmoil suffered by victims, and probably by purgers too, would be catastrophic. It’s hard to imagine anyone just being able to calmly go about life as normal after the things that happened during the Purge.
4 Society is Better Off Because of the Purge
In a broader context, the films initially push the narrative that the Purge is actually a good thing for society, since it supposedly has so many positive effects. The reality is that even though it’s just for a single night, the socio-economic fabric of society would slowly start to be torn apart if the Purge was real.
Too Narrow Minded
Trying to push the idea that the Purge has positive effects on society is an all too convenient idea in relation to the films’ plots. As Forbes points out, there are a number of individual effects that would spell disaster for the economy if the Purge were real:
In short, in addition to being terrifying, destructive and evil, we could expect that a real-life Purge would amplify economic and racial inequality; habituate significant numbers of economic and political elites toward constant violent predation; create tiered insurance systems that would further advantage wealthier citizens, businesses and communities; and further increase monopolization in the U.S. economy over time.
3 The Politics is Lazy
As the films progressed, what started off as a film that just focused on the Purge night became a much more sinister plot that involved the highest echelons of the nation’s power structures colluding to keep themselves powerful while eradicating the lower classes.
The problem with this narrative is that it is basically just a re-imagining of a similar narrative that often exists in real life. Given how easily it strikes a chord with mainstream ideologies, and the kind of political beliefs that uphold them, it aims at populism by conflating common greed with plutocracy.
Such a Government Would be Counterproductive
Since later movies fleshed out the fact that the Purge actually started as a means of eradicating the poor and thus expanding the elite ruling class’s wealth and power, as pointed out earlier, all a real life Purge would actually accomplish is an unsustainable economy.
And, in such an environment, the goals of the ruling class wouldn’t actually be served by the Purge, since they can’t actually be an elite class without lower classes.
2 The Lockdown Starts Too Late
In the first film, Ethan Hawke played James Sandin, a business owner who sells security systems. He has a state-of-the-art Purge lockdown system for his home, which is meant to keep his family safe during the Purge.
However, despite the stakes being so high, he only begins the lockdown process four minutes before the Purge is about to commence. You’d think on that one night of the year, security would be your biggest priority.
The System is Flawed Anyway
Regardless of how fancy and expensive the security system is, in the end, all it takes is bad decision-making to nullify all of it. Firstly, no one knew that James’ daughter’s boyfriend, Henry, snuck in before the system was armed and planned to kill James.
Also, when they hear a victim of the Purge stranded outside, he disarms the system and lets the person in. The sadistic purgers chasing that person launch an all-out assault that forces James to admit the system could easily be breached if someone was really determined to get in.
1 Why Do People Even Bother Staying Home
The Purge films often play on angles of the haves and the have-nots, and how the most victimized people on Purge night are more disproportionately at risk because they don’t have the means to protect themselves. However, those who can afford to protect themselves seem to have no reason to do that in the first place.
Everyone Just Tries to Wait it Out
Those who are cast as wealthy and privileged classes seem to really under utilize their resources. After all, there’s a glaring inconsistency with the amount of money and effort they expend on securing themselves for that night. If they are wealthy and have the resources, why not just take a trip or go overseas on Purge night instead?
