Note: This doesn’t fall under my usual category of criticism. However, since it does tangentially relate to television, I feel I am qualified to write about it.
Over the past decade, one of the most popular franchises has been The Purge. Based on a mediocre 2013 movie with a concept that would probably have fit more in the 1980s incarnation of The Twilight Zone than anything Rod Serling would’ve inflicted on its audiences, the surprise hit did what so many other surprise hits do – it inspired an empire. The fifth film in the series The Forever Purge – a title that I really hope is a misnomer premiered earlier this month. The film also inspired an anthology series on USA that ran for two seasons before it was mercifully – well, you know – from the network’s schedule.
The longer the series has existed, the more critics like me have tried to argue that there is something far deeper behind the nature of it. It’s a metaphor for the one-percent, the racist nature of America, the political problems that have crippled America. And the filmmakers have been more than willing to lean into that concept – most notably in Election Year in which a woman runs for the Presidency on the single platform to end the purge. So the ‘Founding Fathers’ – who couldn’t be more ‘evil rich white guys in suits’ if that had been the only description central casting had sent out – decide to have her assassinated under the guise of the yearly mayhem. I’m told that they doubled down on this concept in the latest film.
I should admit upfront that the only one of these films I have seen in its entirety is Election Year, more out of laziness than wanting to understand it. And I realize that wanted to see meaning where there is none is really something that scholars and critics alike have managed to do in films that have less overt symbolism than this franchise. That being said, I really think that trying to find any political or indeed subtext of any kind in The Purge franchise is pointless.
The Purge is, for all intents and purposes, a horror movie. When a horror film is unexpectedly successful, it inevitably inspires a sequel and given the nature of Hollywood these days, there’s a franchise behind. There’s a certain irony that people think The Purge has inspired devotion because of the message it promotes when in fact, it’s nothing more than Hollywood capitalism at its finest. Sure, all of those who kill are wearing masks. This has been a cliché of horror films since Michael Myers and Jason Voorhees. The only difference seems to be that in The Purge, the mask wearers have more flamboyance and take more relish in their murders. They also argue that the major victims of these movies are African-Americans and other minorities. Entire comedy routines have been written about how often African-Americans are the first victims of horror movies. The only difference is now we feel more uncomfortable about it due to social issues rather than it being a stupid cliché.
Oh, yes I know, Election Year. Writers in Hollywood aren’t that cagey. I think when it was written, the inevitability of Hilary was overshadowing everything. If it had been written in 2012, the President would’ve been a vibrant black man. There’s no cleverness to it. (I’m actually more disappointed that Elizabeth Mitchell decided to take this role. Did you run out of money from Lost?) None of the characters ever have any more dimensions than the tropes that have been satirized in Scream or Cabin in the Woods. The writers showed no more imagination in creating this scenario then they did with any of the other films. If they’d had any creativity at all, they would have had Mitchell’s character actually bring about the end of The Purge. But the capitalist machine must be fed, and sure enough in the final moments, we hear that there are riots all over the country against the idea of the Purge ending. The Purge will only end when the box office doesn’t flow any more, and given that the sorry numbers for the latest film, that may be this one. (Until of course, five or six goes by, and the franchise is rebooted.)
There has been a major increase in dystopian films and television the last ten years, and frankly there are far better examples of it than The Purge. A much better mix of this is Snowpiercer which deals with horror, classism and violence in a far more fascinating level in a single film than The Purge has approached in five. Indeed, it takes its dark vision even further than that franchise ever could, willing to realize than when a system like that exists, sometimes one has to completely destroy it. Of course it helps matters that Bong Joon Ho is a far better writer and director than any one who has done either for The Purge franchise. The movie is based on a graphic novel that leaves room for hope. There’s hope at the end of the film, but it’s nowhere near as cheerful. And the director had no intention of making a sequel.
Snowpiercer is filet mignon. None of The Purge films rise above the level of Hardees’s. There’s a lot of subtext and analysis in Snowpiercer. If you’re trying to find some in The Purge, you’re looking too hard. Yes, this has been a successful franchise. It combined the aspects of the horror movie and the action film without bothering to write a plot. The baser instincts of man have always gravitated towards violence and destruction. That why horror films are so successful. I really think The Purge would have been just as profitable during the Cold War. There’s a certain kind of moviegoer that likes seeing killers in masks inflict violence on people even if they don’t deserve it. I honestly don’t think there’s anything more driving the success of The Purge then there is Saw. Trying to find anything deeper is a waste of energy.
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