This is the American way

Unpacking "The Purge" Franchise

If you’re new to The Rebel MFA Way, welcome! This is an essay in my Trigger Warning Series — where I unpack and dive deep into the intersection of trauma and storytelling of film, tv, and fiction. I love having conversations around these topics, so share your thoughts in the comments!

Warning — there are spoilers for The Purge franchise in this article.

As I was researching for this essay, I stumbled upon an academic paper [Yes, I find these academic papers to be fascinating research] by Mackenzie Graham titled, “The Purge Movie Series: Depiction of Human Nature Under ‘Anarchy’”¹ from 2019. I find it interesting that while 2019 was five years ago, a lot of what Mackenzie Graham writes about in her paper is even more relevant today.

For example, she states in her thesis section:

It is important to investigate why The Purge series chooses to comment on anarchy and human nature, and more specifically, the influence of the government during this event.

I completely agree. The fact that these films are so popular yet there’s minimal discussion around them and how close they are coming to reflecting our current reality is perplexing. Why aren’t we talking about this more?

There is a strong part of me that feels The Purge films are going to be one of those franchises which is revisited in a few years time and is appreciated for what it was doing. Whether always successful or not, the Purge franchise was doing what the best horror films have always done, commenting on the state of society as it exists when the films are made. The horror genre is the one best equipped to hold a mirror up to society, and I think the Purge franchise does this incredibly well.²
— Mx Bel Morrigan in Ghouls Magazine

Y’all know this is precisely why I love me some horror breakdown pieces. And I believe the writer, Mx Bel Morrigan is right when they say that The Purge franchise is doing what the best horror films are meant to do — become social commentary for the anxieties and fears and issues we are facing when the films are made.

There are, however, some fears and anxieties that transcend time. These fears and anxieties are often deeply embedded in our culture and the product of systemic oppression, racism, classism, etc. And that is what The Purge franchise zeroes in on. The effectiveness of the films, in my opinion, comes down to the fact that the topic at hand is relatable to those who have been chronically oppressed in one way or another. In the world of the Purge, they all become one thing: targets. It’s this unity of fear that makes the films effective in their horror. But the true horror is that the world The Purge franchise belongs to isn’t so distant from our own reality.

In a reality where angry right-wing anarchists can storm the capital because they’re upset with an election that ousted their fear-mongering, racist leader, viewers won’t miss the implications of the film–this is us, we’re living the Purge.³

Some even believe that the films aren’t radical in their representation. That these horrors are already happening in our everyday lives.

As Leslie Lee writes in his article “In Reality, Every Night Is ‘Purge’ Night,”

A scene in which a church full of black and brown people are gunned down by white supremacist mercenaries is uncomfortably reminiscent of the 2015 Charleston, S.C., shooting that took the lives of eight churchgoers. Therein lies the disquieting power of “The Purge” franchise: None of the horrors that happens in these films is fictional. Everything that happens onscreen happens in the real world, just spread out across 365 grueling days each year, instead of just one night.⁴

Let’s be honest — this is bleak. And why shouldn’t it be? Every day we are confronted with images of genocide, war, murder, theft, and massive crime in the media. Lee has a point… these things are happening every day even when they’re not sanctioned.

What do we do with that, then? How do we reconcile this horrible, horrendous vision of what could be with what actually is? What do we do with the fear and anticipation of our reality turning into a replica of The Purge franchise?

The antidote is proposed in the franchise itself.

Against all odds, the films have a fundamentally optimistic view of human nature. Time and again, it’s established that most people are, in fact, not interested in murder, rape, arson and the like, and that the depraved violence depicted is perpetrated by mostly either psychotic outliers or a government dissatisfied with its charges’ lack of bloodlust.⁵

When we strip away the political trauma and the power and influence that seems to dictate our moral compasses, what we’re left with is true humanity. And that humanity is not inherently evil as the leaders in the films believe. No, our true humanity is the desire to protect, to support, to help.

As Blair McClendon writes in their article, “The ‘Purge’ Films Reveal the Ugly Truth About America”:

Each film ultimately argues that the only way out is through collective action. Families, neighborhoods, revolutionary cells — all must band together if they expect to do so much as survive one night. This is perhaps the franchise’s most sustained belief. In the era of superheroes’ teaming up with the C.I.A. to defeat terroristic supervillains, “The Purge” depicts ordinary people willing to protect and support one another in the face of a political system abandoning them to a cruel fate.⁶

In The Forever Purge, we see this in action as a wealthy, white family is on the receiving end of anarchists who want to pay back the treatment they’ve endured at the hands of white people their whole lives. Two of their Mexican ranch hands save them and from there, they all work together to stay safe during the Ever After Purge as they attempt to reach the Mexican border as refugees. This film, more than any of the others, forces viewers to see that only by working with and not against others can you stay alive. The willingness to risk your life to save another human is the very antithesis to the Purge’s objective. It says, “You can try your hardest to pit us against one another, but our humanity will win.”

And while the antidote may stare us in the face, the quintessential issue at play in The Purge franchise is not that we are all inherently evil or violent (we’re not), and it’s not that we don’t have a solution… it’s that the people in power will do everything they can to reject the solution. Because if we work together… if we resist and riot… we are dangerous to them and their lifestyle.

In the end, The Purge franchise isn’t commenting on violence. Not really. It’s the catalyst for the true meaning which is that governments (especially here in the United States) do not care about the lives of minorities. They do not care about the groups of people who are not directly lining their pockets. They do not care about any group of people who oppose their power.

In The Purge: Election Year, this is directly stated by the leader of an anti-Purge group:

“For the past 20 years, the NFFA has taken to legalized murder to decrease the poor population, which in turn keeps the government's spending down. Less welfare, less healthcare, less housing” (The Purge: Election Year).⁷

This may sound like a dystopian future, but friends, it’s already happening. It’s not as explicit or violent as the films, but make no mistake, the insidious nature of culling the population of its “least” desirable is happening.

The biggest question mark posed by The Purge franchise and by average Americans like myself is:

What are we going to do about it?

EDITED TO ADD:

A friend sent me this amazing breakdown of the series, and I think it brilliantly illustrates my points here but also, a LOT of things I didn’t mention. Enjoy!

Want to see what films could be up next for this series? Check out my Letterboxd account → https://boxd.it/pktaA

1. https://ucisportfolios.pitt.edu/mackenziegraham/wp-content/uploads/sites/64/2019/06/Political-Theory-Capstone-Paper.pdf

2. https://www.ghoulsmagazine.com/articles/how-the-purge-franchise-is-both-terrifyingly-relevant-and-disappointingly-hollow

3. https://www.cinespeak.org/2021/10/20/the-purge-the-evolution-into-revolutionary-horror/

4. https://www.truthdig.com/articles/in-reality-every-night-is-purge-night/

5. https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/07/11/the-purge-movies-politics-499029

6. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/27/magazine/the-purge-movies.html

7. The Purge: Election Year [Motion picture]. DeMonaco, James. (Director). (2016). USA.