James DeMonaco's The Purge franchise has grown from low-budget horror that comments on social class, to a full-fledged assault on American social values. As ticket sales continue to grow, The Purge movies have become increasingly provocative and political.
The Purge premiered in theaters in 2013. Like a lot of horror films, it was made with a limited budget. It centers on 12-hour period in which all crime is legal, up to and including murder. Since starting the purge, crime in the country has dropped and unemployment has become less than 1%. Although these political aspects are present in the first film, they serve only as a backdrop for a home invasion story.
After the first movie, however, The Purge franchise has continued to expand, with a total of four movies to date and a The Purge television series, with two seasons so far. As The Purge universe has grown, it has explored different groups and social classes in its vision of an America under the rule of a totalitarian state and revealed the truth as to why unemployment is so low.
How The Purge Has Influenced Society And Politics
When asked about The Purge films, producer Jason Blum said, “The films are about the insane relationship that we have in our country [America] to guns, and about the fact that there are more guns than people in the United States.” He goes on to compare the National Rifle Association (NRA) to the ultra-religious elected group that now controls the country in The Purge universe, the New Founding Fathers of America (NNFA). In other words, Blum believes that if the NRA were to become an elected political party, something like a purge could actually happen. With the currently uneasy state of politics in America, it's not as far fetched today as it seemed when the first movie came out.
In the movies, it is revealed that the purge was created as a method of population control, as its victims tend to be the less-fortunate who live in poverty and don't have the means to defend themselves. This is why unemployment is so low. Political figures in the films have mirrored American officials, such as Hillary Clinton and coronavirus curfew in Crowley, Louisiana. Although this was an accident, it feels disturbingly apt in the current political environment.
