MovieChat Forums > The Purge: Anarchy (2014) Discussion > The Problem with The Purge Series

The Problem with The Purge Series

posted 10 years ago by ixipaulixi
50 replies | jump to latest

Let me start off by saying that I enjoyed both movies. I thought they turned out far better than I was expecting.

However, my problem with these movies is that it seems that all characters who are out purging are only committing murder. There are plenty of crimes that could be committed on purge day other than murder, and I feel like more Americans who would purge would commit a lesser crime than murder.

Want a Ferrari? Steal one on Purge day.
Bullied by someone in your past? Go all Tanya Harding on them on Purge day.

The film could have been have felt more realistic if there were other crimes being committed in the backdrop.

[–] babuandbabu 10 years ago

Yes there are many crimes to commit. But think again. The poors are already cleansed out before. Now the only rich & wealthy people exist. They wouldn't be emphasizing on robbery but murder which they think is a glorious thing to do during The Purge. There is Rape option but girls would have arms with them so it would be dangerous. Not sure if there were sickos like necrophiliacs but could be.

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[–] timmy_321235 9 years ago

Doesn't work that way. Poor/Rich are relative terms. Always going be poor people with incentive to steal.

[–] babuandbabu 9 years ago

Yes, you are correct but there wouldn't be much people trying to steal stuff because the poverty doesn't exist. And the banks transfer the money to a secret place. You wouldn't try to break into some people's house just to steal their stuff while they would be sitting in their home with a shotgun to blow your head off, would you?

And why do you think it would be too easy to steal? Don't forget about the loonies running around just to kill for fun!

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[–] ThePlayerhater 9 years ago

"Always going be poor people with incentive to steal."

There are rich people with incentive to steal as well. Just ask wall street...

[tumbleweed][tumbleweed]
am I right people?

[–] screen14 10 years ago

In the world of purging, murder is the only crime worth risking going outside the safety of your home.

[–] AmyD723 10 years ago

You could hack into someone's bank account and steal all their money fcrom the safety your home.

[–] lnknprk_45 10 years ago

You wouldn't be able to hack someones account during the purge. Anyone who isn't dumb would just tell their bank to lock their accounts during the purge.

Professor, Lava, HOT!

[–] AmyD723 10 years ago

True. But there is always going to be at least one person who forgot to do that until it was too late. Especially in a movie.

[–] Strazdamonas 10 years ago

im pretty sure during the Purge bank servers are simply shut down for the time of the Purge, so everyone is locked out regardless.

Now breaking into ATMs on the other hand may be fun.

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Applied Science? All science is applied. Eventually.

[–] rocinante-421-313928 9 years ago

The banks would certainly remove all money from ATMs and shut them down during purge day. Probably even remove them temporarily, since a lot of idiots might think they still have money and destroy or steal them.

[–] Strazdamonas 9 years ago

you make a good point.

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Applied Science? All science is applied. Eventually.

[–] rocinante-421-313928 9 years ago

Even if you do, the hacking will be investigated and the money recovered. You won't go to jail for it, since it's not a crime, but you won't keep it.

[–] AmyD723 10 years ago

The director was going to include a scene involving a "rape corner" where women would be taken and chained to light posts at major intersections. He was going to have Eva, Cali and Liz get put on a Rape Corner and Sargent and Shane were supposed to rescue them and blow away the guys who put them there.

[–] opheliac306 9 years ago

Wow. I keep thinking I'm stupid for this thought process, but the idea of a purge night and all crime being temporarily legal terrifies me as a female because of the threat of being raped. Something like that rape corner sounds more chilling to me than people running around murdering anybody in sight. I mean, if this were a real thing that we really faced every year, that would be my biggest fear. The worst part is (and I hate saying this but it's true) sexual assault/harassment is such a big issue anyway, think about the staggering number of people (not just men) who would take advantage of a purge night to carry out these acts without repercussions.
I'm glad this scene wasn't included because I got angsty enough when Diego broke into the apartment to attack Ava and Cali. I don't know how I would have handled a mass rape scene.

[–] AmyD723 9 years ago

Yeah, that scene with Diego was hard to watch. I was relieved when he got blown away. You're right, violence against women and sexual assault are all too real and some people still don't take these issues seriously. I'm glad the rape corner scene was taken out too.

[–] mcain1980 10 years ago

That was actually my biggest issue at first. It wasn't unti I understood the underlying theme of the movie that I got why that's the only crime you see. Think of the scenario that The Purge presents. Rich white guys run the country (Republicans). What do they hate more than anything else? The poor and the sick. They disguise getting rid of the people they hate most as a way to purify your soul and vent your rage. When they see people aren't really buying into it they way they thought, they send out hit squads to make sure enough people die so that they can sell what they're doing and make it believable. All they want is for the poor and sick to be killed off. That's why you only see murder.

[–] AmyD723 10 years ago

Exactly that. It also turns people against each other (including family members) so they won't band together and oppose them. The old "divide and conquer" tactic.

It gives guys like Diego permission to break into Eva's apartment to rape her because she wouldn't give him the time of day.

It also gives women an excuse to blow away their cheating husbands and the women they're cheating with. Even if it is your own sister.

If everyone is turning against each other, that makes it easier for the powerful to wipe everyone out.

[–] ixipaulixi 10 years ago

BUT regardless of he government's purpose behind the purge it is pitched to citizens as a way to purge yourself of tension/ill will/etc and I just find it impossible to believe that for a 24 hour period where ALL crimes are legal the only crimes being committed are murder.

[–] AmyD723 10 years ago

Read my post about the rape corner. The director was going to incorporate rape into the story line but the distributor thought it would be too much.

Besides, this is a thriller. Fans of this genre want to see shooting and blood. Plus, it's only 90 minutes.

[–] ToxoplasmaGondii 9 years ago

What you say makes complete sense in the world as we know it, but the world of the film is not our world.

If everything is allowed, crime would inevitably escalate, especially with the emphasis on purging one's own negative emotions. So if you want to vengeance-rape someone, with everyone else running around killing people, or being told everyone else is, it would inevitably become rape & murder. Robbery would become robbery-murder. These people have bought into the idea that going to the extreme of murder to purge themselves makes them better members of society. Simple rape, theft, hit-and-runs, etc. wouldn't do it.

I would imagine, however, there would be some sadists who would enjoy torturing people for hours, possibly never getting around to fully killing them (or perhaps killing and then resuscitating them repeatedly and never finishing the job) before the end alarm went off.

Seems to me it would be difficult to make sure you weren't still killing or whatever at 7:01 AM. I would think after committing their first murder, some people couldn't or wouldn't be able to stop. But, again, that's real world vs. movie world.

[–] AgentBlue 10 years ago

Yeah thats what I was thinking too they might as well have called it Murder Night

Lose the Game!!!!!!!

[–] taylor_bacon 10 years ago

The problem with only committing some other crime is that you're leaving your victim alive and who knows what they'll do to you during the next purge. I can see raping and then killing, or doing it for money, and both of those were shown in this movie...

The guy who broke into her apartment was clearly going to have some fun with her before he killed her, and the guys who were hunting them down were selling them off to hunters.

The Purge is mostly about anger, and most people don't fantasize about raping the person they're angry at. Some might, and again, that was shown in this movie...

[–] llll2000 10 years ago

taylor is right, if you let someone live and commit rape or just a beating against them, then they can retiliate in a year. it only makes sense to kill people

[–] gjordan77 9 years ago

Why? The word "pure" is already loaded with violent connotation.

[–] th-zero 8 years ago

Oh, *beep* I was in a winning streak for a few YEARS! :P Now I lost again. :D

[–] Misstep 10 years ago

I agree with you. There's infinite potential in this concept, but it was born to incompetent parents, so it's going to die a premature death, unfortunately.

[–] fbplayer1064 10 years ago

How do you know some of the people didn't want to just steal stuff? They would probably still arm themselves and then they would get into a firefight. Without meeting the characters killing each other we don't know why they are doing what they are doing.

[–] llll2000 10 years ago

i have to assume that only the super wealthy own businesses and therefore are impossible to break into, the film told us about the banks.

[–] Bruno-Diaz 10 years ago

My problem is, and I said the same on the board for the first, was that the films themselves can't truly be that interesting but the premise can be. We followed one family trying to stay safe, followed one group trying to plus one guy who kind of wants to murder someone. The only angle we haven't been shown is from someone just wanting to full-on purge, just killing random people because they know they can. But that wouldn't allow for an interesting film either.
I have found both films passable, not good but not so bad that I regret seeing them, but definitely feel that the idea it plants in the audiences mind of 'what would you do' is the best aspect of it, but I don't need to sit through an entire film to imagine killing people.

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