Last week, my boyfriend and I went to see the new movie "Purge : Election Year." Overall, it was a great movie, but while watching, one of the first things I noticed was how realistic the plot was. The "Purge" is an annual event hosted by the government where any crime, including murder, is legal for 12 hours. The government started this event for population control. The idea is that by having a purge night, they can eliminate a number of citizens, primarily low income ones, which leads to less government spending. Although I highly doubt the government would ever allow 12 hours of crime, over the past couple days America has defiantly shown its purge qualities.
1. The Election
In the movie, the election takes place between presidential candidates, Charlie Roan and Minister Edwidge Owens, who undoubtedly resemble our real presidential candidates: Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Owens slogan is even "Keep America Great" playing off of Trump's " Make America Great Again." The main difference between the candidates is that Roan wants to end the purge forever, while Owens wants to continue purging. Owens has justified purging, as an act called "Purge and Purify," which means publicly killing innocent people in order to purify their souls. Sounds ridiculous right? Surprisingly, Owens had followers who fully supported him. Watching the scene where they all shouted "Purge and Purify," I had a moment of Deja Vu. Owens had created a divide among people that seemed unreal, but his divide is no different than the divide Trump has created. When Trump shouts, "Were going to build a wall! Were going to make America great again!" He's created a divide between white people and what seems like every other race. Trumps followers believe everything he says, no matter how racist or idiotic it is. They're brainwashed just like Owens followers.
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2. The Violence
In the movie, countless people die during the purge in extreme ways. People are tortured, shot, stabbed, lynched, burned, and even publicly executed. Violence is a new normal in the movie. Over the past couple days, it seems that violence is a new normal here too. With the deaths of Alton Sterling, Phillando Castille, The Dallas Police Officers, and countless others, has anybody else thought what is going on here? We talk about the terrorist attacks of ISIS, but Americans are killing Americans in our own country. In the purge, America capitalized off violence, and today the media does the same thing. The media feeds off violent incidents, distorting stories, and publishing them everywhere for views. But, what is the media doing to stop the violence?
3.Inhumanity
In the purge, Americans are sick, they are ruthless and the acts they commit are simply inhumane. Lately, I've read things that I cant believe people actually said. I've seen racist jokes about the death of Phillando Castille, countless racist tweets about all the recent killings, even a racist comment on one of my own articles. It seems like American people no longer have a heart. As a nation, we've become so low that some are claiming a race war has began. Are we really so heartless to have a battle between races?
