“This is your emergency broadcast system announcing the commencement of the annual
purge. At the siren, and all crime will be legal for 12 continuous hours. Police, hospital, and fire
aid will be unavailable until 7 am when the purge concludes.” So commences the 2013 science
fiction horror film, The Purge: arguably, Hollywood’s most anticipated and controversial piece of
the year. Taking place in the not-so-distant future, the viewer is a citizen of an America that
enjoys 1% unemployment, an eradication of poverty, and an all time low crime rate, but at a
dark cost. For one night a year, all crime is legal for a period of 12 hours, the concept follows
that as humans, we are inherently evil, and that the worst in us will be satiated by doing
whatever we please without consequence for a set amount of time. “It's a safety valve on the
psychopaths among us, letting everyone be as brutal as they want a night of the year. The idea
being that someone who just wants to get his violence on waits for The Purge. Fewer people in
prison, fewer crimes committed outside of that night —you would get away with crime
completely legally — [by definition] utopia is achieved.”1 People from all walks of life are allowed
to explore their darkest fantasies in that time. Confronted with the question, most people have a
strong reaction to the concept of allowing contained contexts for bad behavior as a solution to
reducing it. Bottom line, in the end, crime regardless of circumstance is wrong, but to what
extent could a hypothetical legalization of crime during a set period of time prove effective in
eliminating infractions committed during times of peace? In this essay, I suspend my natural
skepticism to explore the ramifications of this controversial, political, and psychological
proposition.
To first understand the context in which an idea as audacious as the one accepted in the
film The Purge exists, it is necessary to take a look at America’s long-standing fascination with
1 Woerner, Meredith. "How do you fix America? By legalizing all crime for one night a
year in The Purge trailer." io9 (blog), april 03, 2013. http://io9.com/how-do-you-fixamerica-by-legalizing-all-crime-for-one-468433891 (accessed October 22, 2013).
violence. If it bleeds it leads. American media prizes the sensationalism of violence and crimes in
almost all facets of everyday life: news, entertainment, literature, politics, and discussion. In his
essay Confronting Societies Fascination with Violence, King Davis probes the question of
widespread violence as an aspect of national identity. “Such an identity that yields violence may
be the symbol of a deeper spiritual angst in America [that is] reflected in the saturation of
violence in our news media, best-selling novels, movies, video games, toys, sports, popular "CSI"
oriented television programs and daily language.2 The embracing of violent culture through
media has risen exponentially in the past decade with the rise of videogames and other
simulated experiences that enable players to experience the cheap thrills of blood and gore from
the safety of their own couches. “On the first day of its launch last month, the computer
game "Call of Duty: Black Ops" sold 3.6 million copies and fetched more than $360 million in
the U.S., Canada and Britain alone”.3 With the infiltration of brutality and destruction into young
adult mainstream culture, an obvious desensitization is occurring, with developers and directors
constantly pressing the envelope towards more effective and coercive displays of savagery to
satisfy consumers and viewers. “This angst is the underlying issue in America. It’s not so much
individual episodes or rates of mental illness, but rather the mental illness of our society.”1 Who
is to say that a dystrophic future society similar to the America portrayed in in the film “The
Purge” would have any difficulties bearing witness to a temporary legalization of crime and
violence after seeing it everyday? “By making violence pleasurable, fascinating, and entertaining,
the Powers are able to delude people into compliance with a system that is cheating them of
their very lives. What we find here is the sadistic enjoyment of evil pure and simple. Violence
has become an aphrodisiac, sheer titillation, an addictive high, a substitute for relationships.”5
2Davis,
King. "Confronting societ'ys fascination with violence." Chron (blog), December
12, 2012. http://www.chron.com/opinion/outlook/article/Confronting-society-sfascination-with-violence-4139437.php (accessed October 28, 2013).
3 Ramachandra, Vinoth. "Western Societ'ys Fascination with Death, Violence." Ethics
Daily (blog), December 13, 2010. http://www.ethicsdaily.com/western-societysfascination-with-death-violence-cms-17146 (accessed October 28, 2013).
Are we on the path towards such an acute desensitization that we could one day entertain the
idea of allowing crime and murder as a means to potentially reducing it?
Human psychology behind violence and aggression is another entity that allows us to
understand the way we view aggression and where we ultimately discover if a concept like the
legalization of crime as a means of preventing it is an idea supported by natural human
behavior. Bloodletting is a tactic employed by humans around the world since middle ages to
cleanse infection and fever. Shouldn’t it follow that this method would effectively apply to other
aspects of life? The scientific term for this practice, Catharsis, argues the discharge or
purification of aggression or impulse through means of representation. Simply put, when we
indulge in the activities that cause us tension, we release this tension and can continue unafflicted. Psychologist Dr. Karolyn Kauffman argues the contrary. “Catharsis of aggression may
logically seem like it would lead to emotional relief, but the reality is that acting out our rage is
more likely to increase aggression than purge it. Also, even hypothetically speaking, carrying
around a whole year’s worth of hatred just to act it out once a year isn’t likely to make people
follow the rules better the rest of the year—it’s likely to reduce the guilt that keeps most people
from acting on their most violent impulses in the first place.”4 In continuation, there are
arguably many different types of aggression and pre meditated violence that cannot be alleviated
through catharsis. “Even if the purge were cathartic, it would only impact reactive (emotional
and impulsive) violence, and does nothing to stem the tide of instrumental (goal oriented,
planned) violence.”5 But is this concept of catharsis entirely inappropriate in the context of
relieving violence and aggression? In some cases, researchers have found that retaliation against
an aggressor can in fact help one to calm down but only under certain circumstances: if
4 Kaufman, Carolyn, Dr. "A Look at the Psychology Behind the Movie "The
Purge"." Psychology Today (blog), July 17, 2013.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/psychology-writers/201307/look-thepsychology-behind-the-movie-the-purge (accessed October 22, 2013).
5 "Would “The Purge” Work In Real Life?." Broadcast Thought (blog), June 06, 2013.
http://www.broadcastthought.com/thepurge/ (accessed October 22, 2013).
retaliation is directed towards a provoker, said retaliation is justifiable, and if the target is not
intimidating – all conditions that could never apply within the context of a period of legalized
crime. “When we have no one specific to rage against, attempts to achieve catharsis can actually
make us feel more helpless, which only fans the flames.”3 To continue, if it follows that those
who would allegedly benefit most from catharsis through a hypothetical “purge” are those with
deeply rooted violent and aggressive tendencies, can we truly assume that these tendencies
would be satiated through criminal activity one day a year? “Evil is not restricted to this 12 hour
window once a year… everybody who got [taken advantage of] would be bitter about it the next
day. No one gets over mass destruction in 12 hours. If someone broke into your house, killed
your mother and stole your big screen TV would you wait until next year for vengeance?”6 Mark
Whittington, a blogger on Yahoo Voices, gives his opinion on the matter. “The idea that
indulging in one's baser passions for just a night is going to satisfy it demonstrates an absurd
ignorance of human psychology. People who like killing and committing mayhem get a taste for
it that has to be satisfied on a regular basis.”
7
Questioning the effectiveness of a period of legalized crimes as a means to preventing it,
through the lens of psychology, leads us to another facet. “Theologian, Walter Wink, famously
coined the phrase "the myth of redemptive violence," describing the pervasive modern fantasy
that violence could bring about a new world freed of tyranny and injustice. It trades on the
depiction of the enemy as the "evil other," usually reduced to a subhuman status.”2
Dehumanization is a key component of desensitization. We as a society keep a safe distance
between the “us” and “them” and are quick to perpetuate the differences and inhuman qualities
of a targeted group in times of war or social turmoil. These gaps and polarizations are evident
6 Staton, Chya. "Five Reasons The Purge Could Never Work." Modern View Point (blog),
June 06, 2013. http://www.modernviewpoint.com/2013/06/06/the-purge-did-theyreally-think-this-through/ (accessed October 22, 2013).
7
Whittington, Mark. "The Premise of 'The Purge' Absurd and Offensive." Yahoo
Voices (blog), July 09, 2013. http://voices.yahoo.com/the-premise-purge-absurdoffensive-12176248.html (accessed October 22, 2013).
even in our own societies, distributing into wealth, social status, gender, race, and countless
other margins. Is it realistic to assume that we could be so quick to dehumanize certain
demographics within our own society and thus have little trouble releasing our aggression unto
them? Within the context of the film “The purge”, it is implied that the reason that
unemployment and crime were at an all time low was because of the fact that the poor were the
targets of aggression as they were among those who could not afford adequate housing or
protection. “It is certainly cheaper than the approach that other evil regimes, like
Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia used to get rid of their undesirables, which was to ship them
off to camps to be killed.”7 In efforts to sweep “undesirables” under the rug, could we as a
society ever turn on those who require our compassion most? Walter Wink continues; “the story
that the rulers of domination societies told each other and their subordinates is what we today
might call the Myth of Redemptive Violence. It enshrines the belief that violence saves, that war
brings peace, that might makes right… It is the ideology of conquest, the original religion of the
status quo”.8 The “rally call” sensationalism in unifying behind a centrally good but misguided
ideology such as this myth of redemptive violence has its appeal. In the film “The Purge”,
citizens viewed the event as a patriotic affair, a night where people came together to release
their inner poisonous aggression as a sort of civic duty. The element of group support and
communal responsibility provides a perfect guise for those looking to participate in a temporary
legalization of crime guilt-free, as people rarely feel responsible for acts committed as part of a
group. Individuals, when acting as part of a group, experience de-individuation: a loss of selfawareness or sense of individual identity, which tends to render them less likely to apply normal
inhibition and morality.
So realistically, what would the probable outcome of a hypothetical legalization of crime
in a modern day society yield? Separating ourselves from the obvious inhibiting factors of a
8 Wink, Walter. The Powers That Be: Theology for a New Millennium. Harmony, 1999.
http://www2.goshen.edu/~joannab/women/wink99.pdf (accessed October 28, 2013).
“purge” such as cost of cleanup after a 24-hour nationwide crime spree and a mountain of
legality snags, how would the average society react to this event? Perhaps those who participate
in “doomsday prepping” would finally have a chance to shine. Like most forecasted catastrophes
where emergency services may be prolonged, many people would flock to stores and stock up
on first aid and ammunition to protect themselves and their families against possible intruders.
Drills and contingency plans would be set into place in communities and within families. Inner
city dwellers would flock to safer locations and shops, banks, schools, and labs would lock up
tight. Those with the money probably wouldn’t even stay in the country, planning the annual
family vacation far, far away. So who would actually participate if all Americans in their right
minds were doing everything in their power to spend the period “holding down the fort”?
“Gangs, mafia members, and psychopaths would see this day as a kind of reckoning for criminal
kind. Anarchist groups like Anonymous would see it as a battle fought hard and won. Organized
criminals would see it as a potential payday”.9 When it comes down to it, wouldn’t this
temporary legalization of crime prove effective in that it would lead to the self-destruction of
violent machines including gangs and mafias? “If gang violence is legal, the entire gang culture
would self-destruct. A few years of back-and-forth all-out revenge sprees (not to mention
impatience resulting in violence during "normal business hours" and getting picked up for it),
there would definitely be a drop in criminal population.”1 In the end, a hypothetical legalization
of crime during a set period of time could only be as effective or as dangerous as the minds of
the people who participate in it. Were it to stick to the confines of criminals, gang members and
societal aggressors, one could infer that the concept would hold some merit. Crime by nature is
a breaching of universal trust. “The idea of making a time in which trust is no longer enforced
and in which American government encourages these random acts of violence would simply hurl
any notion of trusting your fellow man in that scheduled time period out the window.”9
9 Scully, Timothy Ryan. "What if the Purge was real?."Techcircuit (blog), April 09, 2013.
http://www.techcircuit.net/what-if-the-purge-was-real/ (accessed October 22, 2013).
Thankfully, for the time being, we don’t have to speculate on the event. Today, we as
citizens are held to the indelible moral reality that crime is crime no matter the circumstance
nor the legality. But how far are we from becoming a society that is overrun by our fascination
with violence? To what extent are we capable of alienating marginal groups even in our own
land? Are we as human beings inherently violent by nature? What are we capable of in the
holds of mob mentality? History has shown us the answers to these questions and in time they
will present themselves anew - we can only hope that this time we will be able to recognize
them and avoid another purge.