THE PURGE

I chose the movie “The Purge” because it relates to the social conflict theory. According to the book, the social conflict theory is a system of inequalities based on class. In the movie the purge, social conflict is related because the wealthier a person is, the safer they are during the purge. The purge is a time when all crime, including murder, is legal. The wealthy neighborhoods had systems that locked down their entire house so no one could get in or out.  One of the chapters we talked about in class was politics and government. In the movie, the government was able to get rid of all crimes except for the one night of the purge. In the United States, it would not be possible to get rid of crime all of the time. There are so many petty crimes that take place on a daily basis, that it just would not be possible. I do not think that having one day of legal crimes would cause for the crime rate to go down, I think it would be higher. Also, in the movie, parts of the economy have become cruddy. People with low income, are at a higher risk for committing or being involved in crimes during the purge, whereas the wealthy tend to be safe, and not commit crimes because they have too much to live for, per say.  During the purge, the society also changes. People become very aggressive, and attempt to murder people they do not like or have problems with. In the movie, the man who created the barriers for his house and sold them to other people became a target. His son opened the barrier to let a stranger in that was being chased down the road by other people. When that happened, the people who were chasing the guy tore down the barriers on the house to get in and capture the guy. When that happened, all of the neighbors who had been sold the barriers decided to attack. They took the barriers coming down as the perfect time to finally take what they wanted. The neighbors were mad that he had made so much money on selling the barriers, and that he was able to add on to his house. That just goes to show how society works. When people cannot have what they want, or see other people with more than them, they seek for revenge.