Tensions were high on Saturday in Louisville as talk of a citywide purge swept the region, garnering both local and national news coverage.
Though it turned out to be a high school prank, it still inspired fear in both residents and spectators alike.
The concept of this purge was based off of the recent blockbuster hit, “The Purge: Anarchy,” the unnecessary follow-up to 2013’s, “The Purge.”
If you aren’t familiar with the premise of the film(s), allow me to enlighten you. No, maybe “enlighten” isn’t the right word. Allow me to inform you.
In the future, our government will become totalitarian, and the crime rate will somehow miraculously plummet to the point of being seemingly nonexistent.
How do they manage this, you ask? Well, in the year 2017, they create the Annual Purge, where all crime is legal for one night – a 12-hour window to do whatever you want.
It’s basically just another home invasion movie, except now people are abiding by the law, not breaking it.
So when flyers and posters started to pop up around Louisville and circulate via social media – spreading like wildfire, I might add – it makes sense why some people might have felt a bit uncomfortable or uneasy about the whole thing.
We live in a world where there is no purge, and that won’t be changing anytime soon.
Recently, it seems bad timing and a bit of a coincidence has brought some of the events from Ferguson, Missouri, into the public eye that parallel some of the violence seen in the movies.
There has been widespread looting in the area. The convenience store that the victim of the fatal police shooting allegedly robbed was ransacked and burned down.
There are many other events like this that have happened and continue to happen in the St. Louis region, but we have to keep in mind that these are all part of a singular, isolated incident caused by a perceived civil duty.
Crime will always exist, and we must continue to fight it and maintain control over it. We must employ officials who we feel are on the same side with humanity and seek our best interest.
The Purge may never be real, but I sure don’t want any copycats.