If you’ve read Happy Trails over the past four years, you’ll know that I don’t write about current events. I don’t write about global or local issues for two reasons. First, editorials are a place where journalists finally get to express their views, and I think there are enough journalists inserting their opinions into the media flow today. Second, I, as the Sun Day’s owner, believe my anonymity is very important to reader perception of the paper. The Sun Day doesn’t and will never fly any flags. We don’t claim party to any side, political, religious, or otherwise. If I start expressing my personal views, it could, with good reason, color all Sun Day content. And the only color I want in the Sun Day is like that old riddle: “Red.”
But there is a national issue occurring that has crawled so far under my skin, I’m willing to expose my views. I feel it necessary to “purge” my thoughts on the matter.
It’s seems the older I get the less shocked I am by bad personal or cultural behavior but the more sensitive I am to it, which often makes me wonder why movie makers consistently feel the need to show us the darker sides of life. I get enough bad real news daily that I don’t need to add bad fake news to it.
However, this doesn’t mean I’m opposed to conflict in fiction. A story IS conflict. Without conflict in a story, you have little more than a journal entry or musing…and absolutely no reason for a character to change. I write fiction and was a publicist for a publishing company who publishes some of the biggest authors in the world, and I believe a certain amount of care needs to be taken for what is released to the public.
Otherwise bad fake behavior can quickly become bad real behavior.
Case in point is the movie The Purge: Anarchy, which had its US release on July 18, and for one month, it’s been wreaking havoc on our culture…or, well, threatening to.
I’m guessing most Sun City residents have not seen nor will see this movie, and you probably won’t see it reviewed by Sun Day movie columnist Tom Sansom, so a brief synopsis is in order.
The Purge: Anarchy is actually a sequel to 2013’s The Purge, but the setup is the same: For one 12-hour period, people are allowed to engage in any criminal activity without legal repercussion. Imagine that, you have a problem with your neighbor, sharpen your machete and go talk to him. The theory is that if you allow people one night of anarchy and mayhem without fear of legal consequences, the other 364 nights will be smooth sailing. However, the movie centers on physical violence but doesn’t mention much in the way of other crimes, say, tax evasion. I seriously doubt tomorrow’s government would allow illegal withholdings for one minute let alone one night without repercussion.
A movie about middle-aged men concealing their tax dollars is less base and less exciting than gangs of freak-show masked individuals hunting city streets so violence wins out in The Purge: Anarchy. And it seems to be working well because, since the movie’s release, numerous Purge threats and hoaxes cropped up around the country.
It started when a Louisville teenager posted a Louisville Purge poster on a popular social media website, advertising (if that’s the correct word) a real-life Purge from 8 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. Friday, August 15.
August 15 came and went without incident, but social events were cancelled, police went on high alert, and the teen admitted it was a hoax and that he had no idea the poster would gain national traction or cause real alarm. I believe him. I also believe that people, especially youth (because who over the age of 30 really has the energy or time to organize physical mayhem?) are impressionable.
Several other Purge threats popped up since then in cities across the country (including Chicago). While the police in these cities deem the threat unlikely, they maintain caution and readiness on “Purge Night.”
I wish filmmakers maintained the same caution and readiness when constructing their films and asked, “What message is this sending?”
Any one of the Purge hoaxes could incite real harm taken in the wrong context.
But, hey, if there’s ever an end to road construction in the Chicagoland area, maybe we would have something to riot about.
