Q: In the movie, the state of chaos, the Purge, was sanctioned by the U.S. government to foster a sense of social catharsis. Is this approach helpful, or is it just as dangerous as an approach to governance and offers blind faith/belief? Would you have suggestions on how the Purge could be replicated in the Philippine context? Please explain.
A: From my personal context, an annual ‘purge’ aims to provide a sense of spiritual discharge to everyone who chooses to participate, through the legalization of any and all crimes for a complete 24 hours with the exception of government officials. In my opinion, this approach is not helpful at all because even without an annual purge in effect today, people still find a way to commit crimes for various reasons, whether it be personal or vindictive. The only difference is that crimes committed outside the confines of the purge are much less rampant, but nevertheless still present. If there’s any take away from the movie, it’s that an annual purge is a lot more dangerous because it gives everyone the guts to take out their anger and hatred on anyone, whereas in a normal society where crimes still happen, only the wicked and the desperate have the guts to break the law. I do not have any suggestions on how the Purge should be replicated in the Philippine context, because our society is fucked up as it is, crime-wise. But if it were to be necessary, I guess it would look a little something like a bunch of government officials being corrupt as they are, only this time they do it publicly because fuck it it’s the Purge. But no one can touch them or harm them in any way because again, fuck it it’s the Purge. And lastly it’s probably going to look like a bunch of people killing each other for the stupidest of reasons like fake bulalo and One Direction ticket sell outs. Except this time cases like these multiply a hundredfold and would barely make it to the headlines.