Respond to these rapid questions in our The Purge Election Year quiz and we will tell you which The Purge Election Year character you are. Play it now.
“The Purge: Election Year” is a mediocre pseudo-political horror-thriller that will appeal to NRA members. “Election Year” could have as its tagline “the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun,” which is certainly true.
Purge Night, a government-sponsored holiday in which citizens are encouraged to “purge and purify” themselves by committing crimes, is not the only time when viewers can cheer when ordinary psychopaths are shot, run over by cars, blown up, or stabbed to death during “Election Year.” In addition, writer/director James DeMonaco (the previous two “Purge” films) provokes viewers with moral posturing by pitting working-class characters against hypocritical politicians, European “murder tourists,” and other sloganeering baddies who insist that violence is an American pastime in order to gain attention. It’s possible that DeMonaco’s film is a prime example of the condition that it decries, a filthy slice of American exploitation cinema that mocks its audience while ineffectively whipping them into a frenzy. A heinous provocation, and one that feels particularly crass in the wake of national tragedies such as the recent shooting in Orlando, this film is released.
Due to the fact that “Election Year” is the second sequel to DeMonaco’s largely forgettable “The Purge,” the film does not significantly develop or expand on the premise of the first installment. New Founding Fathers of America (NFFA), a cartoonishly evil group of blue-blood politicians who oppress the poor, remains in control and continues to use Purge Night to line their own pockets, despite the efforts of the American people. As a result, it is up to Senator Charlie Roan (Elizabeth Mitchell) to put a stop to Purge Night—assuming she is able to do so. It is up to Senator Roan’s bodyguard Leo Barnes (Frank Grillo) and working-class bystanders Joe (Mykelt Williamson) and Dawn (Liza Colon-Zayas) to keep him alive as the National Federation of the Blind (NFFA) targets him for death.
But you shouldn’t waste any more time and start this The Purge Election Year quiz.
The fundamental flaw in this scenario is that the violence during “Election Year” is only particularly heinous when it is intended to be so. On the one hand, the film appears to have been shot through a beer-bottle filter, and the usual jiggly hand-held digital photography from the series is used to cover action scenes rather than the actual action scenes themselves. However, the violence in the film is intended to be not only cathartic, but also downright entertaining for the audience. Roan may talk a good game, but she never raises her voice too much when Leo and his allies use lethal force to stop bad guys from committing crimes. The National Football League (NFFA), whose members don’t really resemble Donald Trump, despite the film’s tagline “Keep America Great,” is supposed to be bad because they speak from both sides of their mouths. Nonetheless, while their leaders argue that purging is not “hypocritical” because violence is “purifying,” we’re supposed to take pleasure in witnessing Dawn take out whatever generic bad guys Leo is unable to take care of. It’s possible that there aren’t any significant differences between Leo’s and the NFFA’s methods. All claims to effective satire, however, are thrown out the window when your villains are screaming about the nature of violence in the United States and the only response they receive is a bloody death.
The Purge Election Year Quiz
Then again, what could one reasonably anticipate from a film that portrays blue collar heroes like Joe and Dawn as mere tokens of social advancement? There’s a lot wrong with this film, from its muddy visual scheme to its Hans Zimmer-lite score (try listening to the film’s klaxon-like music without thinking of Zimmer’s braaahm-intensive score for “Inception”), and it’s hard to know where to begin. But the worst part is that it tries to pass itself off as a film about and for those who were famously referred to as “common people” by Jarvis Cocker. Dawn is a butt-kicking heroine with no personality; she gets by with a glare and a gun, but Joe is a stereotypical bad guy who makes you want to scream. Due to his desire to protect his bodega, whose Purge Night premiums mysteriously skyrocket just before the Purge, he becomes a curiously humanized character. However, much of Joe’s dialogue is blatant, and at times offensive, pandering to gang members. For example, when Joe’s group is surrounded by gang members, he laments that they are like a bucket of fried chicken about to be attacked by a bunch of “negroes,” he compares them to a bucket of fried chicken. Joe’s use of the term “negro” is intended to be convivial rather than offensive, but he does so three times in order to establish his everyman credentials. What kind of trust should viewers have in a film that uses Joe’s race as a cheap punchline is beyond me. Joe even manages to save Leo’s life by revealing that he was once a gang member. In addition, one of Joe’s regular customers is only concerned with two things: “pussy” and “waffles.” Another film that portrays black people through the lens of racist tropes is exactly what the world needs right now.
Also, you will find out which character are you in this The Purge Election Year quiz.
It’s true that low-brow humor, race-baiting, and even savage acts of violence can theoretically be used to express political anger in effective and unsettling ways (see Rob Zombie’s film “The Devil’s Rejects” for an example of how this can work). However, only a truly miserable and, yes, hypocritical film can tsk-tsk with one hand while offering with the other hand what it offers. In terms of substance, thought, or emotional involvement, “Election Night” doesn’t offer much more than a basic need to push buttons and get a reaction from the audience. Neither the good guys nor the bad guys are truly evil, and neither the good guys nor the bad guys are particularly hateful. Go see something else instead of voting with your wallets.
For more personality quizzes check this: Ride Along 2 Quiz.
