Although the Sandin family seems kind of neutral and doesn’t participate in The Purge themselves,
if we read into the subtext we can see how they really feel.
The display of blue baptisias is a sign of support for The Purge in the same way that
a pink ribbon is a sign of support for the fight against breast cancer in our world.
This light blue to cyan color can be found all over the Sandin’s house, it’s on their
curtains, their kitchen, their furniture, their possessions and even their clothes.
All of the neighbors who participate in The Purge also don this color.
Charlie, however, is fundamentally against the Purge and he is the only one not to wear the color.
Even the interface of their security system uses this color of blue, and this is the system
that is supposed to keep them safe and keep the homeless out on the street to be purged.
The Sandins do not initially have bad intentions, but it is because of The Purge that Mr. Sandin
is able to sell a ton of security systems and become rich.
“Ten years ago, we could barely afford rent.
Now we're thinking about buying a boat.”
So the financial comfort caused by The Purge causes Mr. and Mrs. Sandin to unknowingly
look past how bad it really is.
The baptisia blue color also becomes a symbol of the political party behind The Purge,
the New Founding Fathers of America, or the NFFA.
In a television interview early on, the behavioral scientist Dr. Peter Buynak also wears this
color as he explains how The Purge is effective, claiming that it creates psychological stability
by allowing pent up aggression to be released.
However, later sequels would confirm that this data isn’t accurate and it’s actually
quite the opposite.
So the baptisia blue he is wearing is likely a clue to the audience that this man is an
NFFA plant spreading misinformation for political reasons.
I’ll also explore how one of the neighbors has ties to a high ranking NFFA official,
so stick around to the end of this video to hear about it.
America.
2022.
Unemployment is at 1%.
Yeahh… doesn’t look like we’re gonna make that in real life.
Welcome to Things You Missed.
Today I’m covering The Purge -- the dystopian not-too-distant future horror story about
a night each year where all crime is legal for 12 continuous hours.
In the opening credits we see video feeds of the previous nationwide Purges that have
taken place for the past 6 years leading up to this night.
The story is just a small snapshot of one family’s experience in this messed up version
of society, but it’s simplicity is also what makes it great, and it still contains
setups to the greater lore that we would become familiar with as the franchise would expand.
So let's lower the security doors and take a deeper look into some of those hidden details.
As James Sandin returns home from work, he hears a guy on the radio explaining his own
plans for Purge night.
“Pete from Northern Virginia, what’s your Purge plan?”
“I’m gonna hunt down my boss.
That son of a ***** has it coming.”
The idea of an employee going after his or her boss would be explored in further detail
in The Purge Season 1.
And I don’t want to already be going on this rant, but I’m already going on this rant.
It’s so annoying how the Purge franchise is titled.
If I say “The Purge”, I could be referring to this original movie, the TV series called
The Purge or the franchise as a whole.
But I can’t say “The First Purge” because the fourth movie is called The First Purge.
They should have called the prequel The Purge: Experiment and they should have given each
season of the series a subtitle, like The Purge: Homecoming and The Purge: Bloodstained
Saints or something like that.
Those are actually pretty good.
We soon meet the Sandin kids.
Zoe is the bratty teen prep student with a ton of accolades.
She’s an excellent writer, softball player and gymnast.
She even won a marathon and is also an excellent horseback rider.
Her little brother is very much the opposite.
He’s more of a science standout, engineering his own drone that he calls Timmy.
I’m not sure if this is an intentional Toy Story reference, but it is very similar to
Sid’s babyface creation so I’m gonna count it.
Charlie also has some disturbing drawings of The Purge hidden in the secret spot behind
his closet.
These are never explained, and so we’re only left to wonder if this seemingly innocent
character has a dark side.
I know the idea of a story about the kid who once lost a parent in The Purge has already
been done a couple times now, but it would at least be interesting to see where Charlie
and Zoey ended up.
They would just get Tommy Wiseau to play Charlie as an adult.
At dinner, Charlie tells about his day at school.
“In English I wrote a story about a man whose love is so powerful that it can kill
people so he cuts out his own heart.”
“That is so sweet.”
This story is kind of similar to what happens to Mr. Sandin in The Purge.
It is his love for his family that fuels his motivation to give Dante up to the purgers
so that they can be safe, but he realizes the error of his ways which ultimately means
sacrificing his own life to save everyone else.
When he locks down the house, we can see the security code 101382.
I was looking around online to see if there might be any significance behind that number.
Famousfix.com suggests that “this equates to the date 10/13/1982, the date of Ronald
Reagan's Address to the Nation on the Economy.”
I’m somewhat skeptical that this could be the motivation, but it’s worth noting that
The Purge is supposed to boost the economy.
“Crime is down.
The economy is flourishing.”
The family gets together for lockdown when James notices this.
“Hey look at this.
Mr. Sabian and Mr. Barbero are going hunting.
That’s daring.”
The name Sabian is significant.
At the time, this was just kind of a throw away reference that director James Demonaco
liked to put in his movies.
His 2005 film Assault on Precinct 13 had a character named Dr. Alex Sabian and he wrote
the screenplay for the 1998 film The Negotiator which had a character named Chris Sabian.
These were probably a reference to Andrea Sabian, who he’s given a special thanks
to in the credits of The Purge and The Purge: Election Year.
But looking back on this line now, we can connect it to a character who was part of
The Purge experiment.
Arlo Sabian was the NFFA Chief of Staff who tried to manipulate the results of the experiment
by killing people to make it look like it had been a success.
It’s hard to say whether or not this could actually be him,
but it could definitely be a relative, as they both obviously support the NFFA.
Mr. Sandin would spend the beginning of the evening finishing some paperwork, but another
secret can be found on the TV he has playing in the background.
Zoe goes back to her room, where she discovers that her boyfriend Henry never left the house
that afternoon.
I noticed her pillow has text on it that reads: Lights Out.
This isn’t a reference to the movie Lights Out, but it could be a foreshadowing of the
moment that the power gets cut.
As James finishes up his work from that day, listen to the TV in the background.
“We’re looking at some live feeds from around the country and discussing The Purge
with criminologist Tommy Aagard.”
Tommy Aagard is also a significant name, it’s a reference to the first assistant editor
and visual effects editor.
One of the news broadcasts features Purge coverage of Staten Island.
Director James Demonaco is kind of obsessed with Staten Island.
His first movie was originally titled Staten Island before the title was changed to Little
New York.
He also wrote and produced The First Purge, which was set on Staten Island, and he’s
working on a new movie called Once Upon a Time in Staten Island.
I told you -- he’s obsessed.
Charlie feels bad when he sees a homeless man, who we later find out to be named Dante
Bishop, begging for help on the streets and temporarily disarms the security system to
let him inside, then right as that happens Henry attacks Mr. Sandin, who had been against
Henry’s relationship with his daughter.
This allows Dante to escape into the house.
Mr. Sandin fires back at Henry, which proves to be a fatal reaction.
A group of purgers outside threaten to tear down the door if they don’t deliver Dante,
so Mr. Sandin goes to look for him, and in the hall he comes across his family photos
covered in blood - a symbol of his worst case scenario for Purge night.
Eventually he finds Dante, but he’s taken Zoe as a hostage, and this scene is part of
what makes this Purge movie the best.
There are lots of scenes in the other movies where suspense is artificially created because
a purger holding someone at gunpoint just doesn’t pull the trigger when they should.
Sometimes to a ridiculous extent.
This scene, however, has a reason for it.
If Dante kills Zoe, there’s no reason for James and Mary not to jump him and give him
to the purgers.
Mrs. Sandin sneaks up behind him, but she won’t shoot him either, because if they
can’t turn Dante over to the purgers alive, they’ll break into the house and release
the beast on the family instead.
Mr. Sandin has to make a moral decision.
Does he kill a possibly innocent man to guarantee his own family’s safety, or take his chances
against them, perhaps putting everyone’s life in danger?
Ultimately, he ends up feeling empathy for Dante, perhaps due to him being able to feel
sympathy for his situation because he was poor just 10 years ago.
James doesn’t make it, but his decision still ends up saving his family, because Dante
returns the favor by protecting them when the neighbors turn against them later that
night.
During the end credits, we learn that this was supposedly the most “successful” Purge
yet according to the NFFA who just want to see a lot of violence and weapon sales.
"The New Founding Fathers have released an early statement saying this was the most successful Purge yet."
This is a running theme in the franchise -- it seems like each Purge is always more violent
than the last.
The next Purge would take place one year later, and feature many more families struggling
to stay alive during the annual holiday.
So click that video on the left and join me in the next episode of Things You Missed where
I’ll be covering The Purge: Anarchy.
If you love horror, remember to subscribe to CZsWorld for new horrors every week, ring
the deathbell for notifications and I’ll see you in the next one.
Assuming we both survive.
And like The Purge, I recommend you stay home, but if you do have to go out: wear a mask.