TO THE EDITOR:
This Friday at 7 p.m., CUAB is hosting a free showing of “The Purge: Anarchy,” a movie depicting a dystopia where all crime is legal for one night a year. As real-life anarchists, we advanced ourselves a copy but will attend the screening with the intention of trolling.
We will have participatory “call-and-response” sheets for a truly anarchic movie-watching experience, anarchist literature and a booth with footage of actual anarchist rioting, which is a little different from what “The Purge: Anarchy” portrays.
The movie is honest about how capitalism, patriarchy and white supremacy would still direct violence against the powerless without prisons or police — rich white people “purge” by hunting poor brown folks, for example. So the problem isn’t just government; it’s all systems of domination!
But purgers don’t just murder willy-nilly because there is no government. Rather, they “purge” because it’s their “right” under the government. The violence is not a consequence of lawlessness, but rather the result of the kinds of violence government allows. Trayvon Martin, anyone? Now, even with our comprehensive review, you may still be interested in attending, perhaps to see the dramatic ending where the hero forgives the man who killed his son, who then saves the hero from a murderous military musclehead.
Look! We’re already disrupting the established order by spoiling the end! But there are STILL reasons to attend Friday’s showing in particular: Real-life anarchists will be there, armed with bandanas, rotten tomatoes and supersoakers full of snark!
James Hoopes
Senior
