Allegory of Fear

What is it that draws us to horror? According to Lovecraft in Why Horror, the purpose of horror is to experience cosmic fear which is an experience of "fear, moral revulsion and wonder" all at once (162); it is the desire for those emotions or awe that draws us to horror. Through horror, we are able to experience the unknown without any consequences and are assured that it is all a "filtered reality" opposed to real world experiences. In The Purge, the magnitude of moral revulsion creates a feeling of "primordial" which leaves one feeling assured but also in a state of wonder.

I want to explore The Purge through moral revulsion. Moral revulsion is the feeling of disgust because what is being witnessed goes against one's moral expectations. I found the events that took place in the movie disgusting because of my own moral sense of order and respect for one another has human beings. The experience was not the sensation of fear mentioned in Why Horror. Instead, I felt like I was watching "when civilization falls apart" because the monsters were just regular people who supposedly possessed a moral compass until there were no laws. The Purge really disproves the theory that humans are innately good and will behave in accordance with their morality without laws. Instead, the film showed a more animalistic nature of man because without there being laws people were killing one another and other immoral acts. The film is not unlike every day life here in America, which is why I think the fear element is not as strong. The film more so portrays an exaggerated perspective of crime and the government's hands off ruling of the people. People commit murder every day here in America, and we are currently under law. Which raise an important question: do we not kill because "it's morally wrong or repulsive" or because there's a law against killing? Would that moral stain be lifted if our government one day decides to legalize murder? If no one ever said killing and stealing is dubbed immoral then we would likely find no opposition to such actions. It is the animalistic nature of people in the film that brings on moral revulsion. This is supported by the names we call people who kill; " you animal". We should not behave as animals because we are better than them because they "lack morals" according to man.

For me, the awe experience was when the dad sacrificed himself to this family so that his girls can have money.  I had a combination of fear like symptoms, moral revulsion, and wonder. Though I understand the father's reason for his sacrifice, I still was disgusted by the fact that people were buying people to kill them. It was almost like slavery or prostitution where people were only being reduced to a quantitative value and an ends to a mean. I wasn't scared but I had an adrenaline boost and was very anxious. I started to literally wonder and play different scenarios in my head. My hope was that his daughters and that man would save him or that he'd somehow be able to kill the entire family and change his mind. Even though a lot took place in the movie, that particular scene sent my disgust level through the roof. Possibly because the family was treating the situation like a thanksgiving meal or like "religious rite" (162).

After we are done watching the film, we may have a thought like "thank goodness that isn't real or that'll never happen", illustrating the restoration of "primordial" (163) being that we do not live in a society that is rule free not even for a day. This primordial serves as a type of comfort to the individual experiencing fear which allows for the experience to be more entertaining or an "art of horror". In contrast, someone who actually lived in a society like The Purge would likely not get to experience the comfort of primordial.  Even I can't fully accept the primordial despite living in a "civil society". The government has so many secrets and with the overpopulation problem only getting bigger who knows what drastic measures will be taken.