Did We Need a Black Lives Centered ‘The First Purge’ Right Now?

The First Purge is a heavy handed metaphor on the real actions of the United States government and classism, with a Black Lives Matter neck snapping revenge. I went into this film with no expectation of … well anything at all. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a Purge film, and I missed Purge Election. I’ve been down for the socio-political lens that The Purge movies have executed, so I am not surprised by the direction this film was taking after seeing the first trailers. A history of the purge where the country targets poor people to experiment on, makes sense…sadly. The film takes place on the borough of Staten Island, this being the test zone for the purge experiment. We begin the film in a close up of a black man with facial scarring, portraying an unhinged violent drifter being interviewed by a blue eyed white man, asking him if he feels violent, if he is angry. With over the top fervor, the man who calls himself “Skeletor,” played by actor, Rotimi Paul pleasantly agrees that he is angry and would kill anyone. As I said… heavy handed metaphor, which at this moment, I did not appreciate. I stuck with it to see how they were going to make the movie worth it, for enduring that first scene. This scene set up the stage for what was really going on with the Purge experiment. The newly formed government NFFA (New Founding Fathers of America) worked with renowned psychologist and scientist, “The Architect” Dr. Updale played by Marisa Tomei, to develop a way to change America …