One of the cool things about the developing Purge television series is that it will provide the opportunity to answer a lot of questions about the fictional universe in which the movies are set. After all, there's only so much that can be shown in a low-budget, 90-minute feature -- and while The Purge, The Purge: Anarchy, and The Purge: Election Year have all given us specific looks into the world, there are still many things we don't know. A perfect example: if all emergency services are suspended, what exactly happens at hospitals? For those who have spent time questioning this, we now have an answer, courtesy of franchise creator James DeMonaco.
With The Purge: Election Year arriving on Blu-ray and DVD this week, I had the pleasure of recently interviewing James DeMonaco over the phone -- and I immediately took the opportunity to dive into geeky in-universe questions. Fortunately, DeMonaco was more than happy to explain his thoughts on the various details, including what happens in hospitals during the 12-hour annual holiday known as Purge Night. Said the filmmaker,
Dude, these are the questions I often think about!... Here's what I think happens in hospitals: I think they lock them down and then they have to have doctors and nurses on staff inside. I almost think they're like little safe zones - so you can't bring anyone in, but I don't think there's any violence within the hospital. I think it exists almost unto itself, as a Non-Purging Zone, within the hospital. So, I think that you have doctors, you have nurses, no one is purging; there are no weapons inside, and no one can attempt entry.
Picturing this in my head as he was describing it, I imagined that these buildings would need serious protection from the outside world, and essentially be fortified establishments that keep everything going on inside the building safe from the events of Purge Night. James DeMonaco agreed, saying, "Exactly."
While this definitely is an interesting idea, one could also see how it might be exploited -- with people seriously injuring themselves just for a hospital stay on Purge Night. While it's possible that hospitals are ridiculously massive just as a result of this, the more depressing reality is that the services could only available for high prices that most people can't afford -- which would fit rather nicely into the series' larger themes about class warfare.
Does this fit with what you've theorized about hospitals in the Purge universe, or did you think that they functioned differently? Hit the comments section below with your thoughts -- and stay tuned for more from my interview with James DeMonaco -- including answers to what's going down in prisons, and what's happening with air travel!
