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I had the opportunity to speak with Ethan Hawke about his new movie The Purge, and he said something that totally blew my mind. 

If you haven’t heard, the thriller/horror movie is set in a world where there is zero crime. They’ve accomplished this by allowing one day where all crime is legal; a way for residents to “purge” their souls. 

The film’s characters think this is their given right, as if God himself allows the opportunity to kill in order to make the world a better place. In the flick, most of the people who partake in the Purge come from well-off communities and they tend to wipe out the homeless and less fortunate. You know, keep the world a safe and better place and all that. 

The arc of the movie happens when a homeless black man is spotted begging for help in a gated community. This man was merely trying to stay alive, when a group of crazed residents decided they wanted to take his life. 

The Purge is not only thrilling and unique, it’s also quite thought-provoking. 

So while talking to the movie’s star Ethan Hawke, he said something that caught my attention.

Ethan said The Purge reminds him of the Trayvon Martin case: 

“This movie at it’s best has something very subversive to say about race and class and economics,” Ethan explained. “It’s hard for me to watch the movie and not think about Trayvon Martin. Watching the guy run through this gated community begging for help. That’s what’s interesting to me about the movie.”

I asked Ethan if he’s been following the trial, and he revealed:

“I’ve only been following that I know it’s about to go to trial and I’m watching it kind of anxiously. It happened while we were making this movie. It seem so odd…The parallels are obvious.”

A black guy just walking down the block is attacked for basically no reason other than being in the wrong place at the wrong time. 

It leads me to wonder … was Trayvon purged?

Think about it: the fact that it took so long to charge George Zimmerman with a crime because society thought it was just another unidentified black man. The fact that there is no concern when a “thug” or “low life” is killed, but then you start to peel back the layers. You realize that this person you think is a thug, is actually a son, a brother, a boyfriend and a scared little teen trying to watch the all-star game. 

It really makes you think. So with that said, do you think Trayvon Martin was purged? 

The Purge hits theaters June 7th. 

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Xilla is the Sr. Entertainment Editor for GlobalGrind.com as well as CEO of the number 1 relationship blog BlogXilla.com/M2TB.com. He has been featured in XXL, The Source, Essence, LA Times and is considered one of the premiere bloggers in the industry. Follow him on twitter @BlogXilla