Purple: Organized Crime in a Small Town (2012)

Throughout the 1920'and 30's the Purple Gang operated as an organized crime syndicate throughout Michigan. Purple seeks to find how the cultural impact of what is often seen as 'big city' crime, effects a rural community in Mid Michigan. Purple reflects on the values and social norms of the community during that era, and investigates how those cultures were challenged when juxtaposed with the nature of organized crime. The film questions societies romanticism with organized crime and asks how something so brutal could be accepted and even glamorized by so many. Shot on location, the backdrop of the film depicts the rural setting of the town and the townspeople while portraying the environment that challenges the perception of how organized crime operated within that era.