The author presents the screenplay 12 angry men as prejudice. Ths movie could reflect on the racism that was going on during the Civil Rights Movement. There is 12 jurors and the defendant is an 18 year old Cuban boy that was accused for stabbing and murdering his father, the jurors will decide if he is guilty or innocent. The 12 jurors will be in a room of the court and they will be there until all of the 12 jurors decide if he is guilty or innocent. Juror number 8 was the first one who voted not guilty and the other eleven jurors voted guilty and this shows that everyone can have a different perspective on how they see things. Juror number eight wanted to go deeper into the case.
The first time they voted all 11 jurors votes were biased,
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One of the biased juror was juror number 3. He is a small business owner and messenger that uses bias as a reason for his vote. He is a person who bullies others that have a different opinion than him. Juror 3 claimed many times that the jurors who voted not guilty had stretched and twisted the testimonies. He also stated that the stabbing was possible according to the size of the boy because the boy could still have picked the knife all the way to his father's chest and lunged it forward.Juror 3 said as he demonstrated how the boy would have stabbed him”That's how i’d stab a taller man in the chest,and that's how it was done.”He claimed that the boy did stab his father even though his father was taller.Juror number 3 had no doubt in mind that the stabbing was done by the boy. Another of the juror who had used biased as a reason for his vote was juror number 10. Juror number 10 was a racist man who disliked the boy because he was from the slums and an immigrant from Cuba. He only voted guilty against the boy because of those reasons. Juror number 10 had no evidence to back him up of why he had voted guilty. Juror number 10 said Look you know how those people lie. He said this referring to the boy. He only thought that he was lying because he was from the slums. He believes that all people from the slums are bad people. Jurors number 8 and number 5 use ethos,pathos and logos as a reason to contradict the other jurors who have biased opinions against the boy.
When juror number 3 explained how the boy would have stabbed his father even though the boy was shorter than his father. Juror number 5 had a good counterargument against him. Juror number 3 said “Take a look at it. Down and in. That's how I'd stab a taller man in the chest, and that's how it was done.” Juror 3 said the the wound on the father was from the knife going down and in. At this point juror number 5 said “Anyone who's ever used a switch knife would never have stabbed downward. You don't handle a switch knife that way. You use it underhanded.” Juror number 5 knew from past experience that a switch knife would not be used to stab someone taller on the chest , it would be used to stab someone in the lower part of the body. Juror number 5 used logos to convince juror number 3 that the stabbing was not done by the boy. He used logos because having that type of knife would be used underhand which is an appeal to logic. When juror number 10 had said that “Look you know how those people lie Juror number 8 and many other jurors stood up and walked away. They knew that he was being racist against the boy because he was from the slums.The jurors who walked away really had nothing to say to him because he was just ignorant. Even though juror number 8 did not say anything including all the other jurors who had walked away they used ethos
to kind of persuade him that he was wrong. Juror number 10 ended up changing his vote to not guilty because he knew that what he was saying against the boy was wrong. In conclusion the votes that the 12 jurors would make would decide if the 18 year old boy would be guilty or innocent.
This essay will compare and contrast the protagonist/antagonist's relationship with each other and the other jurors in the play and in the movie versions of Reginald Rose's 12 Angry Men. There aren't any changes made to the key part of the story but yet the minor changes made in making the movie adaptation produce a different picture than what one imagines when reading the drama in the form of a play.
a) Juror Three argued that the switchblade knife was swung down and in, which was ideal for the defendant considering he was shorter than his father. Juror Three stated, “‘Down and in. That’s how I’d stab a taller man in the chest and that’s how it was done.’” (Rose 61). This quote basically accounts for Juror Three’s beliefs with handling the knife.
The play, ‘Twelve Angry men’, written by Reginald Rose, explores the thrilling story of how twelve different orientated jurors express their perceptions towards a delinquent crime, allegedly committed by a black, sixteen-year-old. Throughout the duration of the play, we witness how the juror’s background ordeals and presumptuous assumptions influence the way they conceptualise the whole testimony itself.
Twelve Angry Men, is a play written by Reginald Rose. The play is about the process of individuals and a court case, which is determining the fate of a teenager. It presents the themes of justice, independence and ignorance. Rose emphasises these three themes through the characters and the dialogue. Justice is the principle of moral rightness or equity. This is shown through juror number eight who isn’t sure whether or not the boy is actually innocent or guilty, but he persists to ask questions and convinces the other jurors to think about the facts first. Independence is shown through both juror number three and ten. They both believe that the defendant is guilty until they both realise that they can not relate there past experiences with the court case. Ignorance is shown throughout all the jurors during the play, it is also brought out through the setting of the play.
Even before the jury sits to take an initial vote, the third man has found something to complain about. Describing “the way these lawyers can talk, and talk and talk, even when the case is as obvious as this” one was. Then, without discussing any of the facts presented in court, three immediately voiced his opinion that the boy is guilty. It is like this with juror number three quite often, jumping to conclusions without any kind of proof. When the idea that the murder weapon, a unique switchblade knife, is not the only one of its kind, three expresses “[that] it’s not possible!” Juror eight, on the other hand, is a man who takes a much more patient approach to the task of dictating which path the defendant's life takes. The actions of juror three are antagonistic to juror eight as he tries people to take time and look at the evidence. During any discussion, juror number three sided with those who shared his opinion and was put off by anyone who sided with “this golden-voiced little preacher over here,” juror eight. His superior attitude was an influence on his ability to admit when the jury’s argument was weak. Even when a fellow juror had provided a reasonable doubt for evidence to implicate the young defendant, three was the last one to let the argument go. Ironically, the play ends with a 180 turn from where it began; with juror three
Guilty or not guilty? This the key question during the murder trial of a young man accused of fatally stabbing his father. The play 12 Angry Men, by Reginald Rose, introduces to the audience twelve members of a jury made up of contrasting men from various backgrounds. One of the most critical elements of the play is how the personalities and experiences of these men influence their initial majority vote of guilty. Three of the most influential members include juror #3, juror #10, and juror #11. Their past experiences and personal bias determine their thoughts and opinions on the case. Therefore, how a person feels inside is reflected in his/her thoughts, opinions, and behavior.
12 Angry Men is about 12 men who are the jury for an 18 year old accused of murder. The judge states in the opening scene that it is a premeditated murder in the 1st degree, if found guilty will automatically receive the death penalty. The 18 year old male is accused of killing his father with a “one of a kind” switch blade, in their home. The prosecutors have several eye witness testimonies, and all of the evidence that they could need to convict the 18 year old male. In the movie it takes place on the hottest day of the year in New York City. There are 12 jurors whom are to decide if the evidence is enough to convict the teen of murder in the first degree. In the first initial vote it is 11-1. The only way that the jurors could turn in their votes was if there was unanimous vote either guilty or not guilty among the 12 jurors. As the movie progressed the jurors ended up changing their minds as new evidence was brought to their attention by simple facts that were overlooked by the police and prosecutors in the initial investigation. Tempers were raised, and words flew, there was prejudice and laziness of a few of the jurors that affected the amount of time it took to go over all of the eye witness testimonies and evidence. The eye witness testimonies ended up being proven wrong and some of the evidence was thrown out because it was put there under false pretense.
Twelve angry men is a play about twelve jurors who have to decide if the defendant is guilty of murdering his father, the play consist of many themes including prejudice, intolerance, justice , and courage. The play begins with a judge explaining to the jurors their job and how in order for the boy to be sent to death the vote must be unanimous. The jurors are then locked into a small room on a hot summer day. At first, it seems as though the verdict is obvious until juror eight decides to vote not guilty. From that moment on, the characters begin to show their true colors. Some of the characters appear to be biased and prejudice while others just want justice and the truth. Twelve Angry Men Despite many of the negative qualities we see
People tend to base characteristics and personalities of people pretty quickly. Most people base their opinions on stereotypes. Reginald Rose and his play “12 Angry Men” demonstrate how people are quick to judge other people based on looks. In the movie all twelve jurors must decide if a young boy is guilty or innocent. At the beginning of the movie/play-write, only one juror, juror eight, decides the boy is innocent. Based on the evidence gathered from the case everyone agrees the boy is innocent except one man, juror three. He eventually breaks down and tells the truth. The viewers can tell that this movie/play is full of emotions. Each of these emotions can be described as something more than what comes to the eye.
The Twelve Angry Men was about a boy who was accused of stabbing his father to death in a argument. In the beginning of the trial all twelve of the juror's voted guilty. Many of the juror's were mean and did not care about the boy's future they just wanted to get the trial over with so the juror's can do what they wanted to do. Later in the case one of the juror's realized they were messing with a boys life and his future was all up to them. So a juror realized that some of the information that a witness brought up had to be false. So they analyzed the information and came to the conclusion that the boy could not have stabbed his father the way he did because one of the juror's had seen many knife fight's in his backyard and you can not stab someone downward with a switchblade. Also another witness said that the knife that the kid had could be bought anywhere. The juror's discriminated the boy because he lived in the slums , he has a criminal record and he was always fighting with his dad so they just assumed he was the one that killed his dad.
Stop for a moment and think how many times have you said “I'll kill you” to a person and actually killed that person? Two times? Three times? We all know that the answer is never unless of course you're actually a killer. This is what might or might not have happened with the boy who was accused of killing his father in the movie 12 Angry Men. Firstly, let's consider on the title of the movie itself which says “12 Angry Men.” Twelve is indicating the number of group members, angry is indicating the state of their temper, and men indicating their gender. So the title of the movie strongly connects to the name of the class “Group Communication Studies” because both involve a group, a goal and communication among the group members in order to achieve a common goal. The 96 minute film is all about a group of jurors sitting in a room on a very hot day to decide the fate of an 18 year old boy. Each judge had to come up with a decision— either the boy is guilty or not guilty of killing his father with a switch blade knife. The entire movie theme revolves around the group and how it completes its task. The group is so much involved in the discussion and there are so many conflicts that the members even forget to introduce themselves, hence the audience has to remember them by numbers of the order of their seating arrangement. This movie is a perfect detailed and visual example of how a group forms and develops over time, and most importantly the personality and approach of Jury number 8 gives an idea about how important it is to participate, speak up, and take a stance even in the early stages of the group formation. Each member's involvement and contribution to the group goal is important as it can reshape and change the dimensions of o...
The term groupthink in this report is defined as, the social psychological phenomenon that results in groups during pressure situations. This social psychology theory is broken down into eight signs. Illusion of invulnerability, Collective rationalization, Belief in inherent morality, Stereotyped views of out-groups, Direct pressure on dissenters, Self-censorship, Illusion of unanimity, Self-appointed “mindguards”. According to research conducted by Irving Janis, there are three conditions to groupthink. The first, "high group cohesiveness" which is the direction for a group to be in unity while working towards a goal, or to satisfy the emotional needs of its members. Secondly, the structural faults such as insulation of the group, lack of norms and central leadership, in addition social background of group members. The third, situational context includes the circumstances of the groups meeting, social roles and expected behavior. This notion is exemplified during the movie, "12 Angry Men". The purpose of this essay is to examine the movie content to display the groupthink symptoms in place. Groupthink consists of eight major factors that occur during the film's scenes, as the twelve men debate a premeditated murder court case. All of the factors continue to rise as the jury discusses the young man's fate. During the film, a unanimous vote must be reached, despite this one man refuses to vote guilty. In 1957 the Orson Welles directed film opens as the judge explains the case and its severity. Soon after the group forms as the 12 men enter the jury discussion room. During these scene frames, the case evidence is explained. As the men talk they give details of an old man living beneath the boy testified, that he heard a fight, stat...
In the play “Twelve Angry men”, the story line presents a variety of perspectives and opinions between twelve very different men. Some are more likely to be pointed out as prejudice, and others are more focused on reaching fair justice. Clearly, it is quite difficult for different people to vote ‘guilty’ or ‘not guilty’ in unity when coming to a fair decision. In all of the twelve jurors, I have chosen Juror 3 and Juror 8 for contrast and comparison. I believe that Juror number 3 is a very opinionated man, with more differences than similarities comparing with Juror number 8.
He was always fighting about how his opinion was correct. He just never let anyone change his opinion even though there was a lot of good evidence risen by other jurors. EVIDENCE: One example of this is when he said “It is obvious to me.” (Rose, 1957) ANALYSIS: This shows that the 3rd juror is trying to just get out of that room and not go into detail to uncover the truth about this boy. LINK: There are many people like this in the world. For example very racist people seem like they will never change their opinion no matter how many stories or facts you give them. ESTABLISH EVIDENCE: One juror that should be thanked is the 8th because he brought up the point that we should be talking about him and going deeper and not assuming things. EVIDENCE: One example of this is when juror 8 says “Sure they are. Everybody deserves a fair trial.” (Rose, 7) ANALYSIS: This is an important quote because it shows juror 8 is there to not assume things and break the surface that everyone is looking at.
In the 12 angry men I recognized several different social- psychological principles. This movie is filled with different concepts, views, and ways of thinking. Each principle has some way of fitting into the movie. I have watched this movie before this assignment but watching it for the assignment made me look at the different principles involved. There are numerous different concepts that could be used however, I just chose a few. I am going to list some that I noticed while watching the film. The first one I noticed was self- fulfilling, the second is over confidence phenomenon, the third dealt with persuasion, the fourth would be group influence, the fifth would be the concept of conformity, and the last one was the concept of prejudice.