For this project we viewed the original 1957 version of Twelve Angry Men, an American Drama, adapted from the teleplay written by Reginald Rose with the same name starring Henry Fonda as the lead role. The film begins in New York City in a courthouse, it is clear by the expressions on everyone’s face including the judge that everyone is tired and it has been a long trial. The viewers are told that an unidentified, young Hispanic male originating from the slums is on trial for supposedly stabbing his father to death. The viewers are also given the final closing arguments, including the testimony of two witnesses; one an elderly man saying that he heard the father and son argue then heard a body drop, and the other a woman who lives across the …show more content…
This can occur when a person engages in some sort of behavior (such as promising, threatening, or persuading) that causes another person to behave in a manner they normally would not behave in. Further breaking down and categorizing social influence could be placed into 3 categories: conformity, compliance, and obedience. Conformity can be defined as altering your behavior to obey the norms of that particular group. Compliance can be defined as acting a certain way in a public to either gain a reward or avoid a punishment, and finally obedience, which is different from compliance. Obedience can be defined as obeying an authority figure, you believe that you have to obey and you have no other choice. In Twelve Angry Men, there are many scenes that depict social influence but the biggest one would be when Juror #3 finally in the end accepts the other 11 votes of not guilty. This scene illustrates social influence because throughout the entire film, up until the end, Juror #3 is clearly against voting not guilty. Juror #3 even states, “What 's the *matter* with you guys? You all *know* he 's guilty! He 's *got* to burn! You 're letting him slip through our fingers!” it is evident that Juror #3 would have voted guilty if not for social influence, social influence had him behave in a manner he normally would
Not able to remember much about this particular part of the movie, I believe this introductory scene's purpose was to either enhance the realism of the setting by emphasizing the court building's efficient, business like manner or to provide a timeslot in which to roll the credits for producer, director, stars, etc. The settings aren't only built upon through the use of scenery and extras in the movie. Invisible and distant in the play, we see in the movie the judge, bailiff, those witnessing the trial and most importantly of all- the defendant. This is an important change because in the case, we are free to come up with our own unbiased conclusions as to the nature and identity of the defendant, whom we only know to be a 19 year boy from the slums. Seeing his haggard and worn face in the movie changes all of that, yet for better or worse, it engages the audience deeper into the trial as they surely will sympathize with him and can gain some insight into why, later, Juror 8 does so as well.
The movie A League of Their Own is about a female baseball league that was formed since the men were off fighting in World War II. The need to keep professional baseball going the owners tried the All American Girls Professional Baseball League (Marshall, 1992). Most of the movies that we watch have multiple examples of social psychology concepts. The movie A League of Their Own did have concepts that we learned about. The five concepts that I pick out of the movie were schemas, self-fulfilling prophesy, display rules, self-handicapping, and social exchange theory.
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.
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
“Courage - a perfect sensibility of the measure of danger, and a mental willingness to endure it.” Courageous people understand the danger that they face when they act how they do. That is what courage is all about. Many historical events occur due to people having the courage to do what they think is right, or because of those who use their courage to do what they want. Having the courage to stand alone in one’s beliefs may be one of the hardest thing a person can do.
The setting for this film and the particular scene is vital to bringing the story into focus. The story is of a black man who is fighting for his own life and not going to prison for the killing of two white men who had raped his 10 year old daughter. The director Joel Schumacher and the author John Grisham revisit the small town of Canton Mississippi in order to shoot this film. This element brings a reality and a visual to the audience of where the actual events took place. This builds the drama in the story. The courtroom scenes are shot at the actual courthouse in Canton (Arrington 1996). Originally the filming location chosen was to be in Oxford. Fortunately the filming was to take place during football season and all the hotels were full. Another setback was the courthouse lawn in Oxford was too small, therefore the traffic would also have to be rerouted for up to 15 days and this posed a problem as well. The Canton location was a better choice for originality of the story (Arrington 1996).
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...
According to Myers and Twenge (2013), conformity is “a change in behavior or belief as the result of real or imagined peer pressure” (p. 188). In 12 Angry Men, conformity is seen in the beginning of the film. As the jury is voting on the suspect’s verdict, there is a hesitancy from a few of the jurors. In the beginning, only a couple jurors raised their hands for “guilty”. Slowly, more and more people started raising their hands as a result of peer pressure from those around them. In the end, everyone but one person was raising their hand for “guilty”, and the vote was 11 to 1 “guilty”. This scene relates to the study of Asch’s (1955) line comparison studies of group pressure. In this study, a line of people was supposed to tell
In viewing 12 Angry Men, we see face to face exactly what man really is capable of being. We see different views, different opinions of men such as altruism, egoism, good and evil. It is no doubt that human beings possess either one or any of these characteristics, which make them unique. It is safe to say that our actions, beliefs, and choices separate us from animals and non-livings. The 20th century English philosopher, Martin Hollis, once said, “Free will – the ability to make decisions about how to act – is what distinguishes people from non-human animals and machines 1”. He went to describe human beings as “self conscious, rational, creative. We can fall in love, write sonnets or plan for tomorrow. We are capable of faith, hope and charity, and for that matter, of envy, hated and malice. We know truth from error, right from wrong 2.” Human nature by definition is “Characteristics or qualities that make human beings different from anything else”. With this said, the topic of human nature has been around for a very long time, it is a complex subject with no right or wrong answer. An American rabbi, Samuel Umen, gave examples of contradictions of human nature in his book, Images of Man. “He is compassionate, generous, loving and forgiving, but also cruel, vengeful, selfish and vindictive 3”. Existentialism by definition is, “The belief that existence comes before essence, that is, that who you are is only determined by you yourself, and not merely an accident of birth”. A French philosopher, Jean-Paul Sartre, is the most famous and influential 20th - century existentialist. He summed up human nature as “existence precedes essence”. In his book, Existentialism and Human Emotions, he explained what he meant by this. “It means that, first of all, man exists, turns up, appears on the scene, and, only afterwards, defines himself. If man, as the existentialist conceives him, is indefinable, it is because at first he is nothing. Only afterward will be something, and he himself will have made what he will be 4”. After watching 12 Angry Men, the prominent view on human nature that is best portrayed in the movie is that people are free to be whatever they want because as Sartre said, “people create themselves every moment of everyday according to the choices they make 5”.
Solomon Asch’s experiment in “Opinions and Social Pressure” studied a subject’s ability to yield to social pressure when placed within a group of strangers. His research helped illustrate how groups encourage conformity. During a typical experiment, members of the group were asked by the experimenter to claim two obvious mismatched lines were identical. The single individual who was not privy to this information was the focal point of the experiment. Twelve out of eighteen times the unsuspecting individual went along with the majority, dispelling his beliefs in favor of the opinions of the group.
Cialdini, Robert B, & Trost, Melanie R. (1998). Social Influence: Social Norms, Conformity, & Compliance. Interpersonal Phenomena. Retrieved from: angel.elmira.edu/section/default.asp?id=w114_PSY3010_01.
Conformity is a concept that has intrigued psychologists for decades; a concept that has been the foundation of numerous studies, books, and that has been subtly woven into the media. Most of the research done on conformity has to do with what can cause conforming behavior and when conforming behavior is most prevalent. There are generally two types of influences that can cause conforming behavior, informational social influences and normative social influence. Both deal with the when and why of conformity in society and what situations typically cause a group or one or two people to conform. The most powerful and dangerous type of conformity is conformity to authority, which can cause people to obey orders that they would normally not follow in any other situation. With that being said, informational social influence can fuel conforming behavior, especially in instances when the situation is a crisis, ambiguous, and when other people in the situation have authority or expertise.
Social influence refers to the effects of the presence of others on the way people think, feel, and behave (Kowalski & Westen, 2011, p.686). Human interaction is grounded in verbal and non-verbal communication which can have a huge impact on the people we interact with every day. When people conform to those around them, they tend to combine together into one body, and they become compliant to an authority figure. Sometimes this will get to the point where an authority figure will give a command, and the group will obey without question. Non-verbal and verbal communication allows humans to interact, conform, and obey each other, as well as their superiors.
Peer pressure and acts of mass blind obedience are all too common occurrences in our everyday society. A person, who under any other circumstances would never act in such a way, will commit unthinkable acts when backed by a single person or even worse, a large mass of individuals. It’s almost always destructive, and the person or persons involved usually always end up feeling regretful and bewildered by their actions. When thinking about group peer pressure, there are several other words that come to mind such as; conformity, compliance, brainwashing and social influence. Group peer pressure can make a person with the purest morals and the highest values act in ways that are more than contradictory. Group peer pressure can turn a saint into a sinner, a leader to a follower, and an individual to a tiny speck in a large and corrupt mass.
Social influence is defined as the pressures of others affect the way people, which lead to conformity and compliance. One main reason that people conform is that they feel the need to always to be right. People want to obtain precise judgments of their reality, and they just assume that when others also agree on something, that the