The movie, 12 Angry Men, encourages the audience to fully develop their own ideas and find a logical reason behind something before jumping to conclusions. The 12 jurors participate in a group discussion over the trial of a young man charged with murdering his father. At many points, this discussion becomes hostile and provokes feelings of disdain and frustration among the jurors. Mr. Davis, Juror Eight, displays his core beliefs of open- mindedness, work ethic, and ability to think logically to create reasonable doubt in the minds of the other jurors.
Mr. Davis, in the movie, maintains an open mind and pulls on the other jurors to have an open mind as well because the “boy may die” (Rose, 12 Angry Men). Having an open mind is important in the movie because the facts and evidence can be interpreted in many ways and it is always good to see something from a different angle. While Davis remains open to the ideas of other, Juror Three and Four, throughout the movie, argue that the boy is guilty only on two pieces of evidence without looking at the rest of the evidence or from a different angle. This idea of looking at the evidence they believe is “likely support those beliefs” (University Of Pennsylvania, Authentic Happiness) is named selective exposure and for good reason. Juror Three and Four provoke distain among the rest of the jurors through this selective exposure. Open mindedness “has been touted by philosophers of education as a vital characteristic of the educated mind” (Taylor, Openmindedness) and is crucial to being able to fully conclude whether or not the boy is guilty in the trial. A required skill for living a full life and properly understanding certain topics is being open minded. Mr. Davis exemplifies an understanding for this concept and applies it to the trial that could result in the boy being executed.
Work ethic is required to get something done and Mr. Davis exemplifies a strong work ethic in order to convince the rest of the jurors that there is “reasonable doubt”(Rose, 12 Angry Men). There are multiple times throughout the movie that Mr. Davis and Juror Nine discuss how it is “only one night”( Rose, 12 Angry Men) and that they will “do whatever it takes”( Rose, 12 Angry Men) to make the
Juror Eight kept in his mind that he needs to have evidence and think about the evidences critically and proof to other jurors that the possibility of the defendant being guilty could be less than what they think. He did not get personal about the case and stood up by himself ignoring other ways of thinking. This shows how Juror Eight was very patient even though at the beginning of the play he was all by himself. At the end, he was successful in convincing the other jurors because he understood the background and the personality of each juror as the time passed. This quote signals Juror Eight’s determination and patience to examine all the evidence and make sure the evident character of the defendant’s murder. The honest and simply request encourages a great deal of powerful tension among the jurors, many of whom are given to conflicting views.
The 1957 film 12 Angry Men, written by Reginald Rose, tells the story of a jury made up of twelve men, as they contemplate the sentencing of a young man accused of murder. As the name implies, many of the jurors become extremely emotional as the deliberation process moves on. The jurors’ emotions and unique personalities create various conflicts and show how they each have differing perspectives on the trial. Throughout the deliberation process it becomes clear that several of the jurors harbor personal prejudices which end up affecting their decisions in reaching a verdict. It is clear from the beginning that if not for one juror, known as Juror 8, the jury would have returned a unanimous guilty verdict with no deliberation.
In the script, “The Twelve Angry Men,” by Reginald Rose, Juror Eight, is one of the twelve jurors to be involved in this court case. Juror Eight is a calm, considerate, and empathetic man. An individual who seeks the truth and considers several perspectives on situations. A man of power and compassion. After all, he is a man who wants fairness and is willing to fight for it.
Similarly ,In Twelve Angry Men Juror 8 is a smart and moral juror who is willing to stand against all the other jurors for what he thinks is right. He is the main protagonist who believes a boy accused with murdering his father deserves a discussion prior to a guilty verdict. Although all the other jurors initially voted guilty, juror 8 believed that the jurors should not “send a boy off to die without talking about it first”(Juror 8, 12). Throughout the play Juror 8 combats the pressure from the other Jurors to just vote guilty and manages to convince his fellow Jurors one by one that there in fact is “reasonable doubt”(Judge, 6) and convinces them to arrive at a “not guilty”(Juror 3, 72) verdict. Reginald Rose extols Juror 8’s pursuit of justice through his success. Not only did Juror 8 stand by his principles and have the courage to stand against all the other Jurors, he also had the wits to convince his fellow jurors to change their verdict. Through these actions Juror 8 brings justice to the courts of New York city saving the life of a young boy.
According the five Methods for Influencing Other Group Members - use of reason, assertiveness, coalition building, higher values, and bargaining - when Juror Eight said: “we are talking about somebody life here, we can’t just decide within five minutes, suppose we are wrong”, he used the youth human-being life’s important and the danger of a false decision as good reasons to force other jurors in analyzing the facts carefully. He then talks about the boy’s backgrounds for appealing to logic and rational thinking of other jurors. Juror Three was overt prejudice, hostility, and used “assertiveness” to influence the other ten jurors of jury provided an antagonist for juror Eight. Juror eight used “coalition building” method to seek alignment with other group members. He never says that he believes the defendant is innocent but his mantra throughout the movie was “it’s possible!” referring to the reasonable doubt, which he convinced others’ thought. Juror Eight continued to appeal other eleven juror’s higher values by repeatedly reinforcing their moral and judicial obligation to convict only if there was no reasonable doubt. He challenged each juror to look at the facts more thoughtfully. “Bargaining” is offering an instrument exchange. Juror 8 used this method when he said: “I want to call for another vote… If there are 11 votes for guilty, I won’t stand alone… But if anyone votes not guilty, we stay here and talk it out.”
Davis kept this room together with his leader skills and more importantly his drive to show his belief that every life has value. “It’s only one night, a boy may die,” Stated Mr. Davis as some of the more hard headed men wanted to give in to the long hours spent in the heated room. He even went as deep as to accuse some of the lawyers of “just being plain stupid.” Mr. Davis knew that this boy’s life was on the line, furthermore he knew that this boy’s life was not going to be decided in the first five minutes of the time the jurors had to reach a verdict. Standing so strongly by his beliefs, he even dug into the personal lives of some of the other jurors he was fighting against.
When looking at the film, “12 Angry men”, conformity plays a big role in the jury room. The film demonstrates the tremendous amount of power social influence can have on individuals to conform because they believe that by adjusting their own behaviour to align to the norms of the group, will lead to an increased level of acceptance. Conformity due to social influence can be identified within the jury room, some Juror members conformed due to
The movie 12 Angry Men takes place in a room of 12 jurors as they discuss the guilt of a boy charged with the murder of his father. The facts of the case have been laid out, and each juror already has decided how they feel. Initially the vote was 11-1 guilty. The one vote for not guilty came from Juror Number Eight, Mr. Davis, played by Henry Fonda. Mr. Davis voted not guilty because he had reasonable doubt about evidence presented by the prosecution. As Mr. Davis explains his reasoning behind his reasonable doubt, the core values of himself and other jurors are displayed. As the movie continues, the vote slowly turns from 11-1 guilty to 12-0 not guilty. Mr. Davis brings up point after point that force his fellow jurors to analyze themselves and in the end, change the way they vote. Ultimately, the 1957 film 12 Angry Men forces the audience to look inward after watching the juror’s words, manners, and priorities change throughout the jury session.
The 1957 movie version of 12 Angry Men, brings twelve people together with different personalities and experiences to discuss the fate of a young boy that allegedly killed his father. At the very beginning, many agree that the boy is guilty except for one man. Juror #8 votes not guilty and pushes to have the evidence talked through. After reviewing all the evidence carefully, the tables turned from guilty to not guilty. Each juror brought different experiences and personalities to the jury room. The two that were forceful with their opinions and their reasonings to decide either way we're jurors #8 and #3.
Reginald Rose’s ‘Twelve Angry Men’ is a play which displays the twelve individual jurors’ characteristics through the deliberation of a first degree murder case. Out of the twelve jurors, the 8th Juror shows an outstanding heroism exists in his individual bravery and truthfulness. At the start, the 8th Juror stands alone with his opposing view of the case to the other eleven jurors. Furthermore, he is depicted as a juror who definitely understands the jury system and defends it from the jurors who do not know it fully. At the end, he eventually successes to persuade the eleven other jurors and achieves a unanimous verdict, showing his
The play and film of Twelve Angry Men show how being in a jury requires a great deal of logic, along with the ability to look over a case thoroughly. At first, the majority of the jurors think that the boy is guilty. They all believe that there is sufficient evidence to prove it. However, juror number eight points out that there are reasonable doubts, and that there is not enough hard evidence to prove the boy guilty. Some information throughout the story is more important or major than other parts, and some information and details were changed throughout the play and the film. Even though the play and the film are similar, there are major and minor details that are changed inside of both stories that make them unique.
In tough times, it is easy to forget what is right and wrong. The movie Twelve Angry Men is a very clear demonstration on right and wrong. The film is about twelve jurors who are deciding the fate of a young man accused of killing his father. These twelve men all vote for guilty, except for the eighth juror, who votes innocent. It seems very clear that the suspect is guilty, and the eighth juror goes against everyone to give the young man a fair chance. Although all other jurors try to pressure him into voting guilty, he sticks to his gut and eventually proves the suspect innocent. In the 1957 film 12 Angry Men, the eighth juror, Mr. Davis, sticks to his core values of honesty, fair judgement, and hard work to prove the young man accused of killing his father to be innocent.
Each man brought their own experiences and attitudes to the case and thus, this complicated the process for Davis in all of the men seeing eye-to-eye. Some men believed that the boy was guilty simply because the jury said so. Others believed that the boy was guilty because all poor people who lived in the slums were no good and lastly, the most stubborn juror wanted to convict the boy because of personal issues he had with his son. Nevertheless, through logical arguments and an impressively calm temperament, he was able to open the eyes of all of the
In the movie 12 Angry Men, the jurors are set in a hot jury room while they are trying to determine the verdict of a young man who is accused of committing a murder. The jurors all explain why they think the accused is guilty or not guilty. Throughout the movie they are debating back and forth and the reader begins to realize that even though the jurors should try to not let bias cloud their judgement, the majority of the jurors are blinded by bias. The viewer can also see that the jurors have their own distinguishable personalities. Their personalities intertwine with each other to demonstrate how the jury system is flawed, but that is what makes it work.
The film uses juror three to demonstrate how past experiences can influence ones prejudice in decision making. Juror 3, who has a prejudice against the accused, and thinks the kid is under-privileged and doesn’t deserve a second chance, which is reason enough for him to conclude the accused is guilty. As the discussion continues as to the verdict of the trial, juror three grows frustrated and angrily refutes, “What is this? Love your under- privileged bother week or something? (12 Angry Men). Due to his past experiences with young men, he is ready to sentence the defendant to death with weak circumstantial evidence, grows angry as the other jurors question what he refers to as “facts” and claims “You can’t refute facts” (12 Angry Men) As all the Jurors except juror twelve get more and more frustrated by the slowed process, juror three begins to see through his prejudice, and disperses the other jurors interruptions by saying “Be quiet, we’ll all get a turn”(12 Angry Men). It finally becomes clear, he sees similarities with his son he had a falling out with several years ago, and puts this prejudice aside and excepts that the evidence is too circumstantial to convict a kid for murder, and sentence him to death.