Sunday, June 24, 2012

Twelve Angry Men

With all of the controversial court cases that have been in the news recently, the film Twelve Angry Men was definitely an interesting inside look into the complicated nature of a jury.  It's no wonder the process of selecting a jury is so long...


This movie depicts the exact benefits and problems with using a jury made up of average U.S. citizens. Every person has their own story, their own opinions, and most importantly their own biases.  Based on this movie the selection process was a tiny bit more lax in 1957 than it is today, but the film's example of this proved the importance of having many different people of varying backgrounds in place on a jury.  It proves the importance of democracy and that someone's fate cannot be left up to a single person, because if that person has a bias against a certain sex, age, color, etc. they cannot be deemed able to pass judgment on their own.  Other perspectives must certainly be brought to the table for a collective agreement.  Below is a clip depicting one of the jurors in the film that held a racial prejudice against the defendant and the culmination of his opinion and how everyone else felt about it:


If only this were the exact response that everyone gave to prejudice like this..  We should all turn our backs to it and make it known that it is not tolerated.

I loved Twelve Angry Men because it is the perfect example of why sometimes the difficult conversations need to be had.  The political argument or debate on social issues and values is at times heated and uncomfortable, but that does not mean that we must shy away.  The ability to express our opinions is what makes us human, and no, we will not always agree that is definite.  But why must we always agree?  We are freethinking and I hold that in the highest regard.  The only thing that must unite us is morality, a code of ethics, and the underlying drive to ultimately do what we feel is just.


Rating:

Visual - 5
Acting - 9
Script/Plot - 9
Attention - 8
Emotional Response - 7

Total = 38/50

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