What Was Said at the Table During the Debate

The movie 12 Angry Men should be a classic. It is a black and white film portraying how as a society go by what we hear, but never sit down and get to the bottom of things. When Juror #10 said, “Listen to me. We're... This kid on trial here... his type, well, don't you know about them? There's a, there's a danger here. These people are dangerous. They're wild. Listen to me. Listen.”; this was a prime example how we can be persuaded into listening or hearing things that make us believe what is really not.

The film's focus is the jury's difficulty in reaching a unanimous verdict. This is when the movie starts to pick up. All jurors take a vote and eleven out of twelve jurors vote guilty. It took courage to stand alone and be the only man to vote against the rest of the jurors. He sickened every other man in the room with his decision, but they heard him out. He can tell that most of the jurors are only following the lead group. His main goal is to find what each individual believes. He is willing to change his decision after they discuss the facts. No one changed their mind from what he had to say but there was a man who started to feel they did not have the whole story. Juror #8, the man who stood alone, took a leap of faith and said, “Take a secret vote, and if it comes out the same as before then I will vote guilty as well.” The other jurors were more than happy to do so not knowing that there would be another who thought something was wrong about the trial and witness statements.

They have all this yelling, fighting, and arguing going around the room and no one wants to change their mind, or at least admit that some things just are not adding up. The jurors who voted guilty are making very good arguments about evidence from the trial but juror #8 raises even better questions about the statements. A few of the others start asking questions as well. The angry father of the group felt the guilty verdict spiraling out of grasp and he screams out trying to...