Thursday, October 6, 2011

PERIOD 3 - 12 ANGRY MEN

Over the past two days you have watched the film “12 Angry Men.”  Please share with the class what you think was the most important message of the film.

39 comments:

caroline graham said...

this film was so amazing. it was so interesting and scary to think that people might judge and make a decision about someones life without truely looking at the deeper facts. if that one man who at first said not guilty wasnt there, that boy would have been killed. it was also interesting who stood up even when the majority yelled at them. it was also interesting to see when people did disagree it couldnt possibly be because they thought he was not guilty it was because the person grew up in the slums. or the guy was italian. the film showed an important message on how truly one person can make such a huge difference. it also showed the viewer why people might take an opposite opinion and how it might not even have to do with the situation and outside problems are interferring (as we saw with the last gentlemen crying after ripping a picture of him with his own son) other all i reall enjoyed the film and it was fun to create other ways the boy wasnt guilty and see if they figured out why also.

Laura Hetherman said...

I think the most important message of the film was not to be a bystander or a follower. Many of the men in the film voted guilty just because that's what most people said and because they wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. I personally really enjoyed watching this movie. One guy saved an 18 years olds life, while eleven others were ready to give him the death penalty just to go home. This movie really showed that people should express their own opinion and not just follow what other people think or do.

Laura Hetherman said...

I agree with Caroline that it is scary to think that people might be so quick to convict people without looking deeply into the facts.

Jenna Kelley said...

I think the most important important message of the film is to always stand up for what you believe in and dont change your beliefs just because of the influence of other people. The one man who thought the boy was not guilty stood alone to begin with, but by the end of the film he had everyone on his side because he kept fighting for what he believed in and didnt give up. People might not always agree with what you have to say, but I think it is better to be true to yourself, then just go along with what everyone else is saying and not believe it. In the end, the boy was found not guilty because of what one man did. He stuck true to his own thoughts and didnt let anyone influence his decision.

Jenna Kelley said...

I agree with Laura about not to be a follower. The man who first stood up for the boy and voted not guilty ended up saving the boy`s life. He didnt back down from what he believed in and eventually everyone decided to vote not guilty with him.

Seungju Chung said...

This film was so interesting. In every scene, the 12 men were in tense. They were arguing about the 18 years old young boy that he is guilty or not guilty. The 12 men share their opinions. When they vote, 11 men voted guilty and one man voted not guilty. The 11 majorities didn't understand him, why did he decide like that. And they started arguing. However, the one majority who voted not guilty alone, explain methodically to 11 majorities. It was very interesting that the majorities who voted to guilty are gradually changed into the boy is not guilty. They convinced by his firm thinking and opinion. I learned that I should make my standpoint clearly when I say my opinion to the others.

Max Bloch said...

The most important message of the film, in my opinion, is to never give up on what you believe. The man who originally voted not guilty could have easily changed his vote to satisfy the group. It would have been easier and quicker for everybody on the jury if he had just given up his view and gone with the general consensus. However, the man was a strong enough individual to fight for what he believed, and through a lot of persuasion, actually swing all 11 other men to his viewpoint. Had he given up at the very beginning, the boy (who's case was eventually decided as not guilty) would be given the death penalty. The man's refusal to give up his beliefs to satisfy others ended up saving a person's life.

Max Bloch said...

I liked Laura's point about not being a bystander or follower. Plenty of the people in the room seemed intimidated by the loud man who thought the boy was guilty. By the end of the film, however, the men stopped sitting there quietly and began to actually voice their own opinion, regardless of what others may have thought.

Andrew MacElhaney said...

The most important message of this film is to go over all the facts with the jury again before you think someone is guilty or not guilty. During the film the one guy almost showed that the kid didn't kill his father but if he said guilty like everyone else the kid would have gone to jail. Seeming he didn't kill his the father do to the facts that they proved that he was not guilty. ALso everyone should be sharing ideas for why they picked guilty or not guilty they should have a reason instead of just picking the same thing as everyone else. Also one of the guys was part of the death penalty thing and wanted to give the 18 year old kid the death penalty.

Andrew MacElhaney said...

I agree with Jenna that you should always stand up for what you believe in no matter what others say and also prove that you think you are right.

Matt Derusha said...

I think the most important message in the film was that you should not believe something just because someone tells you it is true. Stick with what you feel is right, and not give in just because everyone else says it is true.

Matt Derusha said...

I agree with Max Bloch that the man who voted not guilty could of changed his vote easily and the trial would have been over, but he fought for what he believed in, and didnt give in to peer pressure

Jesse Blackwell said...

I think the most important message of the film is that you should always stand up for what you believe in even if that means you are standing alone. Also that in times of serious decision making one should try their best to put all personal feelings and prejudices aside and only consider the facts.

Jesse Blackwell said...

I agree with Max when he says that one of most important messages within this film is that you must never change your own personal opinion to satisfy the group.

Erica Price said...

After watching this film, I feel that the most important message learned was to never make an important decision without really thinking about it first and weighing out the options. At first, the 11 other men who originally said the boy was guilty, didn't think about their decision at all, they picked the easy explanation. When deciding if a person should die or not, there needs to be much more thought involved then just the obvious decision.

Erica Price said...

I agree with Laura's idea. I think it is also important to not be a follower or a bystander, but to stand up for what you believe in.

Caroline Dennett said...

I think the most important message of this film is to stand up for what you believe in and question everything. If the architect had gone with what everyone else assumed, an innocent boy would have been killed. Instead, he chose to give the boy the the benefit of the doubt, keeping his mind open so that he was able to see a different explanation for events and figure out what actually happened. Despite the one man being so rigid, the architect was able to present his case and convince the everyone to save the boy. A life was saved because he stood up for what he believed in and refused to be swayed by the majority opinion.

Caroline Dennett said...

I agree with what Caroline said about one person making a difference. If the architect had not stood up and stuck to what he thought was right, an innocent boy would have been killed.

kate O'Donoghue said...

I thought this film was amazing because it showed the power that one man and his ability to change everybody elses opinion. He gave this man a chance because he knew that the other men believed he was guilty because of his color. They needed to look deeper into the facts, and though he wasn't sure if the man was definitely innocent he wasn't going to kill someone without going deeper into the facts. This film shows the power that one man has to make a difference.

Brendan Dolan said...

I think the most important message of this film is to stand up for what you believe in. If the architect did not stand up for what he believed in from the beginning, the kid on trial would have died. This shows that it is important.

Aidan Dolan said...

I think the most important message of the film was to not make a judgment on someone without knowing all of the facts. If the first man did not stop to consider whether the “facts” were true and there was no reasonable doubt, the kid would have died.

Heather Mannarino said...

i think the most important message of the film is you can't just assume things about people or a case. Like the phrase "don't judge a book by its cover" people can't just assume this about anyone or anything without looking close at it.

Heather Mannarino said...

I agree with Caroline that you only need one man to make a difference. Even if everyone is against, you shouldn't give up on what is right, especially when your alone on the matter.

Nick said...

The most important message of the movie was not to just be like everyone else, but to be be your own person and think what you want. By one man, out of twelve, standing up on the basis of "what if" helped to save a boy from death. He was being judged on where he lives, how he acted, and basically generalized with other kids who are from a slum type of area.

Nick Ferretti said...

I agree strongly with Erica, when faced with the decision of life or death of another human being, especially when the human is a very young, eighteen year old, all the options must be accounted for, as well as the facts must be discussed to a sufficient point where the jurors feel that they have come to the right verdict.

Evan Rodriguez said...

I believe the most important message in the film is that someone convicted is not truly guilty until proven. Those facts can't be based on sterotypes of other people you have to look at the facts and analyze the data closily to understand and produce that doubt.

Evan Rodriguez said...

I agree with Jesse in that you have to put your prejudice others aside to determine the fate of others.

Jim Gross said...

This film was surprisingly entertaining. To be honest, when I first looked at the screen and saw a black and white picture I was a little dismayed; but as the plot grew thicker and thicker, I was actually hanging onto the edge of my seat at a few points.
I thought that the most important message of this film was to question disputable facts. I'm not saying that it's telling you to question whether or not the Earth revolves around the Sun, but if somebody tells you something, and you're not sure, then don't have a lot riding on that decision. If you do, then you need to question everything about it until you get to the cold, hard facts.

DavidRos123 said...

I felt that the most important message of the film was that ou must look over all aspects of your problem before making any major decisions. In this case, if the life of an 18 year old boy was in your hands, you cannot take you responsibility lightly. You have to look over every little detail and fact until you come up with the best solution that ou think satisfies everyone else.

DavidRos123 said...

I concur with Max's opinion. If everybody were easily influnced to follow one another's opinion then there would be no personal opinions. If everyone were to agree with each withot truly believing into their decision then hey are not doing their job.

Brian Doran said...

The most important message in this film is to not make judgements based on insufficient evidence. This young boy was almost put to death because of a ridiculous court case. Because of one mans actions he was able to change the minds of the other 11 men in the room. This man had very good points and after a long discussion he was to save this boys life. It wasn't surprising to see people making judgements about this boy because of his skin color and where he came from, and his life was spared because one man stood up for what he believed in.

Brian Doran said...

I also agree with Caroline and feel that it is very shocking that people could put this young boy to death that quickly.

Evan Thayer said...

I found it quite ridiculous at how people were so quick to judge and would let their own prejudiced effect a decision that concerns the taking or the saving of a life. People truly thought that just because this kid was an immigrant that he was the most likely person in his father's killing. Without even looking through all the facts of the court case.

Evan Thayer said...

I believe that the most important message of this movie was that you must stand up for what you believe in no matter how alone you are on the matter, because a single person can create a storm that changes the world.

Dan Terry said...

I think that the most important message of this film was that one should not let prejudice cloud the scrutiny of allegations. The boy was accused of murder and the jury was tasked with disregarding their judgments and preconceived notions of the boy to review the case as finely as possible to ensure that they weren't sentencing a mere eighteen-year-old to his death. Although I agree with the message, of course, I was a little unhappy with its execution in this film. Sure, they found reasonable doubt, but through speculation and coercion. So, I don't know if I completely agree with the films portrayal of this message. However, I do agree with Jenna Kelley when she says that it's important to stand on your own principles even when you may be standing alone.

Tom Rafferty said...

I think the message of the film is to not assume things based on peoples race. You should look at the facts and make a decesion. Dont judge them by what they look like or do. The film showed what the consequences can be if everyone is like that. If one man hadnt of stood up to the others a boy would of wrongfully been convicted of murder.

Tom Rafferty said...

Matt, I agree. You should stand up for yourself and express your own feelings. Look at the facts not what is acceptable.

Anonymous said...

I think it was incredable to see that 12 people in a room could decide so quickly on someones fate like that. We didn't get to see the actual trial so we dont know what kind of information was brought out. i just think its brave that this one man stood out against 11 others and got them to change their minds, letting a more than likely innocent person go free.

Marina Lucas- Santos said...

I wasn't in class for the first half of the movie so i didn't really understand the second half.