12 Angry Men (1957) a film that addressed the ongoing social change in the American way of thinking. This film demonstrates the power of film through introduction of new outlooks, it addresses social restructure in a broken America, and demonstrates the power of logical discernment through cooperation. This movie holds many truths hidden in plain sight and my duty is to give a constructive knowledgeable opinion on this film. the essential question which makes this film stimulating is: why are we more familiar with 1971 than 1953, what changed in fourteen years? 12 Angry Men is a film about twelve men that hold a young mans life in their hands. (A.H. WEILER, 1957) The film is a true court drama, but without the court. Weiler for the NY Times …show more content…
From 1950’s – 1980’s black voter registration increased dramatically due to the ongoing tensions in the nation form racial backlash. (“SELMA, 20 YEARS AFTER THE RIGHTS MARCH”, 1985) 1955 was the year when Mr. King and Rosa Parks participated in one of the first forms of boycott when they instructed the African American community to stay off the buses. (“SELMA, 20 YEARS AFTER THE RIGHTS MARCH”, 1985) these tensions took hold of the American creed and sought to change the status quo. 12 Angry Men breaks these racial barriers, for example “there is the garage owner seething with racial prejudice”, as Weiler describes in his review of the film. (A.H. WEILER, 1957) This man is ultimately convinced that his racial prejudice is not rational, it does not work in the judgment of society. The film tries to break barriers and ensure that twelve men from different socioeconomic backgrounds can work together and reach a rational concussion without being influenced by racial …show more content…
(“The longest war”, 2000) This was a controversial time in American history which was later influenced heavily by a preferred social direction for the American public. America was at a social standstill following World War II. There was an aim for victory narrative that followed in the Cold War years. (Sarat, 26) A new image of the common American was being formed by an international standpoint. Victory for American leaders meant that the task of the future revolved around building global institutions to avoid another war and economic depression. (Sarat, 26) The idea of controlling the future gave rise to anti-Communism in foreign and domestic affairs. (Sarat, 26) Nationalist dogma ceased prior to Pearl Harbor, a need for global control developed in the American philosophy. With this attitude came the superiority in political thinking and the drive to end victorious in the constant race against communism and the Soviet Union. What happened in 1953 that led to this domino effect? This period of history was a complete world stalemate, on one side the leader of the free world and on the other communist Russia. There were several events which characterized this time period culminating with the Berlin airlift of 1948-49, the Cuban missile crisis in 1962. (“A history of lost opportunities”, 2007) In reality there was a need for rationality. Americans had to believe that there was no
One of the biggest fears of the American people is that the concept of communism contrasts drastically from the concept of capitalism, which the United States was essentially founded upon. The United States, as the public believed, was not a land of perfect communal equality, but rather a land of equal opportunity. However, what made communism so dangerous can be succinctly described by Eisenhower who compared the spread of communism as the domino effect. As his secretary of state, Dulles, put it, the propagation of communism “would constitute a threat to the sovereignty and independence” of America (Doc B). In addition, the Cold War also planted the seeds of rational fear of a global nuclear war. As Russia caught up to the United States in terms of technological advancements, they successfully developed the atomic bomb as well as the hydrogen bomb, which caused Americans to believe that the USSR would use these weapons of mass destruction to forcefully extend their ideologies to the USA. In fact, Americans were so frantic about a potential nuclear disaster that it...
The alliance formed between the US and USSR during the second world war was not strong enough to overcome the decades of uneasiness which existed between the two ideologically polar opposite countries. With their German enemy defeated, the two emerging nuclear superpowers no longer had any common ground on which to base a political, economical, or any other type of relationship. Tensions ran high as the USSR sought to expand Soviet influence throughout Europe while the US and other Western European nations made their opposition to such actions well known. The Eastern countries already under Soviet rule yearned for their independence, while the Western countries were willing to go to great lengths to limit Soviet expansion. "Containment of 'world revolution' became the watchword of American foreign policy throughout the 1950s a...
...e Great Society was moving forward, the race problem had ended, as far as the foreign countries could see. The impact of domestic problems in the transnational sphere was non-existent; there was no one to impress any longer, even though the Cold War did not officially end until the Berlin Wall came down in 1989. In the end, Vietnam was not a part of her dichotomy between Civil Rights and the Cold War, even though the War in Vietnam was definitely a portion of United States interaction in the Cold War. The great point of Cold War Civil Rights is the important of looking at domestic issues in a transnational perspective. Most books and scholarly journal articles cannot see the 1950s and 1960s America from a global standpoint, nor do they make an attempt. Mary Dudziak is one step ahead in this approach; it just makes sense, especially for this particular time period.
The film that interested me for this assignment was “Boyz n the Hood”. The movie was about a Los Angeles neighborhood expanding of drug and gang culture, with increasingly tragic results. It was about how one teen had family support to guide him on the right path in life regarding the social problems around him. The other two teens in the film wasn’t as fortunate and fell into the social problems of drugs, violence, and gangs; where one ended up dead.
We are all different. We are all at least biased on one topic. Some people just look at the surface, while others dig deeper into the facts that were given. Reginald Rose demonstrated these points beautifully in 12 Angry Men. All of the Jurors bring a special part of their personality to the jury room, which is the beauty of having a jury. All of the jurors are different in their own unique way,
12 Angry Men is about 12 men who are the jury for an 18 year old accused of murder. The judge states in the opening scene that it is a premeditated murder in the 1st degree, if found guilty will automatically receive the death penalty. The 18 year old male is accused of killing his father with a “one of a kind” switch blade, in their home. The prosecutors have several eye witness testimonies, and all of the evidence that they could need to convict the 18 year old male. In the movie it takes place on the hottest day of the year in New York City. There are 12 jurors whom are to decide if the evidence is enough to convict the teen of murder in the first degree. In the first initial vote it is 11-1. The only way that the jurors could turn in their votes was if there was unanimous vote either guilty or not guilty among the 12 jurors. As the movie progressed the jurors ended up changing their minds as new evidence was brought to their attention by simple facts that were overlooked by the police and prosecutors in the initial investigation. Tempers were raised, and words flew, there was prejudice and laziness of a few of the jurors that affected the amount of time it took to go over all of the eye witness testimonies and evidence. The eye witness testimonies ended up being proven wrong and some of the evidence was thrown out because it was put there under false pretense.
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
Twelve Angry Men is a depiction of twelve jurors who deliberate over the verdict of a young defendant accused of murder, highlighting many key communications concepts discussed throughout the semester. One of these concepts was the perspective of a true consensus, the complete satisfaction of a decision by all parties attributed. An array of inferences were illustrated in the movie (some spawning collective inferences) as well as defiance among the jurors. Each of these concepts play a role endorsing, or emphasizing the other. We can analyze the final verdict of the jurors and establish if there was a true consensus affecting their decision. In turn, we can analyze the inferences during the deliberation and directly link how they affect the consensus (or lack thereof). Defiance among the jurors was also directly
The Soviet Union began to view the United States as a threat to communism, and the United States began to view the Soviet Union as a threat to democracy. On March 12, 1947, Truman gave a speech in which he argued that the United States should support nations trying to resist Soviet imperialism. Truman and his advisors created a foreign policy that consisted of giving reconstruction aid to Europe, and preventing Russian expansionism. These foreign policy decisions, as well as his involvement in the usage of the atomic bomb, raise the question of whether or not the Cold War can be blamed on Truman. Supporting the view that Truman was responsible for the Cold War, Arnold Offner argues that Truman’s parochialism and nationalism caused him to make contrary foreign policy decisions without regard to other nations, which caused the intense standoff between the Soviet Union and America that became the Cold War (Offner 291)....
The 1955 film, Rebel Without a Cause is a seminal film for its period, not for its cinematic or literary excellence, but for what it conveyed to post-war adolescents embarking on a trajectory of shifting social mores, namely a paean for emotional expression and acceptance of social outcasts. The story fearlessly exposes elements of the dreaded rebellious adolescent; an age group alienated by parents and family, seeking greater meaning and value through questionable means, lacking confidence, and only acquiring validation and acceptance from peers. The writer/director of the film seems to take the point of view of a juvenile delinquent, constructing a sympathetic portrait of maladjusted youth rather than that of standard 1950’s middle class adults. The story does not condemn nor promote the wild behavior it depicts, but rather holds it up to an ambilivent kind of scrutiny. Subjected to widespread censorship, the film was daring for its time for failing to uphold production code standards in its representation of criminal behaviors that go unpunished. More importantly, Rebel Without a Cause struck a chord for many teenagers who were moved by honest depictions of irreverent adolescents empowered to stand up against the hypocrisy of an older generation. The story models a level of compassion and sensitivity for the human condition that allows the viewer to question social prejudices of the time and the moral courage it takes to face down those prejudices.
I have chosen to review the film Boyhood written by Richard Linklater that took twelve years to film. In the movie Boyhood, it illustrates the life of a boy named Mason Jr. through the many stages of his childhood to adolescence to becoming an adult. The movie follows Mason Jr.’s life through his years of kindergarten, middle school, high school, and to college. Through these milestones in his life encounters society with socialization, culture and norms that are exhibited through his family, friends, and others. With factors of social classes, and gender that influence Mason Jr. as he grows and fits into the society that is formed. From the events and milestones in Boyhood, it is able to show human behaviour in society from our
Weiler, A. H. "Screen: '12 Angry Men'; Jury Room Drama Has Debut at Capitol." The New York Times. New York Times Company, 15 Apr. 1957. Web. 17 Mar. 2014.
Twelve Angry Men, is a play written by Reginald Rose. The play is about the process of individuals and a court case, which is determining the fate of a teenager. It presents the themes of justice, independence and ignorance. Rose emphasises these three themes through the characters and the dialogue. Justice is the principle of moral rightness or equity. This is shown through juror number eight who isn’t sure whether or not the boy is actually innocent or guilty, but he persists to ask questions and convinces the other jurors to think about the facts first. Independence is shown through both juror number three and ten. They both believe that the defendant is guilty until they both realise that they can not relate there past experiences with the court case. Ignorance is shown throughout all the jurors during the play, it is also brought out through the setting of the play.
New York Times [New York Edition] 27 July 2011, Daily A29. Web. 11 Dec. 2011. . Nunez, Mark. " 12 Angry Men."
Roger Donaldson’s film, Thirteen Days dramatizes the Kennedy administration reaction to the Cuban Missile Crisis. The film discusses a time when the United States had come close to a nuclear war with other nations. The film mainly focuses on showing the audience the United States perspective of the crisis. The Cuban Missile crisis was a thirteen-day long confrontation between the United States, Cuba, and the Soviet Union. This crisis started out when both the United States and the Soviet Union wanted to be seen as the most superior nation in the world. Therefore, both nations decided to use the technology they had in order to produce nuclear missiles and other weapons to show the globe how powerful they were as nations. The United States and