12 Angry Men

I thought this movie was very interesting and very relevant to today's justice system. It is disturbing to see how the jurors apart from Henry Fonda's character have already condemned "the boy" simply because of his socio economic status, race, and age. Many times one of the jurors refers to "those people" generalizing all Puerto Rican people as low life dangerous criminals. I found it interesting that all twelve jury members had to agree on a verdict. I did not know this was the practice. It is disturbing because the jurors are meant to judge "the boy" without a "reasonable doubt" and so often they agree. I would think that with twelve men finding a reasonable doubt would be far to easy and no verdict would ever be reached. This movie is a testament to people's willingness to agree with one another when dissension arrises. All of these men accept for Jane Fonda were ready to pronounce "the boy" guilty on all accounts and call it a day. This is disturbing because these men are not deciding where to go for drink after work, they are tasked with making a very serious decision as to whether a young man lives or dies.