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Bias In 12 Angry Men

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The movie 12 Angry Men, directed by Sidney Lumet, introduces twelve jury members each one coming from a different background. The experiences and personalities of these men play a critical element in the first majority vote in deciding the verdict of guilty or not guilty. Juror #3, #10, and #11 were very influential in that their opinions and thoughts on the case were determined by their own personal bias. Therefore, a person’s behavior, opinions, and thoughts are reflected on how that person feels on the inside. Juror #3 is against the boy that is being tried and very biased towards him; this results in how he acts during the meeting and what his thoughts are regarding the case. This bias is due to an argument he had with his own son who punched him in the jaw and ran away from home: “I’ve got a kid…when he was …show more content…

I hate tough kids! You work your heart out.” We can get a lot from this juror in that he condemns teenagers and has resentment towards them. Since the boy was born and raised in the bad part of the city, it gave Juror #3 more reason to vote guilty because he is biased against people who live in the slums. Juror #10 divides and segregates people stereotypically into ‘them’ and ‘us’. ‘Us’ being middle-class or rich people living in the city, and ‘them’ being poor people or of a different skin color or race, born and raised in the slums. Since the boy lived in such a place he was obviously a victim to violence and crime so, Juror #10 was biased against him from the beginning. Also, the boy being Hispanic placed him on the discriminatory list of what makes a criminal. This is further proven when juror #10 says: “They don’t need any real big reason to kill someone, either. You know, they get drunk, and bang, someone’s lying in the gutter… most of them, it’s like they have no feelings.” Because he believes all of this, this juror is second to last in changing his vote. Juror #11 is from Europe and has faced injustice and many hardships along the

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