Merchants Of Doubt, By Robert Keener

or this project we viewed the original 1957 version of Twelve Angry Men, an American Drama, adapted from the teleplay written by Reginald Rose with the same name starring Henry Fonda as the lead role.

Every man has opinions, some which are stronger than others, but do these thoughts define the man? In Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee’s play Inherit The Wind opinions do not define the people who advocate them. Each character in this play has viewpoints that influence their actions. The bravery, honesty and determination required to express an opinion defines a person more than the opinion, allowing one to respect a man who advocates unpopular opinions.

Camus published “L'Etranger” or “The Stranger” during World War II, and it became one of his most discussed works in Europe (Rhein). The popularity of Camus’ work can be attributed to the overall feelings in Europe brought by the havoc of war that had left the lands marred. Many people throughout Europe were hurt by the war and began to question the point of life amidst such destruction. This resonates with the modern audience as well because “The Stranger” continues to play on themes that can be seen in the horrifying occurrences that fill the media today (Rhein). Many atrocities allow a modern audience to relate to the events of WWII, such as the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Rwandan Genocide, and the Haitian earthquake, which leave many questioning

Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines a superhero as, “a fictional character who has amazing powers (such as the ability to fly)” or “a very heroic person”; yet, many of the characters in Watchmen have no supernatural power and are immoral by most precedent societal standards. Alan Moore, in the graphic novel Watchmen (1986-1987), asserts Rorschach as an example of deontology. Moore supports his thoughts through dialogue and illustration. The author’s purpose is to juxtapose philosophical beliefs by comparing their varied flaws through differing narrators’ points of view. The author takes a condescending tone in an effort to enrage his target audience of adult males. This paper seeks to illustrate, qualify, and challenge Moore’s claim that Rorschach is a deontologist.

John Ford’s 1956 film, The Searchers, is a classic Western tale set in the staked plains, post-Civil War era. Like most of John Ford’s Western films, The Searchers is also filmed in Monument Valley, Arizona/Utah. John Ford first introduces Ethan Edwards (John Wayne) returning on horseback to his brother, Aaron Edwards’s (Walter Coy) house three years after the Civil War. Ethan is introduced to Martin Pawley (Jeffery Hunter), the adopted son of Mr. and Mrs. Edwards. The film moves forward when Rev. Captain Clayton (Ward Bond) volunteers Ethan, Marty, and a group of men to search for the Jorgensen’s missing cattle. The search turns its tracks when the men realize that the Edwards family have been killed by the Comanche Indians, and Debbie (Natalie Wood) and Lucy (Pippa Scott) are taken by Scar. Although Ethan is the anti-hero, him and Marty are the protagonists of The Searchers. Both Ethan and Marty’s lives are flipped upside down and are now on a journey to save Debbie and Lucy. The antagonist, Scar, is possibly considered Ethan’s alter ego because they share several similarities. Throughout the film, Ethan and Marty face many challenges accepting their background and issues. The overall meaning of the film is to let go of the past and accept what the future has to offer; John Ford’s use of paradigm, style, and themes drives the overall meaning throughout the film.

Nick Naylor is the Vice-President of the Academy of Tobacco Studies works under “BR” who is a type of boss that doesn’t care how a task gets done but just that it is completed while making Big Tobacco look good. Naylor is talented in speaking and spins argument to defend the cigarette industry in the most difficult situations. For example, he goes to speak in front of his sons class for career day and gets confronted by a student (who has clearly been taught by her parents that cigarettes are the equivalent of poison) which states “My Mommy says smoking kills…..Naylor: Oh, is your Mommy a doctor?..... No…..Naylor: A scientific researcher of some kind?.... No……Naylor: Well, then she's hardly a credible expert, is she?” In this instance Naylor makes his business appear to be above doctors, scientific research, and all credible experts while avoiding the original statement. This is Nick Naylor’s job. Nick Naylor is a lobbyist.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy is a story of a father and son who are in a post-apocalyptic world, where all they have is the things on their back and each other.Their goal is to cross the desolate and scorched America to reach the west coast where they might seek refuge and a better life. Most of the book the characters are walking across roads and scavenging food so that they can stay living. Their only defense is a revolver the father keeps in his pocket that only has two rounds in the chamber and their bare hands. After traveling for sometime the father and son encounter a group of marauders and quickly get out of sight because the father says that they are the “bad guys.” After discovered by one of them, the boy is held hostage by one of the marauders for a few brief moments until the father pulls the trigger killing the man that tried to take his son. This part is the first major conflict of the story and proves that the father is willing to do anything to protect his son. As the book goes on the father and son continue to walk across state roads and many other roads that were once apart of the United States of America. They come across a few more people who were also “bad guys,” as described by the father and have to take the appropriate measures to deal with those, “bad guys.”

Errol Morris, author of “There Is Such a Thing as Truth”, believes in truth. When he was ten years old, Morris challenged an older neighborhood kid a question about which city was further west, Reno or Los Angeles. Even though Morris knew that the answer was Reno, the older kid refused to admit the truth. Furthermore, in a similar scenario when Morris was an adult, an innocent man was sentenced to die by electric chair. Wanting to tell the truth, Morris filmed a documentary to release the guiltless man from prison.

When put into a scenario of what you would do post-apocalypse, the society may begin to question what is actually important. Everything is suddenly amplified and survival automatically becoming a key component to most. So what else can actually matters? Relationships are lost, but some may grow stronger. Ethics are tested, and beliefs suddenly change. In the novel, The Road by Cormac McCarthy, begins with America - or assuming the whole world- had gone through a unpredictable apocalypse. Combining what is left of the society and the world falling dangerously apart, it has caused them to go through many dangers to survive. Through all the disastrous events, the end of God and ethics, the father continues to show and represent his moral values through his son and refuses to forget any belief that he still has. For the movie, 28 days later, the protagonist of the story, Jim, wakes up from a coma to an abandoned hospital completely delusional to what has happened in London. When seeking out for help or any type of life that could be out there, he find himself in a deathly situation; A church full of zombies out for nothing but blood, until two other people save him and catch him up of London 's downfall of civilization. The tale is about the survival and heroics and how mankind tries to survive threw savage nature.

“Hope… Sometimes that’s all you have when you have nothing else. If you have it. You have everything .” In The Road by Cormac McCarthy a recurring theme in the story is gaining or losing hope. Throughout this story there are numerous instances and events that occur in which all seems lost at a dead end, but in those moment hope carries through and thrives. In this dystopian post apocalyptic world the man and boy are fighting to stay alive while keeping their humanity as well as searching for what humanity is left in this kill or be killed cannibalistic planet. As their time journeying down the road increases so do the dangers and obstacles they face to survive. The more they overcome the more hope thrives in them showing that in even in the most catastrophic events having hope helps them get closer to finding the light at the end of the tunnel and not being consumed by the darkness.

It is very hard to not allow prejudice out of your mind, making decisions about others. It always seems that prejudice obscures the truth whatever you do. This best sums up the story of the play, Twelve Angry Men. Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose, is about twelve caucasian jurors who are forced to make a verdict on whether a defendant of non-caucasian descent is guilty or not for premeditated homicide against his father. Unfortunately, the whole verdict seemed to depend on the thoughtful juror number eight who wants justice to be done and will fight to see that it is. In the drama, biases are unceasingly evident in the courtroom and disastrously influence the crucial decision of what will take effect to the defendant of a case. Many biases are chaperoned in the courtroom of the play from the jurors that heavily influence the verdict.

Filmmaker Aaron Biebert has recently spoken out about this problem in an interview, explaining that the promotion of this kind of misinformation is contributing to millions of lives that have been lost due to cigarettes.

Familial ties, tradition and upbringing shape an individuals identity and sense of security. This idea is expressed in “The Follower” by Seamus Heaney as well as in two short stories from Alistair Macleod's “The Island”; “The Boat” and “Golden Gift of Grey.”. The texts illustrate the importance in establishing and maintaining connections of paternal nature. They divulge in the idea that incompatibility with one's home can affect the viewing of their place in the world, and indicate that qualities such as physical and intellectual skill can factor into a sense of belonging and place.

In the novel, The Stranger by Albert Camus, Meursault the protagonist, becomes drawn into a “senseless” murder that has to face the absurdity of life and because of his actions, Meursault is presented as a danger due to his lack of “morality” to society. Meursault who is not able to take control of his life but respond to what life offers him believes in the simplicity of life. He tries to understand the living through logic and objectivity, which ultimately turns futile, as he himself cannot maintain proper control over his thoughts and emotions. From the interactions between Marie, to the murder of the Arab, and the meeting with the Chaplain, Meursault overcomes his indifferent views to form an opinion about what life really means. The central theme presented by Camus is how the threat of mortality becomes a catalyst for understanding the significance of life.

We see these tactics frequently from industries where scientific evidence exists to challenge their markets. They create a propaganda campaign to confuse the public about what the data say, and since the public is generally scientifically illiterate, they often get away with it to some extent. The public then suffers.