The movie Twelve Angry Men was a perfect example of many things we have learned in this class. There are a lot of examples of groups and the roles people play in them, which is described in chapter five of our books. In this essay I will touch on a few of these examples focusing on question number one, which pertains to the leadership role and it's effect on the twelve jurors deciding one man's fate. After watching the movie in class and then receiving the three essay questions I had a hard time deciding on which question to write. So I went to the video store and rented it and watched it again. I felt this was necessary to really get good examples for writing this essay. After making my husband view it with me I have made these comparisons.
There were several apparent reasons why the first leader, the foremen did not maintain control of the group and juror number eight (Davis) was able to take over. First of all he was appointed and I feel he didn't real want it or take pride in his role. An example of this is several times he said do what you want I DON"T CARE. He acted as if it was a chore to do his foremen duties like call for a vote and retrieve evidence from the bailiff. In the book this is referred to as being able to display proper motivation to lead. Juror number eight displayed this book example by showing enthusiasm in stating his case of the man's innocence. He was also able to present a knife identical to the murder weapon showing he had prepared his argument and had proof to back it up to support his cause. Another fault the foremen had in maintaining control was he had no structure or order when they first sat down to consider the verdict. He just stated I have no rules do it how you want to and the tone in which he said this had uncertainty all over it. This opened up a window and told others with in the group that someone else could take over and juror number ten I feel tried but also failed because as the book states he tried to dominate the group and demean their views and ideas.