This past weekend, I was home spending time with my family, and for my younger sister this was a godsend. Between the two of us, I have always been the “reader,” meanwhile there is nothing she would like to do less. With assistance from my mother, they spent the better part of an hour begging me to help her with an English assignment. By help, they meant I would read what she was supposed to read and carefully walk her through answering the assignments questions. Thankfully, for this particular reading there is a popular movie to go with it. I am talking, of course, about Twelve Angry Men, which for my district is read by hordes of eighth graders every year and talked about extensively in class.
After spending my precious free time reading, and then watching, those angry men pace and yell in a jury room over the innocence of a man, I became reminded of my first time ever reading the play. Honestly, it is one of my favorites because of how short and sweet it is. I like how the characters are not named by anything but their numbers, I like how it all takes place in one room, and I love that nothing is ensured to be true. Although the jury takes their time trying to initially find the guilt and then the innocence of the defendant, the audience themselves never see this trial or this evidence. We did not hear testimonies or see witnesses. So, it is up to us to also be convinced one way or another.
Now, Twelve Angry Men is so famous so it’s hardly giving away a spoiler, but they eventually decide that the defendant is not guilty of the crime. All of this is because of small details of evidence that add up to a much bigger picture, despite initially having the majority believe in his guilt. Each man has their own reasons to believe one way or another, but the heart of the story is not in the courtroom or directly said, but rather in the implications of why certain jurors lean one way or another. It is a story about a boy who may or may not have killed his abusive father, and it is a story about a man who lost touch with his son, believing him ungrateful. It is a story about people who are impatient and people who want to argue for what they believe to be right. It’s about old age, grudges, family, attention, love, hatred, loss, pride, vanity, desire. Everything that makes up a full human experience is discussed in that room, and some leave all the better for it.
Twelve Angry Men was one of my family short reads in school, and despite the headache of assisting with homework under duress, it was really pleasant to return too. And honestly, if reading is unappealing but you love a good court drama, the 1957 film is just as good, if not better than reading the play itself.
