It has taken me a month again for this one to come. No I wasn't working on it for that long. I have been preoccupied with hush and lush of IIMK more emotionally than a physical captivity.
I am in a fix here. I am on crossroads with this post here. I have a post ready to bring in here. Its movie review. Now you see its herculean for someone like me to find motivation and dedication to pursue the second post, an all out complete new post. I have to admit I have been slow on this front. But then I should continue. Now my routine here at MBA school takes away my luxuries of having to write a blog each day/week. And I have put no resistance to it. Probably this is the most mundane writing in a while. However I should keep taping my fingers on this 48 key set. Its been long that I brought out something on this canvas.
So I have decided to pen this one in midst of mess that I have made of 8 subjects of my first term.
I am no more in a fix anymore. I going ahead with one of Management communication assignments. I am copy pasting the same here. I lost. Subjects won. Anyways this is a good one.
It is movie review. Its a cliched and its not a cliche. Its not your mundane movie review. Well this one is about " TWELVE ANGRY MEN"
Read for yourself, I better not say any more...
A Insight into “12 Angry Men”
We are in a constant state of war. A war
rages in inside of us all. We fight our perceptions, Judgments, Feelings, and
Prejudices with an equal measure of these as a counter measure.
“Be careful about your thoughts, they become actions”
While quotes on similar lines have been used liberally to drive the discussions home, I shall be taking the author’s freedom to bring out the perils and merits of conflicts.
The case in point is a movie “12 Angry Men”. A cliched yet equally apt study on how conflict situations are a life’s study in themselves. It’s the clash of egos, it is bad communication, your prejudices of the society are in play, group conformity is not always a step in right direction, diversity is real phenomenon and there is always a hero and villain. May be not so with prominence in this one but on more subtle levels. We will shall explore and map out these issues as we go through the case and enhance our learning's. Take away are numerous but let us confine ourselves to group dynamics, conflict management, types of conflicts and social influences on our decision making.
“Be careful about your thoughts, they become actions”
While quotes on similar lines have been used liberally to drive the discussions home, I shall be taking the author’s freedom to bring out the perils and merits of conflicts.
The case in point is a movie “12 Angry Men”. A cliched yet equally apt study on how conflict situations are a life’s study in themselves. It’s the clash of egos, it is bad communication, your prejudices of the society are in play, group conformity is not always a step in right direction, diversity is real phenomenon and there is always a hero and villain. May be not so with prominence in this one but on more subtle levels. We will shall explore and map out these issues as we go through the case and enhance our learning's. Take away are numerous but let us confine ourselves to group dynamics, conflict management, types of conflicts and social influences on our decision making.
A man is on a trial for a premeditated
homicide but he is not the only one on trial. A Jury of 12 has to go through a
trial of their own prejudices, thoughts and actions to come to a unanimous
decision regarding the conviction of accused. Through their heavy deliberations
and discussions, the group and its members span across wide canvas.
“Somebody’s in the left field”
While most of the Jury members, the 11 Jurors to be precise, had their minds made up on the decision well before the deliberating on the decision, unanimous until an idea, of accused not being guilty, clashed with the prevalent thought that was established. Those were my readers the sperms that lead to the birth of an idealistic, yet engaging, conflict. The Juror 8 had refused to play into shackles of known and visible and had questions of his known. This led to a discussion that was taken forward and resulted in unanimous decision quiet opposite to one they started with. While surely they did, not before the castings of social structure lay bare for everyone to see.
“Somebody’s in the left field”
While most of the Jury members, the 11 Jurors to be precise, had their minds made up on the decision well before the deliberating on the decision, unanimous until an idea, of accused not being guilty, clashed with the prevalent thought that was established. Those were my readers the sperms that lead to the birth of an idealistic, yet engaging, conflict. The Juror 8 had refused to play into shackles of known and visible and had questions of his known. This led to a discussion that was taken forward and resulted in unanimous decision quiet opposite to one they started with. While surely they did, not before the castings of social structure lay bare for everyone to see.
“Slums
are breeding grounds for criminals.”
How easily we, you and me and that Jury, perched on our high grounds paint world with a single brush. Not only did the Jury drew assumptions and conclusions on unfortunates living in the slums but one even justified the awarding of death sentence on the same grounds as correct. How terrifying is that. The discussion within the Jury ensues the accused’s version of truth as a cooked up one and that he being from lower strata of society had inclinations to such practises. Juror 4 draws on how “Slums are breeding grounds for criminals. The children who come out of slum backgrounds are potential menaces to society.” The viewpoint of his is further reinforced by the Juror7’s reading of accused’s history with knife fighting, mugging and reform school. For some the support was from extreme hatred like in the case of Juror 10 “You said it there. I don’t want any part of them. Believe me” and for others it was their personal experiences.
How easily we, you and me and that Jury, perched on our high grounds paint world with a single brush. Not only did the Jury drew assumptions and conclusions on unfortunates living in the slums but one even justified the awarding of death sentence on the same grounds as correct. How terrifying is that. The discussion within the Jury ensues the accused’s version of truth as a cooked up one and that he being from lower strata of society had inclinations to such practises. Juror 4 draws on how “Slums are breeding grounds for criminals. The children who come out of slum backgrounds are potential menaces to society.” The viewpoint of his is further reinforced by the Juror7’s reading of accused’s history with knife fighting, mugging and reform school. For some the support was from extreme hatred like in the case of Juror 10 “You said it there. I don’t want any part of them. Believe me” and for others it was their personal experiences.
“I’ve lived in a slum all my
life”: Juror NO.5, Diversity is for real!
It is no secret that nature of
our work and thoughts is influenced/reinforced by our experiences throughout
our lives. So is the case with the jury here. This reflects in the way they decide
on vote. The Juror 5 brings to the table the fact that he is from slums and how
inhuman the conditions were for him. This acts to soothe the temperatures that
were soaring against one section of society and may have clouded the judgment.
Another facet to this word plays out when the Juror 11, who is a German
immigrant and a strong believer in American justice system, counters the
Juror7. The Juror 7 had been quite vocal about driving the accused to the death
penalty over his shaded history. However, he flipped his stance on the issue at
the later stage of deliberations. This infuriates the Juror11, he counters him
for trying to wrap up the discussion early in apparent disregard to a man’s
life. It turns out Juror7 flipped because he actually believed in the case for
accused. Quite an interesting salesman Juror7 must have been, for he was one. Moreover,
the Juror8’s understanding of building plan as an architect was crucial in
cracking one of the witness’s false testimonies. All the points put together
bring out a strong case for need of pluralism in our society as opposed to
shades of fascism that have been painting over canvas wrong.
Ego serves none! Winning the
argument, not the person
Often we come across situations
where in, a group could not reach consensus because few people could not conclude
on one point even though the point was crystal clear. This was one of the
driving points behind the discussion in the movie. The Juror 3 had an ego clash
with Juror8 for being “one of those do-good people” and trying to save the 19-year-old
boy. This was coming from Juror 3’s botched up relationship with his son, with whom
he was not on talking terms. Now, what was revealed to us towards the end that
the Juror3 had been carrying out personal vendetta trying to take the accused
to the gallows for he believed “they are all like that”. Thus in trying to win
the argument he went to the extent of hostility with Jury members and was the
last one to give in to the righteousness of the accused. How common is that!
Your body speaks!
Nothing could of more profound
value as this. Throughout the presentation of the jury we have across
individuals who have displayed body dynamics that may have been equally useful
in convincing the individuals as were the facts and words. The Juror 8 made the
best use of it speaking at right intervals and taking adequate pauses. He is
also seen standing astride from the group and is looking outside and is looking
through people trying to size up the group. On the other hand, Juror 3 and 10
had driven towards the hostile looks from the rest of the jury, for raising
their tones and spewing acrimonious content in midst of the discussion. At one
point we had the entire group moving away from the discussion table for Juror
10 started on hatred monologue against slums.
It
never ends!
It did end in the movie where in
the group came to a unanimous decision to pardon the accused. For facts when
portrayed right by Juror 8 and ego clashes and prejudices dusted away the sight
was objective.
However for me it never ends, learnings are many but the time is no infinite. Presented above was an attempt at putting together a few important point and thus trying to paint an overview of conflict management and social psychology at play.
However for me it never ends, learnings are many but the time is no infinite. Presented above was an attempt at putting together a few important point and thus trying to paint an overview of conflict management and social psychology at play.
Congratulations on having reached end of this post. In today's world it takes one a great deal of patience and right temperament to go through writings this lengthy.
Thank you all
Be strong. Be positive.
Good Night
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