In the movie 12 Angry Men, it is clear that the majority’s thought is not always the correct thought. Have you ever been in a class where the teacher asks you to raise your hand if ____ is the correct answer? If a couple people start raising their hand, soon the entire class is going to shoot their hand up as well, regardless of whether or not they know the answer or even if they think this answer is incorrect. This is what we see in the movie. And just like what usually happens in this classroom scenario, the teacher says no that is not the answer, you are all wrong. So, even if you were pretty sure this answer was wrong, once you saw everyone else starting to raise their hands, you convince yourself that you must be wrong and you should side with the rest of the class. Yet, no matter what you thought at first, once you raised your hand, you were wrong too. Now, in the movie, the consequence of siding with the majority is much more severe than a teacher telling you you are wrong. You may think that with such high stakes such as the death penalty, you would think for yourself, and ignore others’ opinions. But this is harder than it seems. But, as we see in the movie, going against the group and being confident in your own thoughts can be a heroic thing to do.
This class has been fun. I loved being able to write in this blog style where I feel less confined to being so structured and refined. I think adding opinions into writing allows me to learn more. I also liked being able to read what my classmates thought about the topics we learned about this semester. I learned a lot about myself by seeing how I compared to my classmates in terms of the ways our generation consumes and critiques media.
My favorite topic we covered was the news. Especially this year with the election going on, it seemed so difficult to escape. I do not care about the news very much or go out of my way to watch it like I know I should. But this semester taught me that the media will find its way to me whether I am looking for it or not. And that I should be careful about how I consume my media. Thank you for this semester!
Mass Media and American Life 