12 Angry Men

Dear reader, 

As my time has moved forward I’ve always tried to branch out with the stories I ingest. 

Movies and books all across the board I’ve sought out everything to actively seek fragments of the Gospel in every story. 

A few nights ago my younger brother called me. 

“I think I have a new movie for my top 10.” 

“Oh really? What is it?”

”12 Angry Men”

The conversation was relatively short, but It caught my attention. What was in this film that tugged on his heart in the ways he described?

So I put the movie on myself and I was blown away. I typically have a harder time watching older movies due to my short attention span, but the story grabbed my eyes right out of the gate.

The dialogue was powerful, the characters were SOOOOOOOOO flawed, and the narrative was mind-boggling. 

I have next to nothing poor to say about it whatsoever. 

The story itself is about an 18-year-old boy who is convicted of first-degree murder, and the 12 men on the jury must unanimously vote on if he’s guilty or not guilty. 

If they vote guilty the boy would go to the electric chair to die. 

The men all get sorted in their seats and they call for a vote. One by one each men vote guilty. “The evidence and testimonies make it clear as day, the kid did it.” 

But the last man he votes not guilty. 

Now the story starts. 

The movie all takes place in the same room watching how the men all argue about why their perception is correct. Yet the one man sticks to his guns, he had ‘reasonable doubt’ that the boy didn’t do it, but he couldn’t prove it. 

They go through the testimonies and the evidence used against the boy, and little by little it shows that the case was not as white and black as it once was. 

In an effort to not spoil the story for you, I want to draw out the Gospel Perspective I saw near the end of the film. 

Two of the jurors were hellbent on this kid being guilty. Even when evidence was being disproved, they had tunnel vision and pushed and pushed back against what was being shown as the truth. 

It was clear that all the men in there had different perspectives and ideas for motives. But in the end, the truth rang clear, no matter if everyone wanted to swallow their pride and admit that. 

Satan is known as the accuser in scripture. He loves to drag us through the dirt and shovel lies on top of us as he goes along. Yet what I loved about this story was that no matter what everyone believed to be true, the underlying truth was present, and it took someone willing to stand up and be ridiculed to speak it out. 

I truly believe God was honored in this film, whether that was the intention or not. It depicts true justice, and that in the end, God will have his way, even if we don’t see it yet. 

I highly recommend finding this film and watching it, gathering some friends together, and watching a bunch of men argue about their twisted perspectives. 

Maybe in the process, God will soften your heart on some things you’re holding too tightly. 

Sincerely, 

Your Fellow Angry Man

-Mitchell