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Day 9 Assignments
Post your Day 9 assignment here.
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Robert R. Smith 12 Angry Men Analysis
What I learned from this assignment is how interaction between characters can change ways of beliving by challenges based on factual challenges, questioning of assumptions, and painful introspection after having been exposed as prejudiced or short-sighted or being unable to see things as they are.
Old Way
ASSUMPTION OF GUILT by entire Jury who accepts the prosecutor’s case uncritically, with the exception of Juror 8 (Henry Fonda)
Challenge
Juror 8 (Henry Fonda) and after him Juror 9 (Joseph Sweeney) challenge the others with
The principle of assumptioin of innocence unless proven beyond reasonable doubt. Jurors 8 and 9 have reasonable doubt.
Old Way
JUST WANT THIS OVER. Chiefly, Jurors 3 (Lee J. Cobb) #7 (Jack Warden) and 10 (Ed Begley).
Challenge
Juror 11 (George Voscovec) lectures Juror 7 on importance of deliberative process in the case.
Old Way
NOT CARING.Jururs 3 and 10 are adamant about sending the defendant to his execution.
Challenge
Juror 8 berates Juror 3 for wanting to be the executioner.
Old Way
PREJUDICE. Juror 10 hates the ethnic group of the defendant. He says, “He don’t even speak English.” Juror 11 (himself a naturalized citizen from Europe)corrects Juror 10, “Doesn’t speak English.”
Old Way PREJUDICE CONT’D
Prejudice of Juror 7 against Juror 11 for suggesting a new way to deliberate, i.e., a foreigner ‘taking over.”
Challenge
All jurors treat Juror 7 with silence of rejection.
Old Way PREJUDICE CONT’D
Juror 10 (Begley) is most prejudiced against the defendant’s ethnic group. And collectively accused them of criminality.
Challenge
All jurors see through his prejudice and abandon him. Juror 8 (Fonda) says, “prejudice always obscures the truth.” Juror #10 accepts that he is prejudiced which has obscured his ethical and moral judgment from seeing the truth.
Old Way
NOT LOOKING BENEATH SURFACE
Challenge
Juror 8 shows a knife identical to the murder weapon indicating that someone other than the defendant could have murdered his father with the same kind of knife and thus plants reasonable doubt in the minds of the other jurors. The ball of reasonable doubt is now rolling for most jurors.
Old Way
ASSUMING THE EVIDENCE IS NOT QUESTIONABLE.
Juror 4 (E. G. Marshall) doesn’t buy the alibi that the defendant went to the movies and then was reported by police to not remembering the films he saw.
Challenge
Juror 8 (Fonda) asserts that under the strain of finding his father had been murdered, of course he couldn’t remember. He tests Juror 4’s memory which is not perfect and that without strain and shock.
Old Way
ASSUMING THE WITNESSES ARE ACCURATE.
Juror 3 (Cobb) objects to trying the case all over. The witnesses were under oath and wouldn’t lie.
Challenge
Juror 8 (Fonda) says, “not lie. But the are human and humans make mistakes.” Juror 8 with support of Juror 9 (Sweeney) proves on the physical evidence that the noise of the train from the passing elevated train that the old man could not have heard the voice of the defendant saying I’m gonna kill you.” and the body hit the floor (above). Nor, with a lame leg could he have walked the hallway in 15 seconds to see the defendant run out into the street. Likewise the defendant most likely would not have remembered the movies he saw under the strain and shock of finding his father had been murdered, of course he couldn’t remember. He tests Juror 4’s memory which turns out to not be perfect even when not under strain or shock. ck.
Juror 9 notices Juror 4 rubbed his nose on the irritating impressions left by glasses. He demonstrates that the woman who claims to have seen the defendant kill his father had obscured vision because she wears glasses (demonstrated by having similar marks on her nose) his and could have been wearing them while the elevator train ran by saw for only seconds with her poor eyesight. In other words, she could not have seen what she claimed to have seen. Jurors 1 and 5 say they noticed
Old Way
ASSUMING THE DEFENSE ATTORNEY DID HIS JOB.
Juror 3 claims if all this evidence was flimsy why didn’t the defense attorney question it.
Challenge
Juror 6 (Ed Binns) thought the defense attorney could have been stronger. Juror 8 said if he was on trial for his life, he’d want hihs lawyer to tear the prosecution case apart.” But a young, unpaid attorney didn’t have interest in his client.
Old Way
ASSUMING THE CASE IS COMPLETELY LOGICAL.
Juror 3 derides all the challenges of Jurors 8 and 9, and their supporters as nit-picking on a case that is logically presented.. .
Challenge
With painful introspection Juror 3 realizes that he is prejudiced for the prosecution case because he is seeing the case through the lens of his own abusive and violent relationship with his son, whose picture he tears up, and then, votes “Not guilty.”
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Robert R. Smith Old Ways Challenging Chart
What I learned doing this assignment is to dramatize moments of insights and transformation.
Title of my Screenplay: “Angels in Gangland” Copyright 2021, Robert Russell Smith ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ALL MATERIAL FROM THE SCRIPT QUOTED BELOW ARE COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL.
In my screenplay, “Angels in Gangland,” a slain gangster (Lou Tasca) must earn his way to heaven by a supreme act of good to atone for a life of crime and loyalty to the Mafia. The good he must do is to persuade the fellow gangster who killed him (Carlo Vizzini) to do as Lou should have done,i.e., quit the mob and join Witness Protection. To carry out his assignment he has a coach, his Spirit Guide, (Rabbi Solomon Levinsky). Yet, Lou is still stuck on his oath to the Mafia.
In this story, the Old Ways are the mores of the Mafia oaths and rules.
OLD WAY
SOLOMON
Here it is: We’re sending you back to earn your Metrocard. *
LOU
Sending me back? Hey! I don’t want to be reincarnated as a rat!
SOLOMON
Lou, you –
LOU
I took an oath to never be a rat.
SOLOMON
Lou –
LOU
I never was a rat and I never will be a rat!
CHALLENGE
SOLOMON
LOU! You will not be reincarnated as a rat. You are headed back to the streets to rectify all this bad stuff and “up” the good in the world. That’s what will get you your Metrocard so you can hop onto your –
SOLOMON AND LOU
(in unison)
“uptown train.”*
*(“Metrocard”and ‘uptown train” are metaphors Solomon and Lou developed themselves in conversation to mean, respectively, “good deeds” and “train to the World to Come, i.e., Heaven.)
OLD WAY
When Lou is told by Solomon that his mission is to convince his own killer (Carlo) to quit the mob.
Both old way and challenge are in this dialogue.
LOU
Carlo Vizzini?! He is the mamaluk who put me here! I’d sooner stuff him into a car trunk and have it compacted in a chop shop. It’s the code we live by.
CHALLENGE
SOLOMON
And die by – you ought to know. Your dead. Revenge never evens any score because what goes around comes around. We are in the redemption business. We need all people to do good that will go around and come around. That’s the redemption business.
LOU
“Redemption business”?!
SOLOMON
The world is a “chop shop.” We repair the world, one soul at a time.
CONNECTS TO THE ENDING: When Carlo and his friend Sam (Solomon’s son) leave the mob, Lou says the following, last line of the play.
LOU (CONT’D)
That is my story. Carlo and Sam went into the Witness Protection Program. So did Oleg and Tony. Sherrie and Carlo have a whole new life, identity, and a family.
Sam returned to his faith. That made Rabbi Sol very happy. A lot of bad was rectified with ripples of good that made deep imprints on the world. What good things are you doing where you are? Whatever it is, may it go around and come around. Oh, and by the way.
(proudly brandishes a Metrocard)
I got my Metrocard. See you soon – but I hope not too soon – on the homebound train.
Lou salutes a good-bye with his Metrocard in hand and walks out of the spot light and disappears into the darkness, exits.
SFX: SOUND: NYC SUBWAY TRAIN DOORS CLOSING AND TRAIN LEAVING STATION.
OLD WAYS and CHALLENGE
After Carlo sees the apparition of Lou Tasca and has a public meltdown, his fiancé (Sherrie) and his friend and fellow wiseguy Sam (Solomon’s son), have this dialogue.
SHERRIE
Carlo was the last person to see Lou alive. He took his death pretty hard. Now he says he saw his ghost. Should we check him into Bellevue?
SAM
Sherrie, it’s out of the question. Carlo took an oath of silence. If he goes into a Psych Ward or sees a shrink, he’ll be suspected of telling family secrets.
SHERRIE
Oh, all these traditions about “oaths” and “secrets” and “omerta”! What are these oaths that you take? A suicide pact?
OLD WAYS and CHALLENGE
In the following dialogue. Lou is visible only to Carlo, not to Sherrie but she believes that he is present.
CARLO
All right! Lou says I should leave the mob and go into Witness Protection!.
SHERRIE
Thank you, Lou.
CARLO
But if I leave the mob, say goodbye to the glamour and the money.
SHERRIE
It’s blood money and I have had enough of gangster glam. I have also had enough of asking myself, what kind of marriage will we have? Which will come first? You going to prison or me standing at your grave?
(Begins to cry.)
SHERRIE (CONT’D)
Now, I know you committed a crime. But if I dare to know what it is, then I am an accessory?! And now you are haunted by a man who was murdered and –
(With a realization.)
Why are you haunted by the ghost of a murdered man?
LOU
Tell her and then surrender yourself to Witness Protection!
CARLO
I will not go into Witness Protection and be a rat.
LOU
You’d be protected from Tony Rizzo who already suspects you of dealing drugs.
OLD WAY and CHALLENGE
In dialogue, when CARLO realizes from his supernatural visits from Lou and Solomon including dybbuk-like spirit possession, that Tony Rizzo who ordered Carlo to kill LOU has now sent a hitman to assassinate him (Carlo) and his friend (Sam, Solomon’s son). The following dialogue occurs. What Carlo doesn’t know is that Sam is the hitman dispatched by Tony.
SAM
Tony ordered a hit on you because you’re a nut-case and a problem who will draw heat. He ordered me to do the job. That’s right! Tony sent me! I am that hitman!
SOLOMON
Oh, God, forbid!
Lou comforts Solomon. Carlo edges his way in front of Solomon and Lou, heading toward the archway to other rooms.
SAM
I pleaded for you. I said to Tony that you’re like a brother. I told him I would make you come to your senses. But Tony said, if I can’t make you come to your senses, then, I have to do the hit. And now you tell me you’re going to flip and rat us all out?! And I should be your fellow rat?!
Sam pulls out a .38 handgun and points it at Carlo.
Carlo puts up his hands and holds them up.
SAM (CONT’D)
Don’t make me do it, Carlo.
SOLOMON
No. Shmuley, no!
CARLO
Sam, let’s go turn ourselves in to the Feds. Never mind what the boss ordered you to do or what your oath to this thing of ours requires. It’s what your father wants.
SAM
Shut up! Get real! I don’t know how you did that ventriloquist act of my father – but I am no dummy! All this Dybbuk-business is crazy and you better snap out of it! If you don’t, I will have to kill you. If I don’t, Tony will kill us both. Now. For the last time. Snap out of it. Swear that you are not going to flip. We convince Tony your head is screwed back on. Everything goes back to the way it was. And what happened here today … never … happened!
CARLO
Sam, can’t you see that Tony Rizzo is using you to kill me, just as he used me to kill Lou? Tony wants to kill us both for drug dealing on the sneak. So, that means only one thing: You are the hitman he sent to kill me. Then, after you kill me, Tony will kill you. Now, I am going to go to –
Carlo lowers his hands and steps toward the archway, crossing L-R, but Sam stops him.
SAM
Don’t move!
CARLO
Sam, right now, I am going to go to the bedroom where I’ll pack a bagbag. You can come with me to the Feds. Or you can shoot. If you shoot, I will only be dead. But you will feel just as guilty about whacking me as I feel about whacking Lou. The difference is, you won’t feel guilty for as long as I have. Because Tony is coming to kill you next.
Carlo turns to exit through the archway.
SAM
Wait.
Sam puts away his gun.
SAM (CONT’D)
I’ll help you pack, if you help me.
Carlo and Sam embrace.
Solomon and Lou turn toward each other.
SOLOMON AND LOU
Mission: Accomplished.
Solomon and Lou DISSOLVE OUT, exit.
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Mark Smith/Day 9 Assignment #1
In the movie 12 Angry Men, I saw how the initial assumptions of the jurors change as they discuss and debate the evidence.
FOREMAN: A small, petty man who is impressed with the authority he has and handles himself quite formally. Not overly bright, but dogged. “We have a job to do. Let’s do it.”/Assumption: Not looking beneath surface and assumes the case is completely logical/evidence about angle of knife strike/Challenge when witnesses are proven questionable and the angle of knife strike makes it difficult to believe accused did it.
JUROR NO. 2: A meek, hesitant man who finds it difficult to maintain any opinions of his own. Easily swayed and usually adopts the opinion of the last person to whom he has spoken. “I just think he’s guilty. I thought it was obvious. I mean nobody proved otherwise” “Maybe he didn’t hear it. I mean with the el noise….”/Assumes the evidence is not questionable and witnesses accurate./challenged when reviewing evidence that old man likely did not see accused man running down starwell
JUROR NO. 3: A very strong, very forceful, extremely opinionated man within whom can be detected a streak of sadism. He is a humorless man who is intolerant of opinions other than his own and accustomed to forcing his wishes and views upon others. “Six days. They should have finished it in two. Talk, talk, talk. Did you ever hear so much talk about nothing.” “I never saw a guiltier man in my life. You sat right in court and heard the same thing I did. The man’s a dangerous killer. You could see it.” “I’ve got a kid. When he was eight years old, he ran away from a fight. I saw him. I was so ashamed, I told him right out, “I’m gonna make a man out of you or I’m gonna bust you up into little pieces trying.”/Assumes the witnesses and facts presented were accurate and in the end learn he is Prejudiced due to break down with estranged son/Challenge: Recognizing that he is prejudiced based on his estranged relationship with his son.
JUROR NO. 4: Seems to be a man of wealth and position. He is a practiced speaker who presents himself well at all times. He seems to feel a little bit above the rest of the jurors. His only concern is with the facts in this case, and he is appalled at the behavior of the others. “If we’re going to discuss this case, let’s discuss the facts.” “The boy’s entire story is flimsy. He claimed he was at the movies. That’s a little ridiculous, isn’t it? He couldn’t even remember what pictures he saw.”/ Assumes the case if completely logical/Final challenge occurs when questions raised about key witness and her eye sight actually witnessing murder
JUROR NO. 5: A naive, very frightened young man who takes his obligations in this case very seriously but, who finds it difficult to speak up when his elders have the floor. “I’ve lived in a slum all my life.” “Look at it! It’s the same knife” when asked if lied: “I… I don’t know” after discussion about noise from L Train and witness claim he heard threat:“I’d like to change my vote to not guilty”/ Assumes defense attorney did his job. /changes to not guilty after issues raised on witness seeing murder/challenged when discovering witness likely did not see accused man run down stairwell
JUROR NO. 6: An honest but dull-witted man who comes upon his decisions slowly and carefully. A man who finds it difficult to create positive opinions, but who must listen to and digest and accept those opinions offered by others which appeal to him most. “I don’t know. I started to be convinced, you know, with the testimony from those people across the hall. Didn’t they say something about an argument between the father and the boy around seven o’clock that night? I mean, I can be wrong”/Assumes the evidence is not questionable./challenged when confronted by evidence that the two main witnesses likely did not see accused man murder father
JUROR NO. 7: A loud, flashy-handed salesman type who has more important things to do than to sit on a jury. He is quick to show temper, quick to form opinions on things about which he knows nothing. Is a bully and, of course, a coward. “How did you like that business about the knife? Did you ever hear a phonier story? Right. This better be fast.’ I’ve got tickets to the ballgame.” “Let’s vote now. Who knows, maybe we can all go home.” “Look at the kid’s record. At fifteen he was in reform school. He stole a car. He’s been arrested for mugging. He was picked up for knife-fighting. I think they said he stabbed somebody in the arm. This is a very fine boy?”/ Assumption: Just wants the case over
JUROR NO. 8: A quiet, thoughtful, gentle man. A man who sees all sides of every question and constantly seeks the truth. A man of strength tempered with compassion. Above all, he is a man who wants justice to be done and will fight to see that it is. “I don’t know whether I believe it or not. Maybe I don’t.” “There were eleven votes for guilty. It’s not so easy for me to raise my hand and send a boy off to die without talking about it first.” “I felt that the defense counsel never really conducted a thorough cross-examination. I mean, he was appointed by the court to defend the boy. He hardly seemed interested. Too many questions were left unasked.”/ Change Agent/ Does not assume the defense attorney did a good job nor the witnesses were believable.
JUROR NO. 9: A mild gentle old man long since defeated by life and now merely waiting to die. A man who recognizes himself for what he is and mourns the days when it would have been possible to be courageous without shielding himself behind his many years. “I don’t know that. What a terrible thing for a man to believe! Since when is dishonesty a group characteristic?” when others want to get a quick conviction: “It’s only one night. A man may die” “It takes a great deal of courage to stand alone even if you believe in something very strongly. He left the verdict up to us. He gambled for support, and I gave it to him. I want to hear more. The vote is ten to two.” “Guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. This is an important thing to remember.” Did witness hear boy yell threat: “I don’t think he could have heard it.”/ /Takes Oath seriously and wants a fair impartial jury verdict/ Is fist come forward (besides No. 8) after coming to belief the prosecution has holes and didn’t approve beyond a reasonable doubt
JUROR NO. 10 An angry, bitter man. He is man who antagonizes almost at sight. A bigot who places no values on any human life save his own, a man who has been nowhere and is going nowhere and knows it deep within him. “It’s tough to figure, isn’t it? A kid kills his father. Bing! Just like that. Well, it’s the element. They let the kids run wild. Maybe it serves ‘em right.” ”He got a fair trial, didn’t he? You know what that trial cost? He’s lucky he got it. Look, we’re all grownups here. You’re not going to tell us that we’re supposed to believe him, knowing what he is. I’ve lived among ’em all my life. You can’t believe a word they say. You know that.”/Prejudiced/Challenge: Ultimately throws in towel when others point out his extreme bigotry.
JUROR NO. 11: A refugee from Europe who has come to this country in 1941. A man who speaks with an accent and who is ashamed humble, almost subservient to the people around him, but who will honestly seek justice because he has suffered through so much injustice. “We have a responsibility. This is a remarkable thing about democracy. That we are…ummmm… what is the word…Ah, notified! That we are notified by mail to come down to this place and decide on the guilt or innocence of a man we have not known before. We have nothing to gain or lose by our verdict. This is one of the reasons why we are strong. We should not make it a personal thing”/Takes oath seriously and has concerns about the lack of solid evidence early on.
Juror NO. 12: A slick, bright advertising man who thinks of human beings in terms of percentages graphs, and polls and has no real understanding of people. He is a superficial snob, but trying to be a good fellow “I’m just thinking out loud now but it seems to me that it’s up to us to convince this gentleman (indicating NO. 8) that we’re right and he’s wrong”/Assumption that the case is solid and proven beyond doubt./challenges: questions about witnesses and then the knife angle in murder
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Mark Smith/Day 9 ASSIGNMENT 2
Better organized how “old ways” are challenged, leading to a profound change
List of Old Ways:
Go along to get along/Don’t rock the boat
Never Report any abuses or ethical problems
Allow inequal treatment: certain students are allowed to skip class and pass classes to stay eligible
Play up to the principal and other school administrators
Ignore possible school violence and use of “cages” to settle disputes
Ignore sexual harassment
Failing to ensure audits of money from pep rallies and fund drives
Ignore or actively participate in unfair grade changes
Challenges to Old Ways:
Raise questions with principal and administration if conflicts with ethical and academic standards
Formally report possible abuses/ethical concerns
Step up and challenge inequal treatment of athletes compared with other students
Female teachers bond together to file sexual abuse complaints
Step forward, take pictures and call for unethical disciplinary measures to end
Map out a strategy to ensure “good” teachers and counselors stay, rather than mass exodus of school
Create programs to “map out,” and quantify students who go on to college
Plans and strategy to ensure money isn’t stolen
Keep records of tests and grades to challenge contrived grade changes
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Day 9, Assignment 1
12 Angry Men Old Ways/Challenges
What I learned doing this assignment is that characters can present their “old way” prejudices, bad habits, negative viewpoints, etc. and a simple word, turn of phrase, or action by another character or characters can challenge it. I used snippets of dialogue below to show some of the characters’ old ways and other snippets or descriptions of action to show how the challenge was made to change that old way to the new way. I added an additional “old way” to the list.
Assumption of guilt all are “guilty” of this except Juror 8 (Henry Fonda’s character) “open and shut case” “do you believe he’s not guilty” “nobody proved otherwise”
Challenge “nobody needs to prove otherwise; the burden of proof is on the prosecution”
Just want this over “let’s get started” “let’s vote and, who knows, maybe we can get out of here” “what’s the difference how long it takes?”
Challenge “the ball game isn’t until late” “give it an hour”
Not caring “we don’t owe him a thing”
Challenge “how would you feel?”
Prejudice “serves ‘em right” “they’re born liars” “they don’t know what the truth is” “that’s the way they are by nature. Liars”
Challenge “you think you’re born with a monopoly on the truth?” “If you don’t believe his story, why do you believe hers? She’s one of ‘them’ too, isn’t she?” other jurors turning their backs “listen…” “I have and don’t open your mouth again” “prejudice always obscures the truth”
Not looking beneath the surface “these people are dangerous. Wild.”
Challenge “he’s been beaten every day since he was little” “you’re a sadist.. you don’t really mean you’ll kill me, do you?”
Assuming the evidence is not questionable All the jurors start out, except Fonda’s character, believing all the evidence
Challenge “everybody sounded so positive, I started feeling the defense counsel was letting things get by” showing the same kind of knife “a lot of details that never came out”
Assuming the witnesses were accurate “she said she saw the killing through the windows of the el”
Challenge “the old man couldn’t have heard the boy when the train was going by” “witnesses can make mistakes” “she saw the boy raise his hand and stab his father in a downward movement through the passing el windows” eyeglasses and the marks on the woman’s nose “do you wear eyeglasses in bed?” “she had to be able to see a person sixty feet away” “I have a reasonable doubt, now”
Assuming the Defense Attorney did his job “real drive” “expert job”
Challenge “possible for a lawyer to be stupid” “I’d want my lawyer to tear the prosecution’s witnesses to shreds” “supposing they’re wrong?” “people make mistakes” “this isn’t an exact science” “no it isn’t” “look, lawyers aren’t infallible, you know”
Assuming the case is completely logical All of them feel this at the beginning except Fonda
Challenge “if he really had killed his father, why would he go home three hours later?” “when did the panic start?”
Assuming they are smart enough to understand their role as a juror “I’ll change my vote ‘cause I’m sick of the yackety yack” “I’m entitled to my opinion”
Challenge “maybe you don’t understand the meaning of reasonable doubt”
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DAY 9 ASSIGNMENT #1 – SHIFTING BELIEF SYSTEMS
Joshua Doerksen’s 12 Angry Men Analysis
WHAT I LEARNED DOING THIS ASSIGNMENT:
Each paradigm shift in a movie need not be necessarily “action packed”, in fact the more profound shifts are subtle and introspective where it challenges our own personal beliefs on a much more internal level.
OLD WAYS:
Assumption of Guilt, General Disinterest of Jury Duty.
CHALLENGE:
When Henry Fonda initially stands alone before 11 opposed jury mates, he does not stand for the blind defense of a defendant, but for defense of the value a human life – all human life.
Fonda challenges the Constitutional obligations of his fellow jurors to establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. In this action he is not only challenging their Old Ways but also the societal impacts that those old ways or beliefs might have on society as a whole and ultimately, in democracy.
OLD WAYS:
Prejudice/Racism, Ignorance, Lacking Sense of Duty.
CHALLENGE:
The Non-Guilty jurors are dispelling the myth that social inequity does not exist in the U.S.A., or even further, in their own back yards. As comments of “bad neighborhoods” and “those people” flourish within arguments of a Guilty verdict, they ironically challenge the same. The idea that children of the day are less disciplined, did not “call their father Sir”, or could benefit from the tougher Old Ways of parenting is a profound statement that the Old Ways were not so great and were even traumatic to some of the men of the jury in their own youth.
OLD WAYS:
Assumption, Complacency.
CHALLENGE:
The “Knife” represents morality in general. The idea that the illegal switchblade was so rare perpetuates the Old Ways or idea of a complacent people that life is not changing, and that there is not disparity and injustice in America that predicates violence. Producing an identical blade merely shatters the perception of a morally sound and safe society while profoundly washing away that ignorance.
The testimony of witnesses proves the existence of bias and prejudice where people have exploited their values, choosing vanity and public exposure or attention at the expense of human life, simply because of race of color.
The blind faith in the Defense Attorney represents complacency in the Justice System or the Democratic System as a whole. The 11 Non-Guilty jurors initially take the haphazard “ignorance is bliss” attitude with respect to the Defendant having had his day in court and fair representation, thus negating their obligation to deliberate the case on its merits themselves. The Old Ways are challenged as the faults are exposed with the representation and interpretation of evidence and it re-enforces the idea of a checks and balances system that requires each citizen to do their part. In this, their duty as an American itself is challenged, and the idea of every man’s singular contribution or duty to society is established as the New Way.
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DAY 9 ASSIGNMENT #2 – SHIFTING BELIEF SYSTEMS
Joshua Doerksen’s Old Ways Challenge Chart
WHAT I LEARNED DOING THIS ASSIGNMENT:
I further defined my story’s profound truth through fully exposing or developing the Old Ways and Challenges. My story gained depth on a more subliminal or intellectual level.
OLD WAYS:
Legacy is Power.
CHALLENGE:
Bill Bishop is confounded with the idea of legacy. His principles and work ethic are without question, yet his name represents little more to the world than wealth and power. When control of his corporation is threatened the Old Ways are challenged in the sense that Bill must defend himself despite having spent a lifetime proving himself. Money and power alone will not save him from being removed from the Directorship of his own company and the stigma of mental health where his own stability is concerned impacts the very idea of his legacy.
OLD WAYS:
Relationships are Transactional.
CHALLENGE:
Bill has come to believe in life that relationships are little more than transactional and that love, especially in his personal life, follow suit. This notion is challenged when he is presented with Dr. Pratt and Edward’s loyalty – a loyalty that is based on principle over pride and love of Bill’s character. Bill’s idea of what solidifying a legacy actually represents to him (inner-peace and absolution of guilt and remorse), is challenged by the idea of character.
OLD WAYS:
Justice is Equitable for All. Pride. Ignorance.
CHALLENGE:
Bill’s values of Justice and Equality are challenged when he is on the outside looking in. Through that challenge he realizes a true passion for Justice and the Law while redefining his definition of legacy; one person can make positive change.
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Frank Jordan’s Day 9 Assignment #1 (Shifting Belief Systems)
What I learned doing this assignment is that if we hope to change people’s lives with our films we need to shift their way of thinking. We do this by presenting the “old ways” as the norm, “challenging” the old ways, and presenting “new ways” through profound moments (either through action or with dialogue).
12 Angry Men Analysis
Administration of Justice is the First Pillar of Good
ASSUMPTION OF GUILT
Old Ways: Juror #2 “I just think he’s guilty. Nobody proved otherwise.” #3 to #7 “We’re trying to put a guilty man in the electric chair and you change your vote!” #7 He’s guilty. You can talk for 100 years, you won’t change my mind.”
Challenge: #8 (Fonda) “We have a reasonable doubt.”
JUST WANT THIS OVER
Old Ways: The judge seemed uninterested. Juror #3 ” Those lawyers talk and talk even when it’s an open and shut case.” #7 “Let’s get out of here pretty quick, I got tickets to the ball game tonight.” #7 to #8 “You do-gooders are all alike. I’m tired of all this yackity-yack.” #8 to #9 “He can’t here you. Never will.”
NOT CARING
Old Ways: Juror #3 “I almost fell asleep” and “Rotten kids. You work your life out for them.” #4 “The kids entire story was flimsy.” #7 to #8 in bathroom, “What are you getting out of this, kicks?” #11 to #7 (after #7’s not guilty vote) “What kind of man are you, playing with a man’s life? All you care about is the baseball game.” #12 (Ad man) always has work on his mind.
Challenge: When #8 sees #3 and #12 playing tic-tac-toe, he grabs their sheet. “This isn’t a game.”
PREJUDICE
Old Ways: Juror #3 “I’d tap those tough kids down before they start any trouble.” #10 “I’ve lived among them my whole life. You can’t believe a word they say. They’re born liars.” Also, “Boy, oh boy. There’s always one. We don’t owe him a thing.”
Challenge: #8 “Prejudice always obscures the truth.”
NOT LOOKING BENEATH SURFACE
Old Ways: Juror #9 to #3 (re: change of vote) “Only an ignorant man would say that. He (#7) didn’t change his vote. I did.” #10 to #2 “You think too much. You’re getting mixed up.” #11 “He looks guilty on the surface, but we should look deeper.”
Challenge: #8 “I have lots of questions.” #11 “Why did the boy come home? I’m simply asking questions.”
ASSUMING EVIDENCE IS NOT QUESTIONNABLE
Old Ways: Juror #3 “Facts are proven a dozen different ways. Can’t refute facts.” #10 (re: woman witness across street) “I don’t care about facts.”
Challenge: #8 “I’m not trying to change your minds.” and, “The burden of proof is on the prosecution.”
ASSUMING WITNESSES WERE ACCURATE
Old Ways: Juror #3 (re; old man witness) “He’s an old man. How can he be positive about anything?” #5 “Witnesses can make mistakes.”
Challenge: #4 (on being questioned by Fonda about the movies he saw earlier in the week) “And you aren’t under emotional stress.” #8 “People make mistakes.” And “Suppose two eye witnesses were wrong?” #? (re: woman’s potential lack of wearing eye glasses when she looked out window) “You can’t send a man off to die with evidence (or lack of) like that.”
ASSUMING DEFENSE ATTORNEY DID HIS JOB
Old Ways:
Juror #11 (re: prosecutor) “I think he did an excellent job.”
Challenge: #8 “Defense council let many things go by.”
ASSUMING CASE IS COMPLETELY LOGICAL
Old Ways:
#6 to #8 “Suppose you talk all of us out of this and the kid really did knife his father?”
Challenge: #3 rips up the photo of his own kid (who he had made a man of) and breaks down crying.
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DAY 9 SHIFTING BELIEF SYSTEMS
Suzanne Kelman – 12 Angry Men
WHAT I LEARNED DOING THIS ASSIGNMENT – What I loved about using this movie was so many of those first lines are lines we have all heard parroted by people, belief system and prejudices that we have all heard. What I love about the change is at no point to Henry Fonda call their beliefs wrong he just gentle point them to the truth, by revealing it. A great movie to study.
OLD WAYS:
Desire to get this done, assumption of guilt, judging by the area in which he lives, the colour of his skin and type of person instead of really looking or considering the truth. .
CHALLENGE:
11 -1 How will Henry Fonda even turn the minds of so many men who have assumed the boys guilt.
OLD WAYS:
“I just think he’s guilty. Nobody proved otherwise.” He’s guilty. You can talk for 100 years, you won’t change my mind.”
CHALLENGE:
“We have a reasonable doubt.”
OLD WAYS:
“I’ve lived among them my whole life. You can’t believe a word they say. They’re born liars I’d tap those There’s always one. We don’t owe him a thing.”
CHALLENGE:
“Prejudice always masks the truth.”
OLD WAYS:
“I almost fell asleep” The kids’ entire story was flimsy.”
CHALLENGE:
This isn’t a game.
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Day 9 Assignment 1
Chris Cornelius’ 12 Angry Men Analysis
What I learned doing this assignment is: How many changes occurred in these men’s lives because of their participation on this jury in this case. The impact for most has gone way beyond the courtroom .
I was waiting to see if the jury was going to be polled in the end.
The old ways and challenges and changes are obvious; so for now I am turning my attentian to my script rather than detailing everything in ’12 Angry Men.
Day 9 Assignment 2
Chris Cornelius’ Old Ways Challenge Chart
What I learned doing this assignment is: I can now go back and make some of the necessary cuts, and expand where needed. The most important characters are those that develop Trish’s mind, heart, body, spirit and soul. I can try to trim some of the flashbacks to her childhood. But the main place for edits is in her Senior present storyline. I wrote the memoirs of this trip a generation ago and the first draft of the script 20 years ago. Sometimes I think the world might be a different place if this story had been produced back then. It has universal themes that unite rather than create conflict; and flashbacks to a time when The United States was loved and respected.
Trish’s old ways are she’s:
-an overachiever.
-grew up in a factory town; family of eight living in a 3rd floor five room apartment in her grandmother’s triple decker.
-seven years of college; MFA in Design and Technical Theater; teaching Costumes and Set Design at Harvard
-inexperienced with much of anything outside her family’s beliefs, her schooling, and education; a sheltered life.
-has never traveled or taken a vacation.
-she’s been dealing with untreated Manic Depressive illness since she was 18 yrs old-certainly not a sheltered life in that respect.
-she’s an inexperienced motorcyclist-taught herself a year before the trip.
-she’s never even slept in a tent before.
-no one else to be responsible for but herself; free spirit.
-she doesn’t even realize that her life needs direction.
Reality sets in:
First of all she says goodbye to all of her colleagues; has several obstacles to navigate motorcycling to her parents home in CT before actually starting the trip; Her CT family and friends have an intervention.
But for her Grandmother who adventured to the US from Lithuania at age 14, and embroidered the Einstein quote “Great Spirits often Encounter Violent Opposition from Mediocre Minds” onto a T-Shirt for Trish.
Everything that has been seen or said up to now reappears on down the road. For example a stage gun and whistle given to her; a line about ‘deathwish;’ MIT friends liking southern women and Air & Space Museum.
Trish rides for one last look at the Atlantic Ocean.
A homeless hippy tells her, “This is going to change your life.” People give her a thumbs up.
She gets onto the interstate. First major trial-cross winds. Pulls over to shoulder near ‘Welcome to New York’ sign; collects herself then carries on.
Bypassing NYC she stops at a Ho Jo’s on the New Jersey Turnpike.
Wall St. Broker (9 to 5-er) inspired asks to sit with her and pays for her lunch, then wants to follow her down the road. Trish is quickly seeing her impact on people-something she had not anticipated at all. People’s curiosity was raised and inhibitions lowered.
She’s observed a less than inspired Wall Street livelihood.
She stops to visit undergraduate roommate and childhood friend, Sandy, in DC. They discuss breaking away from their upbringings.
Trish visits the Capital. Her stage gun is overlooked when her bag is searched cause the official is distracted by her full face ‘Air & Space’ helmet. A smitten Harley riding Aide offers to carry her loaded down bag.
Trish meets up with James (a comical character), her, thru ‘Easy Rider Country’ motorcycling travel companion. He’s from her ‘Old World’ and transitions her into the Odyseus like ‘Other World’ she’s entering with its head, heart, body, spirit and soul challenges and growth. She wants to keep things plutonic.
They meet the mortician that specializes in accident victims. He offers Trish a job with many benefits (things) that she rejects. We see her Old World values before she enters the ‘Other World.’
The Hawk needs its 1500 mile checkup. Trish meets Tom, the motorcycle shop superviser. Charmed by his southern accent & hospitallity she accepts his invitation to dinner and into his settled world, with a home and two children, and like dominos one thing leads to another and she falls in love.
But HEART Conflicts… 1) He’s an outlaw growing marijuana. “He’s settled down with a need for adventure and she’s adventurous with a need to settledown.” 2) She’s got to continue her quest-the trip.
So she continues traveling with Tom sending her general delivery letters along the way.
Now, along her travels she’s debating the Head vs Heart conflict and Freedom vs Home.
As planned, she and travel companion James go their separate ways in southern Texas.
Worst day. Out of gas, rained on, sad, hot and sick; 2 State workers in a truck hesitate to give her a ride. “Well you can pick me up alive now… or dead later.” They cave. Returning to the bike a godsend jazzy black man in a Cadillac picks her up… and gives her the will to continue. “life or death matters mellow over time.”
Next, sad and sick, she meets the comical Vietnam Veterans at Big Bend–the older brothers she never had. They wade the Rio Grand into Mexico, and she gets their opinions on her conflicts. Did they bring a stash of marijuana back?
She’s off to Colorado. At a rest area she calls Tom-he’s not home; then deals with paparazzi: a young airforce cadet that needs to photograph her, hippy woman in VW van who asks if she carries a gun and recommends she get some bear spray, and a lowlife trash trucker that sizes her up.
There are storylines within the storylines as Trish travels along, learning she got to close one door so another can open, and to keep the good and leave the bad behind.
At a Boulder hostel Trish meets two traveling midwester girls. One is dealing with a freedom vs home issue. And a ping pong playing excon tells Trish he just got out of prison–5 years for trafficking marijuana.
It’s Satrurday and Trish tries to pick up a general delivery letter from Tom at the Boulder PO but they won’t give it to her until Monday, when she’ll be long gone. So they forward it to San Francisco. Heart break.
Trish tries calling Tom from the Continental Divide but again he’s not home.
Tired, disappointed and sick, Trish faints at an Aspen gas station and upon wakening finds herself in SPIRITUAL naturist Matt’s cabin loft. She meets and plays horseshoes with his best friend Kurt and Suzie (Matt’s former girlfriend). Matt nurses Trish spiritually and physically back to health.
All Trish’s gear gets stolen off her bike in Aspen.
Matt, inspired to give up his cocaine dealing, buys a bike and plans to meet Trish in San Fransisco in a couple weeks. He insists she take his copy of, ‘As a Man Thinketh’ to read along the way.
Trish finally connects with Tom by phone who says “you really should be traveling with someone.”
Continuing her trip Trish meets (comical character) in converted school bus jeweler Joe Bones. They share their art, he relates to her interests and touches her SOUL. He secretly tucks a witch’s ring inside Trish’s gear.
Trish dumps the bike trying to jump a wash on an isolated road in search of the town used in the filming of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
Stranded due to stormy weather in the Grand Canyon’s North Rim Lodge Trish reads from Spritual Matt’s book, ‘Dream lofty dreams and as ye dream so shall ye become.’ ‘Dreamers are saviors of the world.’ ‘Man learns both by suffering and by bliss.’ She discovers Joe Bones’ witches ring in her bag.
She rides up the Las Vegas Strip, then heads into a gorgeous Death Valley sunset.
The Hawk suddenly loses power and Trish celebrates the stars over the desert.
Cooled down the Hawk starts again, gets her to a campground where she’s suffering from food poisoning.
A little dog distributes her dirty laundry around the campground and Trish high tails it to the Pacific Ocean–a milestone. She remembers how her grandmother traveled across the ocean to the US from Lithuania.
Two bored unproductive LA boys read Trish’s T-shirt, ‘Life is an odyssey, Not a guided tour.’
Trish arrives at San Francisco YMCA hostel and meets unemployed actor Pat as she’s trying to get her motorcycle up the front steps. Turns out when the clerk said she should bring her bike into the building thinking bicycle, not motorcycle.
She picks up a mail-i-gram from Matt at the PO and the precious long awaited letter from Tom.
She waits and waits for Matt but finally gives up. And leaves a general delivery letter for him at the PO. Looking in opposite directions, they just miss each other.
Trish camps in the Sequoias enjoying two young camper boys–inspiring her to head back to Mississippi.
She writes a letter to Tom, and the children’s story, ‘The Lady and the Hawk.’
A series of North Pacific coast shots get her to the entrance to Canada where they search her entire bike and confiscate her bear/pepper spray saying, “Canadian men don’t hurt women.” Trish answers, “What about the Canadian grizzly bear.”
No sooner does Trish ride onto a ferry, when a Canadian outlaw motorcycle gang rides on board. Andy their leader hangs out with Trish. He really seems to understand her thinking (HEAD) and insists she lead them down the road because her headlight is the brightest.
She’s become very proficient at riding, dodging open range cattle, and navigating sandy mountain switchbacks-in great physical and mental shape-BODY.
She meets the Mythic, Motorcycle Man–life experience to boot–but she’s ‘not there yet.’
At a Grande Tetons hostel Trish converses with hiker Heidi (preparing to get married and have children) about the conflict between a sense of home vs sense of adventure.
Trish writes letter to Tom’s children about the animals she’s seen and not seen.
A bear attacks her site–no bear spray or death wish–uses Joe Bones’ witch’s ring facing out to ward off the bad.
Trish motorcycles near Sturgis’ Rally, Mount Rushmore and the Badlands. She calls Tom from a roadside pay phone–she’s heading to Missippippi to be with him and meet his children.
Cute young Pete entertains Trish with stunt riding down the boring flat highway. “Let me feel your throttle hand.” Good-bye single life.
The ‘men only’ hostel in Sioux City won’t take her so she travels another 100 miles to an Omaha (retirement home for nuns) hostel. They pray for her as she (like Maria) heads back to Mississippi (her captain).
Trish picks up one last love letter from Tom in Kansas City.
In the home stretch a biker comrade helps her with some light for setting up her tent. She says I never met a biker I didn’t like. He says, “Come to think of it, all the prople whose values I question are non-bikers.”
Cop stops her for speeding. “Where’s the fire?” “In my heart.”
Trish arrives at Natchez-The Hideaway; and experiences Mississippi family home life-in the wife and mother figure role-new for her. She reads ‘The Lady and the Hawk’ children’s story; they cook together ride 3-wheelers; camp out in Trish’s tent; visit Tom’s parents and on and on.
Then reality starts setting in.
While out at a segregated resturant the blacks eat in the back, so her friend Sandy wouldn’t even be able to eat out with her; It is unbearably hot and humid; she’s unable to relate to the southern women; Tom’s friend Bart takes a loaded gun into the tent with the kids; She would be an accessory to the smokey evil illegal business of growing and bagging up dried marijuana…
Trish needs to get back to work-her contract with Harvard; and to look at Natchez from Cambridge.
She rips herself away as Tom puts his arms around (comforting and/or showing he cares about) his children, and destroyed-rides alone up the Natchez Trace.
With a bad tank of gas, first going on ‘reserve,’ and then completely out, she coasts and coasts to a road crew of prisoners cutting back the Kudzu. The Warden fills her tank with free gas. She marvels at the charmed life she leads and happily heads for the interstate home.
NOTE:
The present (senior) story line, that has been in the background (mainly short VO’s with her more evolved perspective until now) takes focus to complete the arcs (now visible when one sees her memorabilia and how her travels affected her life). The arc regarding Tom comes when she puts on her leathers and finds his phone number and note ‘ call whenever’ in its pocket… then takes off to who knows where on a new bike.
The childhood story line–in the form of flashbacks to give more of a sense of the development of her ‘Old World’ and why she is the way she is; ends with her rising above the sex discrimination, the devastation of the depressed side of her manic depressive illness, and her restricted sheltered life.
And it arcs with her mastery of having taught herself to ride a motorcycle.
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Frank Jordan’s Day 9 Assignment #2 (Shifting Belief Systems)
What I learned doing this assignment is that if we hope to change people’s lives with our films we need to shift their way of thinking. We do this by presenting the “old ways” as the norm, “challenging” the old ways, and presenting “new ways” through profound moments (either through action or dialogue).
OLD WAYS:
Film set in 1917 Jim Crow South Carolina (racist environment).
Racist cotton field foreman.
Racist manor owner: RECRUITMENT OFFICER “Sir, we understand this years crop is late, but the war goes on just the same. The army needs these men now.” MANOR OWNER “Capt’n, you can tell General Pershin’ that my niggas ain’t goin’ nowhere, drafted or not, ’til every boll in this crop is picked clean.”
Uneducated. Freddie can read with effort. He can’t write.
Stuck in a rut: MOSES (lifelong friend and comrade) “Freddie, we been workin’ this land a long time.” FREDDIE “This ain’t no life! Ain’t no future here!” MOSES “It’s a livin’.” FREDDIE “We better than that. A lot better.”
Dislike/Distrust Country: FREDDIE “Nobody want justice and liberty more than me, but why should we risk our lives for a country that treats us like dirt?” SUGAR FOOT (lifelong friend and comrade) “Can’t you see? If we fight, we can show everybody what we made of. What we can do. Our opportunities will come.” FREDDIE “Suga, you a damn fool if you think fightin’ this war gonna make any difference in our lives.”
Dislike/Distrust White People: Cotton Field Foreman, rednecks who lynched Elijah (Freddie’s childhood friend and mentor), white recruit PEAVEY. Entering Camp Jackson, Peavey trips Freddie. Moses and Sugar Foot help Freddie to his feet. Seething, Freddie turns and stares at Peavey. PEAVEY “C’mon, nigga! Show the army what you got. C’mon!” STOCKY WHITE RECRUIT “Peavey, knock it off.” Without saying a word, Freddie picks up his bag, turns away with Moses and Sugar Foot, and continues along the road. PEAVEY ” Hey, boy! Look like you turnin’ yella’!”
CHALLENGES:
Freddie driven to provide a better, safer life for family.
Freddie ignores racist insults, ridicule, laughter.
Freddie stands up to Sgt. Heller’s harsh training camp treatment.
Freddie confronts Cpl. Thomas’ racist/physical attack.
Sgt. Heller defends his men: CPL. THOMAS “Think the army’s gonna let these nigga’s fight?” SGT. HELLER “Best heed how you refer to my men, corporal.”
Sgt. Heller’s gaze at Freddie, with curiosity.
Officer’s confidence in men: COL. MILES “Congratulations, captain. I’ve had nothing but good reports.” CAPT. WHARTON: “Thank you, colonel. The men have made remarkable progress.” COL. MILES “Tell me. Honestly. Can we count on these colored boys?” CAPT. WHARTON “If my life depended on it.”
Pearl’s optimism: “You’ll get through this. I know you will. And when you get back, just think a the whole new world we gonna experience, together, as a family.”
Community backing: BLACK DOCK WORKER “Good luck, boys! Give ’em hell! Show ’em what we Americans made of!”
Sgt. Heller showing his men how to play shuffleboard.
Sgt. Heller confiding in Freddie about being beaten as a child for having a “colored” friend.
Sgt. Heller’s anger for being loaned to the French Army: “How can we ask a man, any man, to fight and maybe die for his country when his country don’t want ’em?”
Freddie’s development as a leader and promotion to corporal.
Sgt. Heller’s defense of his men (as Freddie is whacked by an MP’s club on the back): “Hey! Hey! What the hell are you doin?” Before the MP can respond, Sgt. Heller slugs him. “These are my men! These are Americans!”
Sgt. (now LT.) Heller’s return to the platoon after being hauled away by the MP’s: “Thank God our regimental command staff have a sensible ear.”
Lt. Heller’s speech to the platoon before heading off to the front line to fight with the French Army (excerpt): “No matter what happens in the days ahead, your country owes you a lasting debt. Never let anybody tell you different.”
Lt. Heller concealing his American flag under his tunic.
Lt. Heller sharing his canteen with Freddie after a trench raid in which Freddie kills his first man, and narrowly escapes death.
Freddie’s short visit to Paris (while on leave) with Moses and Sugar Foot. The ‘big-city’ he’s always dreamed of. Harmony. Diversity.
Freddie’s trust in Lt. Heller. Confides he can’t write.
Lt. Heller’s willingness to write a letter to Pearl for Freddie. Freddie dictates.
Freddie confides in LT. Heller his hopes and fears: FREDDIE “My whole life, I been lookin’ over my shoulder. Livin’ in fear. No more. People fight for what they want in this life. Make sacrifices.” LT. HELLER “It’s all right to be scared.” FREDDIE “I never been more at peace.”
Cpl. Thomas is struck in the neck and choking on his own blood. Freddie darts onto the road as bullets spat about and drags Cpl. Thomas into a ditch. He tries everything he can to save him. Cpl. Thomas dies in Freddie’s arms.
The loss of his friend and commander (Lt. Heller), as well as the discovery of the American flag concealed under Lt. Heller’s tunic, inspires Freddie to act “above and beyond the call of duty,” and lead his regiment to victory on Hill 188.
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Day 9 Assignment 2
What I learned doing this assignment is my project is HUGE! I’m going to need a long time to map out these ways for the series as a whole and figure out which ones will appear in each (or all) of the episodes. The following is a start.
Old Ways/Challenges for Camp
Old Way: Always wanting to win in any competition (sports or life)
Challenge: Two of the greatest disappointments of his playing career sprang from his perfect performance of it…
1) In the1878 Harvard game in Boston, Yale stopped a Harvard advance almost on Yale’s goal line. Camp and another player, Watson, carried the ball, in alternating rushes, to the center of the field. There, Camp broke free, evading the entire Harvard team except one man, who bore down on him. Thirty-five yards from the touch line, Camp checked himself and drop-kicked the ball, which shot over his tackler’s head. While the ball spun through the air, the whistle blew to end the game. The ball flew over the goal posts less than a second too late.
2) In 1879, also against Harvard, just before the end of the first half, Camp undertook a forty-five-yard kick. The ball sailed above the Harvard players, who tried to intercept it, and slid over the posts. But Bland Ballard of Princeton, the referee for the game, saw a Yale player holding his opponent. He called back the ball. Had Camp’s goal been allowed, it would have won the game, which was the only game tied by Harvard while Camp was in a Yale uniform.
Old Way: Being a successful athlete means being popular
Challenge: Alice’s intellectual bent forces Camp to think of more than just athletics in order to impress her.
Old Way: If it’s not in the rule book it’s okay to do it, even if it isn’t morally right.
Challenge: In episode one, Camp pitches a mean curve ball, which is a new way of pitching at the time and certainly not common. When challenged about it, Camp retorts that there’s nothing against it in either of the rule books of the day. In a later episode, Harvard president Charles Eliot denounces the competitive and deceptive aspects of athletics in general (criticizing baseball’s curve ball, for example, because it deceives the batter) and abhors the “unwholesome desire for victory by whatever means.”
Old Ways/Challenges for Football
Old Way: The soccer-style way Yale played with twenty players out on the field from each team
Challenge 1: The 1873 game against Eton with only eleven players a side on the field shows Camp how much livelier the game can be for both players and spectators.
Challenge 2: The 1875 rugby-style game introduced to Yale by Harvard shows Camp how much more fun the game is with the odd rugby ball and the introduction of above-the-waist tackling.
Old Way: Harvard’s insistence on teams of fifteen on the field rather than the twenty of other college teams or the eleven favored by Yale.
Challenge: Yale refuses to join the Intercollegiate Football Association unless the others agree to field eleven.
Old Way: The rugby scrum
Challenge: Camp suggests there is little opportunity to use tactics in a scrum and suggests the line of scrimmage will open up the game. This leads to a new line up on the field, which leads to new position names, such as quarterback.
There are lots more, but I will need more than the time allotted for this assignment.
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Scott Richards’ Old Ways Challenge Chart
What I learned doing this assignment is a new way to brainstorm ideas to get to the heart of what and why my characters should/need to realize a profound change.
Old Way: Self-loathing (does not like/love herself)
Challenge: Harry shows he believes she has more worth than she gives herself credit for. Dan challenges her to commit suicide. She gets cut off from help and must rely on herself.
Old Way: Alcoholic (hides inside a bottle from hurtful feelings and memories).
Challenge: She is forced to confront her past failures constantly. Locked in an apartment with a case of booze.
Old Way: Shuts herself off from others.
Challenge: Locked in and needing other to help her.
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Brenda Lynn’s 12 Angry Men Analysis
What I learned doing this assignment is that utilizing this analysis on the story reveals the layers beneath the story on the surface. It is an excellent way to add depth to a story and come to a revealing, but holistic conclusion to the story.
ASSIGNMENT 1
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Assumption of guilt
OLD WAYS: Assuming that the case presented was complete. Accepting what was told to them as the truth. They take the initial vote and only 1 person says not guilty.
CHALLENGE:
Juror #8 (infinity) votes not guilt. They should at least talk about it before they condemn a man to death.
Just want this over
OLD WAYS: Juror #7 has a baseball game to get to so could they get it over with.
It is hot and uncomfortable in the room. The humidity builds as the tension builds.
The clock is ticking on the wall. There is pressure on #8 to change his vote so they can all go home.
CHALLENGE:
Juror #9 agrees with #8. The case should at least be discussed.
Not caring
OLD WAYS: What difference does it make? These are poor people who knife each other all the time.
CHALLENGE: In this country, the burden of proof is on the prosecution, not the defense. You are innocence until proven guilty.
Prejudice
OLD WAYS: Juror #10 symbolizes the attitude of a bigot. “I’ve lived with them all of my life. You know what they are like.” His pigheadness closes his ears to the truth.
CHALLENGE:
Everyone has a right to a fair and just trial, no matter their race, sex or economic and social status.
Juror #5 and Juror #11 would both be categorized as lessor than Juror #10. They counter his perspective. Juror #11 even corrects 10’s grammatical error.
Not looking beneath the surface
OLD WAYS: Accepting the fact that the knife was unique, one-of-a-kind and the fact that the boy had purchased it recently.
CHALLENGE:
Juror #8 has a knife just like the evidence knife. He bought it in the same neighborhood where the crime took place, proving that the knife was not as rare an item as the jurors were lead to believe. (This is a turning point in the story. Physical proof that the case is not all that it seems.
Assuming the evidence is not questionable
OLD WAYS: Juror # 4 doubts that the boy went to the movies because he couldn’t recall what he had seen.
CHALLENGE:
Juror #8 challenges memory of Juror #4 as he tries to recall an actress from a movie. Then #8 points out the pressure the boy was under when finding his father dead. Who would be able to remember under those circumstances.
Assuming the witnesses were accurate:
OLD WAYS: Accepting the eye-witness testimonies as fact.
CHALLENGE:
Juror #8 acts out the old man’s walk to the door and calls into question the neighbor being able to see through the train car windows, plus she didn’t have on her glasses.
Assuming the Defense Attorney did his job
OLD WAYS: Juror #3 poses that if the evidence was lacking, why didn’t the Defense Attorney point these things out.
CHALLENGE:
Juror #6 agrees with #8. A court-appointed attorney did not seem to have a vested interest in his client. He just wanted to get it over with.
Assuming the case is completely logical
OLD WAYS: Juror #3 is the last hold out. He argues that the case presented was accurate and reasonable until he comes to an inner realization.
CHALLENGE:
Because of his own broken relationship with his son, Juror #3 was looking at the case through biased eyes. Once he accepts that, he changes his vote to not guilty. The accused is acquitted of murdering his father.
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Brenda Lynn’s Old Ways Challenge Chart
What I learned doing this assignment is that doing this break down of the old ways helps to had the layers for an impactful and profound journey in the story.
ASSIGNMENT 2
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Sense of Entitlement
OLD WAYS: David feels that, as the best in his class, he deserves the top prize, a trip to Lascaux, France to study the artwork in the cave. Life owes him.
CHALLENGE: He learns that life doesn’t owe him anything. He must create his own destiny with love and gratitude
Competition vs. Love
OLD WAYS: David competes with his brother in his pursuit of his PhD.
CHALLENGE: He accepts that his brother’s dreams do not have to be his own. He can love his brother without competing with him.
Learning from Screens instead of experiencing life
OLD WAYS: Always with his head buried in his screen, he ignores the beauty of life around him.
CHALLENGE: Screen backfire on him when he is filmed fighting with Frank.
Plans are more important than being open to the Cosmos
OLD WAYS: David has his life planned to the nth degree.
CHALLENGE: Appo is dying. David must choose between what he had planned for his life and an opportunity of a life time, to study with Appo before he passes.
No one can be trusted
OLD WAYS: Father Sean tricked David into going to Tikal.
CHALLENGE: This trick turns out to be an experience that David wouldn’t exchange for all the world.
Unfulfilled by Having
OLD WAYS: Even though David has all that he could desire, he is not fulfilled by his tech-gadget-filled life.
CHALLENGE: He observes the happiness of people who have next to nothing, but have everything that his important.
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