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Prejudice and Stereotypes in 12 Angry Men
Stereotypes use generalisations to characterise people, and 10th juror is particularly prone to
stereotyping the defendant based on socio-economic background. He regularly makes
generalised statements about ‘those people’ (p. 6), without ever justifying his opinions with
concrete details. Examples include: .I’m tellin’ you they let the kids run wild up there’ (p. 6). .
‘… You’re not going to tell us that we’re supposed to believe that kid, knowing what he is.
Listen, I’ve lived among ’em all my life. You can’t believe a word they say.
I mean, they’re born liars. ‘ (P. 8) .The kids who crawl outa those places are real trash. I don’t
want any part of them, I’m telling you (p. 12) . ‘Let’s talk facts. These people are born to lie’ …
‘I’ve known some who were OK, but that’s the exception’ (pp. 51-52) . ‘They’re violent, they’re
vicious, they’re ignorant, and they will cut us up’ (p. 53) The one instance where 10th juror uses
details is when he argues ‘his type, they’re multiplying five times as fast as we are.
Yet he only uses this statistic to ground his own fears: ‘They’re against us, they hate us, they
want to destroy us … If we don’t smack them down whenever we can, then they are gonna own
us. They’re gonna breed us out of existence. ‘ (P. 53). 10th juror is not the only one guilty of such
generalisation and stereotyping. For example, 4th states: The boy … He’s a product of a filthy
neighbourhood and a broken home … Slums are breeding grounds for criminals.
I know it. So do you. It’s no secret. Children from slum backgrounds are potential menaces to
society. (P. 12).
Similarly, 3rd juror muses: .. sometimes I think we’d be better off if we took these tough kids and
slapped ’em down before they make trouble, you know? Save us a lot of time and money. (P. 3)
Neither 4th nor 3rd jurors make reference to specific details of the defendant’s situation, but
rather rely on generalised stereotypes which support their own prejudices against ‘those people’.
In fact, 8th is the only juror to carefully review specific details from the case rather than resorting
to general class stereotypes. He notes: … This boy’s been kicked around all his life.
You know – living in a slum, his mother dead since he was nine. He spent a year and a half in an
orphanage while his father served a jail term for forgery (p. 8). This lists specific facts and
variables about the boy’s upbringing, rather than distilling him into a non-specific member of a
socio-economic group. Similarly, in 8th juror’s speech on page 23,he lists specific details of the
victim’s rough existence – his gambling, his convictions, his employment history. This can be
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contrasted with 10th juror’s simplistic and prejudiced attitude: ‘listen, we know the father was a
bum’ (p.24).
This contrast between these two attitudes is that 8th juror is attempting to form his opinions
based on the specific factors affecting the defendant and the victim, and trying to focus on the
human beings in the case at hand. 10th juror is content to convict the defendant based on
stereotypes and generalised tendencies of others in similar situations. Once again, by aligning the
less simplistic attitude with 8th juror, Twelve Angry Men endorses compassion and condemns
prejudice and stereotyping.
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