Mervyn Leroy\'s the Bad Seed

Mervyn LeRoy's The Bad Seed (1956) is definitely a hallmark for the world of horror-thrillers. The film opens with the Rhoda Penmark (played by Patty McCormack) plays a song on the piano, in celebration of her father leaving to perform his military duties. Rhoda and her mother Christine (played by Nancy Kelly) are later visited by their friend, Monica Breedlove, who admires Rhoda's tap-dance and learns that the girl is depressed because she had lost a penmanship to one of her colleagues, Claude Daigle.

The movie's action is fast paced and it is revealed that Claude died drowning during a school program. Christine is terrified at the occurrence and her distress becomes even greater when she finds that her daughter is most likely Claude's murderer. Matters are made clear when Rhoda confesses to have killed Claude, and, that she had also put an end to the life of one of their neighbors at the time when they lived in Wichita.

The fact that Christine's mother had presumably been a renowned serial-killer influences the woman to believe that this is the reason for her daughter's behavior. While Rhoda apparently escapes without anyone but her mother being aware of what she had done, the janitor shows up, claiming that he knows everything and that he is about to turn her in. The girl sets him on fire; further contributing to her mother's suffering as the women watches the whole episode. Desperate at their situation, Christine vainly attempts to kill herself and her daughter. While Rhoda is not killed by the sleeping pills given by her mother, she is struck by lighting while searching for the medal her mother supposedly threw into the lake. The movie ends with a scene displaying Christine delivering a spanking to Rhoda.

Christine's opinion relating her daughter's behavior to that of her mother is not surprising, as most people would make this connection consequent to being put face-to-face with the facts. However, while it is possible for certain disorders to be genetically transmissible, one that turns an individual into a cold-blooded murderer is, without doubt, not one of these disorders.

Even though it is virtually impossible for the tendency to kill to be passed on genetically, it does not mean that Rhoda had not been suffering from a sociopathic disorder. It is actually possible that her mother attributed the genetically transmitted malady to her daughter's situation because she did not want to admit the fact that the child had been ill.

Some parents often go as far as considering themselves proud of having children that are different, ascribing this difference to the belief that the little ones are more mature or even more intelligent than other children their age. A child's desire to impose his or her point-of-view does not necessarily mean that the respective child is mentally disturbed, but when one commits a crime in order to become heard, it is obvious that the person has serious issues.

Whether it is because they simply cannot accept that their children are mentally ill, or because they prefer to believe that everything around them is perfectly normal, parents are inclined to overlook conditions that relate to their babies being capable of committing crimes.

It is not only Rhoda's mother that had been unwilling to accept her daughter's condition, as Rhoda herself chose to evade feelings of guilt by performing basic tasks which took her mind away from the crimes that she had committed. Her condition made it possible for her to fail from properly understanding human emotions, as she attempted to get out of most uncomfortable situations which she came across by taking advantage of her image.

At the point when she could no longer ignore all the clues linking Rhoda to Claude's death, Christine accepted that her daughter had been a murderer, thus obliging her to come forward with the other crime that she had committed.

Given the fact that LeRoy, the handyman, had been less educated that the people around Rhoda, he does not consider her background or her angelic appearance when he finds out that she killed Claude. When concerning the nature vs. nature concept, it is possible that, to some point, Rhoda had been influenced by her nature (considering her grandmother's history) in being unable to understand the acts that she had performed. However, concomitantly, it is also possible that the life experiences that Rhoda had come across from her early days and until the time when she started killing people had shaped part of her character.

The theory involving Christine being determined to put an end to Rhoda's life can be related to her ration intervening, influencing her to take action before Rhoda continued her killings.

Rhoda pays special attention to the way that her mother sees her, and, even though she knows that her mother has the power to denounce her, she does not attempt to murder Christine. The next in Rhoda's list of killings would have been Monica Breedlove, taking into consideration the fact that the women had been closely connected to her, and that it had been possible for her to endanger Rhoda with the information that she knew.

The ending of the movie is most probably intended to present the audience with what it wants to see, someone finally punishing Rhoda, not through putting her into a mental asylum (as should have been the case), but by physically hurting her.

Sidney Lumet's 12 Angry Men is an American classic with reference to how most Jurors have the tendency to be prejudiced in the cases that they have to deal with. The film presents the case of a boy that had presumably murdered his father and is facing the death penalty, depending on whether the Jurors decide or not that he had indeed been guilty.

The Jurors are initially leaning towards declaring the young man guilty, but, due to the interference of Juror number 8, they all gradually change their opinions as they realize that there are several facts to consider when having to do with a murder suspect. As the movie advances, the audience learns that certain Jurors, such as Juror 3, had originally been influenced by their backgrounds when deciding the verdict.

As in all juries, the jurors appear to be qualified to fit their roles in the beginning of the trial, most likely to express their opinions impartially. It is almost impossible for one to have a jury of his peers, as this would mean that all of the people involved in judging him have been in his situation, and would thus be more capable of doing their job.

The role that Juror 1 has in the trial is to present the audience with the decision that the jury had reached.

As all people that have a job to do, Jurors are also predisposed to choose the quickest way out of the situation. However, Juror 8 is not willing to send a man to death just because the rest of the jury decided that that had been the right thing to do. It would be foolish and irresponsible for a juror to accept being influenced by the other members in the jury, especially when their decisions are not backed with strong arguments. When one is aware that his or her thinking can end an individual's life, it would be best if the respective juror paid a great deal of concentration on the case.