Legal & ethical regulatory bodies report

1. DISNEY: LEGAL & ETHICAL, REGULATORYBODIES
FORM COMPLETED BY: Mia Johnson
A) POSSIBLE EFFECTS OF FILM UPON AN AUDIENCE
THEORY/EFFECT EXPLAIN WHAT THIS IS CAN THIS BE AN EFFECT
THAT THE FORCE
AWAKENS HAS ON AN
AUDIENCE? HOW?
HYPODERMIC NEEDLE
THEORY
Created by the Frankfurt
school, a group of media
theorists looked at the
possible effects of the mass
media. The contents of the
media were injected into the
thoughts of the audience,
who accepted the attitudes,
opinions and beliefs
expressed by the media
without question. The
audience is purely passive
and linear.
This theory doesn’t apply to
the audience of the Force
Awakens as Disney want an
active audience- they want
audiences to engage with the
film on social media but also
at events such as movie
releases and to go to events,
and buy the products.
TWO STEP SLOW Two groups of people- the
leaders and the interpreters.
They work in two stages First
opinion leaders get
information from a media
source and Second opinion
leaders then pass on the
information, along with their
interpretation to others.
Audiences are active and
apart of society however
generally there are more than
two steps in the flow of
communication.
This is used in star wars
through the advertising and
marketing of the Force
Awakens. For example the
advertising was done so that
many audiences wanted to
watch it for different reasons
and it therefore became a
part of popular culture
meaning celebrities were
posting photos of them
seeing it saying how good
the film was and therefore
there audiences may accept
that and watch Force
Awakens based on the
opinion leaders views.
USES AND
GRATIFICATIONS
1974 Blulmer and Katz and
McQuall-
Diversion-escape
form everyday problems and
routine
Personal
Relationships-using the
media for emotional and
other interaction
Personal Identity-
finding yourself
reflected in texts,
The star wars universe has
so many different uses and
gratifications for every
viewer. Viewers may enjoy
the diversion and distraction
from everyday reality by
watching a film about fantasy
and science fiction,
audiences may also use star
wars to create personal
relationships through the
characters and see

2. learning behaviour
and values from texts
Surveillance- seeking
facts. Learning
information through
the media-news,
weather…
-1983 McQuall – diversion
became entertainment- filling
time, relaxing
- personal
relationships
became
integration and
social
interaction-
social empathy,
connecting with
characters
- Surveillance
became information- news,
relevant events, etc…
themselves in the characters
(personal identity) which is
why they may watch- there
are also such a diverse cast
that most parts of western
society are sable to see
themselves represented in a
film together and may
therefore be more likely to
watch the film.
DESENSITISATION -we grow weaker in reactions
to the amount of death and
violence we see- as we are
exposed to loads of this not
as shocked as older
generations
-as the years go on the more
desensitised to death and
nudity the more you watch
-some criminals think what
they are doing is okay
because they saw it in the
media
-Newson 1994 young people
might have weaker moral
codes through what they
watch.
Viewers may watch all the
violence in star wars and
may become violent
themselves or think it’s okay
to be violent due to seeing
their heroes like that.
WHAT ARE THE POSITIVE EFFECTS OF THE FORCE AWAKENS ON AN AUDIENCE?
The positive effects may be things such as audiences being able to see themselves
represented in a film as there is a diverse cast such as having female lead (Rey) and black
supporting actors (Finn and Maz’s voice actress Lupita Nyong’o) as well as Asian characters.
The female lead also is shown as a strong character through not needing anyone to help her
and being able to take care of herself, such as in the first few scenes when Rey is
scavenging through the old ship and living on her own. This positive image shows women
and girls of all ages that they are just as good as the men and is also empowering to females.
The ending where the good guys win also shows audiences that good wins, which for young
audiences is really important as its teaching them that if they are good then no matter what
they go through they are able to win.

3. WHAT ARE THE NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF THE FORCE AWAKENS ON AN AUDIENCE?
However some aspects can be negative, such as how many idolise Kylo Ren and may
therefore want to be more like him, and young audiences may therefore become more violent
and get into more fights – or some may try to re-enact the final fight sequence. As the final
fight is between both good and bad audiences, especially younger, may learn that it doesn’t
matter if you are good or bad as they both fight and that its okay to fight as the ‘good guys’ do
it. Audiences might as well become desensitised as they are viewing violence and then may
not react when they see violence in real life or may replicate the violence without thinking of
the consequences.
B) ISSUES OF REPRESENTATION
WHO/WHAT IS BEING
REPRESENTED
WHY HAS THE
INSTITUTION
REPRESENTED THEM IN
THAT WAY
WOULD THIS BE
CONSIDERED A POSITIVE
OR NEGATIVE
REPRESENTATION-
EXPLAIN
Race There are different races
such as Black, White, and
Latino in the main cast
meaning there is
representation for more of
the population there is in
other Hollywood movies.
This I positive representation
as the characters are the
‘good guys’ which allows
audiences that can relate and
see themselves in those
characters (personal identity-
Blumler and Katz) and feel
proud and happier with
themselves and their image-
a problem a lot of non-white
people can have.
Gender There is three main
characters which are
females, including the lead,
out of thirteen and the rest
are males.
This can be positive and
negative as it means females
do have some positive
representation and therefore,
especially younger girls, are
able to see themselves level
with men which
Age Within force awakens there
are loads of different ages
with the main characters
being mainly between the
ages of 26 and 76 (Daisy
Ridley and Harrison Ford).
This is positive for those in
their 20s and over as the
protagonist is shown to be
strong and powerful from an
early age (early 20s) and
there are characters from all
ages (up to their 70s) shown
to be strong and able to fight
which is positive
representation for older
audiences as well. However

4. there isn’t really
representation for anyone
under 20s.
Sexuality There isn’t any confirmed
relationships other than
between Han Solo and
General Leia and there isn’t
any confirmed LGBTQ+
characters however the fans
do have a lot of theories and
within the later films in this
new trilogy fans are hopeful
for a LGBTQ+ character.
This isn’t positive or negative
representation as there isn’t
any representation for the
LGBTQ+ community which is
quite common in Hollywood
but still is wrong as LGBTQ+
people are a part of our
society so they should
represented just as much as
heterosexual characters and
for a child who is confused
about their sexuality them not
having this representation
can make them feel as
though they are not normal.
Does the film provide typical mainstream representations or does it offer something that
challenges society?
The film does not have the same mainstream representations of movies as the majority of
movies are white washed and have the females playing smaller roles, and although the force
awakens is still mainly white males they do have a strong female lead and a black supporting
actor which is the way more movies are starting to be produced as. There is also no
confirmed LGBTQ+ characters which is also very mainstream and typical for Disney movies
and is something quite a few fans are unhappy about.
What are the current debates in society regarding representation that could be related to
the film?
In society generally there is debates on representation of females, ethnic minorities, and
sexuality which the force awakens helps the argument for females and person of colour
characters as they produced a record breaking movie with two characters from under-
represented groups able to carry a movie. This also showed studios that there is a lot of
money and opportunities for movies to be led by females and people of colour and that
people are willingly to spend money and watch the film- this is shown even more through
other new releases that are female led and hit records in box office such as Wonder Women.
Many fans, however, still want more representation from a sexuality stand point as although
there isn’t anything confirming that that characters are heterosexual there also isn’t anything
confirming any of the characters may be LGBTQ+ which many fans feel is something they
should explore in order to have that representation.

5. C) LEGAL AND ETHICAL ISSUES
LEGAL Explain the issue: Example in relation to THE
FORCE AWAKENS
Discrimination: Where people are treated
differently due to many
factors such as gender,
age, race, sexuality, and
class.
There are rumours that John
Boyega was paid less then
Daisy Ridley even though
they roughly have the same
level of screen time and
lines which would be
discrimination against
Boyega because of his race.
Copyright: The legal right given to the
originator for a fixed
number of years to protect
the work granting rights for
its use and distributions.
All of star wars is
copyrighted meaning that
nobody can use the ideas
and products from star wars
as their own such as the use
of lightsabers or characters
like stormtroopers. Although
these may be referenced.
ETHICAL –Offensive material Explain the issue: Example in relation to THE
FORCE AWAKENS
Violence/sex/language: Within many Hollywood
films (especially
action/adventure movies)
there is almost always
violence, sex or sexual
scenes, and strong
language which may
desensitise audiences,
even more so younger
more impressionable
audiences.
There are many fight scenes
in the force awakes and
although some of them are
space wars they ground fight
scenes may be watched by
audiences and then they
believe its normal to do that
kind of fighting and may
imitate that kind of
behaviour.
Children: Within movies children are
often misrepresented as
either over sexualising
them (mostly with
teenagers) or making them
seem younger than they
are- giving audiences an
incorrect image of children
that age.
Within the force awakens
there isn’t any children that
are featured other than
when Rey is shown as a
child when her parents leave
so there isn’t any ethical
issues other than that some
children may find the images
distressing as it may trigger
memories or fears within
children that have been
forced to leave their parents
or children that are scared
that that will happen.

6. HOW DO THE LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS HAVE AN EFFECT UPON THE MAKING OF THE
FORCE AWAKENS?
When making the Force Awakens all departments of the film must be careful to not use
anything that has been copyrighted without first getting the right to use it such as any music
or sound effects they have used from somewhere else. Departments such as props and
costume must be careful to make sure that they only use designs that they have created and
that aren’t copyrighted to another series or producer that is not Star Wars. The production
teams must also make sure that there is no discrimination between the characters and/or
actors because of their; age, race, gender, and/or sexuality.
D) REGULATORY BODIES
BBFC
Who are the BBFC?
The BBFC are a non-profit non-governmental organisation in charge of classifying movies into
age ratings for films shown in cinema and video works to make the public aware of what
audiences are able to watch each film, such as a mildly violent film being rated as a 12 so that
parents are aware that it isn’t suitable for children under 12.
What rules does the BBFC set that have to be followed by film institutions?
Each age rating has different levels of each category that they are allowed and the different
categories are; discrimination, sex, violence, language, nudity, threat, imitable behaviour, and
drugs.
HOW DO THESE RULES HAVE A DIRECT EFFECT UPON HOW A FILM IS MADE?
EXAMPLE
As star wars is a 12 when in production they would be aware of what rules they have to follow
to make sure that it is a 12 such as they would have to be cautious with how strong the language
is as moderate language and strong language that is minimal and used in good context that
makes sense is okay but the film must not have lots of strong language throughout the film.
The force awakens would also have to be careful on the amount of violence and imitable
behaviour they show as it is an action film which normally be shown through lots of fight scenes
however bring a 12 the force awakens would have to make they aren’t too many fight scenes
that younger audiences can imitate which is why there are so many space fights as younger
audiences aren’t able to imitate fights in ships the same way they may imitate a lightsaber fight.