The document discusses several topics related to Disney and the film The Force Awakens, including: 1. Possible effects of films on audiences according to several communication theories, and how The Force Awakens exemplifies some of these theories. 2. Issues of representation in the film regarding race, gender, age, and sexuality. It finds the representations are generally positive but notes potential negative portrayals of sexuality. 3. Legal and ethical issues the film faces, such as discrimination, copyright, violence, and how it may affect children viewers. It must consider these issues during production. 4. The regulatory role of the BBFC in setting rules on content that film institutions must follow regarding harm and informing

1. DISNEY: LEGAL & ETHICAL, REGULATORYBODIES
FORM COMPLETED BY: BRADLEYVENN-GRIFFITHS
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
Developed in the 1920/30s, the
Frankfurt school were concerned
about the effects of mass media,
they envisaged the media as a
hypodermic syringe and is a linear
communication theory.
Throughout the film there will
be messages that will be
meant to be understood by
everyone however there may
be messages that can only be
understood by a certain
audience meaning they are
hidden messages.
TWO STEP FLOW Developed by Larzarsfeld and
Katz in the 1940/50s. There are to
opinion leaders. First step-Opinion
leaders get information from a
media source.
Second step- Opinion leaders then
pass the information, along with
their interpretation, to others
(friends, family, and
acquaintances).
The producer of the film will
attempt to portray his opinion
throughout the film through the
first step which could be
something like a trailer. The
second step is when the
audience receive the
information and interpret what
might happen with it for
example Han Solo return.
USES AND
GRATIFICATIONS
The theory of Blumler and Katz
was made in 1974, the theory
initially said their passive audience
meaning you just watch, listen and
expect. However, this changed
due to nobody having a TV before
the 1960’s, then once TV’s had
begun to come into fashion the
audience went from a passive to
an active audience.
The Force Awakens uses
diversion so the audience are
able to escape and being
diverted from everyday
problems. This is used in The
Force Awakens so the
audience is able to relax for
example when The Falcon
being chased by the Tie fighter
due to the Iconic scene causes
nostalgia audience.
DESENSITISATION The theory of a media audience’s
reactions growing weaker
according to the level/amount of
exposure to violence, death and
sex. The theory states that the
longer we are exposed to violence,
horror or any other shocking
material, we become less sensitive
to it and any real life equivalents.
During the film the tension is
built between the empire and
the resistance leading to Han
Solo, an iconic character,
dying in the one of the last
scene.

2. WHAT ARE THE POSITIVE EFFECTS OF THE FORCE AWAKENS ON AN AUDIENCE?
According to the Uses and Gratifications theory it provides diversion for the audience
meaning they are able to escape from everyday problems and are able to relax providing a
mental benefit for the audience. Another way The Force Awakens is a positive effect on the
audience is through personal relationship with Han Solo and Chewbacca due the relationship
between these two meaning the audience are able to build a bond with them.
WHAT ARE THE NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF THE FORCE AWAKENS ON AN AUDIENCE?
According to the desensitisation then we as viewers are becoming more used to violence
through films therefor they are becoming more prone to using violence in everyday life. This
happened during the film when Han Solo was killed by Kylo Ren representing the violence
factor.
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 Through the introduction of
the character Finn as this is
the first black character who
is a main character which
Star Wars has based its
advertisement around.
Furthermore, this allows Star
Wars to advertise to a wider
range of audience and the
brand is more appealing.
This would be considered as
a positive representation due
to Star Wars being more
inclusive to a wider audience
meaning they are able to
relate to the actor of Finn.
Furthermore, this is creating
a positive brand image for
Star Wars as it is not creating
any friction between
audiences.
Gender Following on from the Race
above The Force awaken
has introduced another
unusual main character Rey
as a female. This is unusual
because most of the main
characters within the force
awakens are male. They
have represented her as one
of the hero’s in the film, so
they are able to use this as a
marketing benefit.
This again would be
considered as a positive
representation for the brand
of Star Wars as this would
provide them with a more
inclusive brand image, but
also interesting older female
viewers as they aren’t used
to seeing this during a Star
Wars movie.

3. Age Star Wars two new main
characters are both younger
than the average age of the
Star Wars cast. This
therefore would mean they
are able to relate and be
inclusive with this Star Wars
as they are able to potentially
feel like Finn or Rey.
This is provided with a
positive representation as the
brand Star Wars are showing
they are able to adapt their
cast dependent on what the
public and audience would
like to see creating a positive
branding image for them.
Sexuality The sexuality of both the
heroes and villains has been
favoured due to there being
more female hero’s than
villains. They may have
represented them in this way
to provide for popular viewing
with the female audience as
it is predominantly male
through the previous Star
Wars.
This could provide Star Wars
with a negative
representation. This is due to
the fact it portrays that males
are predominantly the
villain’s meaning they are
singling out a part of their
audience. It could further
provide the representation
that females don’t have as
much power as the men
again singling out a
audience.
Does the film provide typical mainstream representations, or does it offer something that
challenges society?
I believe that the film doesn’t provide mainstream representations for society as they have
paired both a male and female hero’s together without them being involved in some sort of
relationship together. This challenges the idea of popular movies like James Bond as they
always contain James Bond with a female. This further offers a challenge to society as in a
popular movie around the world it contains an African English hero. When referring to global
movies like Batman and Superman the heroes are all white English males. Furthermore, with
those movies all heroes are portrayed as physically strong males whereas this Star Wars
uses a mentally strong female completely going against the stereotypical hero.
What are the current debates in society regarding representation that could be related to
the film?
One representation in society that could be related to the film is sexism and equality of
opportunity. This current debate is challenged within the film since the Hero’s within the film
are female and a black male, this goes against the ‘idea’ or stereotype of what a hero should
be like. Furthermore, the fact that this idea is challenged in society it is has also challenged
the idea in many of the previous Star Wars films, potentially we are able to see a break
through from the producers of Star Wars providing a more widely spread available film for
any type of audience.
C) LEGAL AND ETHICAL ISSUES

4. LEGAL Explain the issue: Example in relation to THE
FORCE AWAKENS
Discrimination: Discrimination is the unjust
or prejudicial treatment of
different categories of
people, especially on the
grounds of race, age, or
sex. This further means
singling out a particular
person due to a certain
characteristic.
An example of this would be
Rey, this is due to the
stereotype that females are
not usually the hero’s in
films further meaning that
some viewers began to
discriminate against her for
being female and a hero.
Copyright: Copyright is the exclusive
and assignable legal right,
given to the originator for a
fixed number of years, to
print, publish, perform,
film, or record literary,
artistic, or musical
material.
This happens in The Force
Awakens due to the musical
material of things like the
theme tune being used
without otherization from the
owners of the music and
Disney.
ETHICAL –Offensive material Explain the issue: Example in relation to THE
FORCE AWAKENS
Violence/sex/language: Some offensive material
can be seen as it has been
used to often. The fact it
has been used often
according to the Uses and
Gratifications provided by
Blumler and Katz means
we as viewers are
becoming less affected by
this and are more likely to
use violence in everyday
life.
An example of this would be
when Kylo Ren and Han
Solo fight in which it ends
with the death of Han Solo.
This violence is quite strong
allowing the audience to see
the moment in which Han
Solo is killed and how his
death has happened.
Children: When producing the film,
the producer will have to
take in mind its secondary
target audience, the
younger audience. This
includes violence of any
kind, and any offensive
language which could
provide a negative
representation of the film
and Star Wars.
For example, the scene in
which there is violence
between Han Solo and Kylo
Ren, the producer will have
to reduce the level of
violence for any children
watching, although making it
entertain for the primary
audience, the older
audience to keep up the
reputation of a Star Wars
movie.
HOW DO THE LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS HAVE AN EFFECT UPON THE MAKING OF THE
FORCE AWAKENS?

5. The producers of the film must be considerate to all viewers when making the film and must
take precautions to ensure that the film will not be unable to be aired. The fact that the film
includes all kinds of characters it is unlikely that there will be angered fans due to singling out
of a particular person. However, when a writer is speaking about some controversial topics in
the film an unfavourable answer could cause outrage among viewers and a reduction in
views. Furthermore, with copyrighting if the film is found to be using copyright material then it
can have severe consequence potentially meaning that the film will be stripped from viewing
platforms and the company will be fined high amounts of money.
D) REGULATORY BODIES
BBFC
Who are the BBFC?
The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) is an independent, non-governmental body,
which has exercised responsibilities over cinema for a hundred years, and over video and
subsequently DVD since 1985.
What role does the BBFC perform?
The British Board of Film Censors was established in 1912 by the film industry when local
authorities started to impose their own, widely varying, censorship standards on films.
Why does the BBFC exist?
The BBFC was set up to bring a degree of uniformity to those standards. The object was to
create a body which could make judgements that were acceptable nationally. To this end the
BBFC has needed to earn the trust of the local authorities, Parliament, the press and the public.
What rules does the BBFC set that have to be followed by film institutions?
There are two key principles, laid out in the Guidelines, under which they operate:
 to protect children and vulnerable adults from potentially harmful or otherwise unsuitable
content.
 to empower consumers, particularly parents and those with responsibility for children,
to make informed viewing decisions.
HOW DO THESE RULES HAVE A DIRECT EFFECT UPON HOW A FILM IS MADE?
EXAMPLE 1: (LEGAL)
This will affect the way in which everyone within the cast is portrayed, this is so the
discrimination effect behind each actor’s behaviour in a film is scrutinised by the public due to
the way they have been represented. Furthermore, the producers of a film will have to ensure
any musical material or script material has not got a copyright issue with it entailing long affects
for the film.
EXAMPLE 2: (ETHICAL)
Another way in which the rule will have a direct effect is due to the content and it will have to
be directed in a way in which it is fit for the audience given by the rating. So, this will effect the
potential offensive material that will entail within the film and it will have to ensure that it will still
provide the audience with an enthralling movie dependent on their target audience.