task 5

1. DISNEY: LEGAL & ETHICAL, REGULATORYBODIES
FORM COMPLETED BY: Jamie Hamer
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
The hypodermic needle
theory implies that the mass
media had a direct,
immediate and powerful
effect on its audiences. The
mass media in the 1940s and
1950s were perceived as a
powerful influence in
behaviour change.
The force awakens has
used this to influence
their audience in certain
parts throughout the
film. An example of this
would be when they
shown Han solo and
Princess leia in the film
to make the audience
feel an element of
nostalgia and
happiness.
TWO STEP FLOW The two-step flow of
communication model
hypothesizes that ideas flow
from mass media to opinion
leaders, and from them to a
wider population. It was first
introduced by sociologist
Paul Lazarsfeld.
This theory isn’t very
predominant in the force
awakens. On the other
hand, though Star Wars
have presented a big
image by giving one of
the main roles to a
female which could be
quite controversial
compared to the
everyday film as the
males are normally the
main characters.
USES AND
GRATIFICATIONS
Uses and gratifications are
the reasons that the audience
watch TV and film, this was
discovered by blumer and
Katz (1974). They found the 4
main reasons why the film
and TV industry attracts
audiences. They are
diversion, personal
relationships, personal
identity and surveillance.
The audience will feel
diversion when watching
the force awakens as
they are escaping from
everyday life and can
relax. Personal identity
will allow them to be
able to relate to the
characters. In addition to
this personal
relationships will allow
them to gain emotional
responses from the film
DESENSITISATION This theory states that the
more you are exposed to
things such as the amount of
violence, death and sex will
Throughout the film
there are various fight
scenes and this will
allow the audience to

2. decrease the shock of seeing
it in everyday life.
become familiar with
violence if they were to
experience it in real life
and know how to deal
with it in the appropriate
way. Also, it will allow
the audience to get used
to strange weapons
which the characters
use such as lightsabers
so that when they
continue to see them in
the film they are used to
them.
WHAT ARE THE POSITIVE EFFECTS OF THE FORCE AWAKENS ON AN AUDIENCE?
The positive effects of the force awakens on the audience is that it allows the audience to be
able to escape from everyday life and relax and enjoy watching the film. In addition to this it
also allows them to be able to put themselves in the shoes of the characters and feel a sense
of personal identity, this makes the audience feel like they’re part of the film and also have to
escape from the empire as well.
WHAT ARE THE NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF THE FORCE AWAKENS ON AN AUDIENCE?
The negative effects of the force awakens is that there is a large amount of violence in the
film and there is a scene where someone dies, this may cause some distress for some
viewers as they may feel the pain of when someone they loved passed away. This may
cause the audience to think again about purchasing Disney or Star Wars films and damage
the reputation and image of the trilogy and the global film making company.
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 One of the main characters
Finn, is of a different race
This would most definitely be
a positive for Disney as it

3. and this is allowing Disney to
allow them to portray equality
and show how anyone can
be a part of the film, even
though the characters’ race
doesn’t fit in with previous
films.
allows the audience to see
how everybody has the right
to be involved in Disney’s
films and is equal. Also, it lets
them show how somebody’s
skin colour shouldn’t be a
problem.
Gender Disney has broken the
gender stereotypes of the
main characters in this film
by making a female character
the main character. Rey, is a
strong independent female
who shows how she can be
just as strong as the male
characters.
Once again this would be a
huge positive for Disney as it
would allow them to be able
to show that woman are to be
just as powerful and as
strong as men are. This
attracts the female audience
to the Star Wars trilogy as
they become more intrigued
by the film now the main
character is a female.
Age There is a variety of different
ages in the film which are
attracting different age
audiences. The older
generation are attracted to
the more original characters
such as Han solo, Luke
Skywalker and Princess Leia.
Whereas in contrast the
younger generation find
characters such as Finn and
Rey as more appealing.
This is a positive
representation as it allows
the different age groups to be
able to relate to different
characters and put
themselves in their shoes,
the use of personal identity.
By having different age
characters, it also just widens
the target audience of the
film allowing more interest.
Sexuality In the film, Disney hasn’t
included any themes of
sexuality as none of the
characters are of the
Lesbian, gay, bisexual or
transgender categories.
The genre of this film means
that there isn’t many sexual
themes throughout the film.
However, this could
potentially have a negative
representation on the film as
anybody from these
categories may feel like they
are being separated from the
film and may take offence to
this.
Does the film provide typical mainstream representations or does it offer something that
challenges society?
One of the main typical mainstream representations in the film is the theme of the
supernatural, the niche in Star Wars that the fans recognise is society is the lightsabers and
the famous characters which have been involved in Star Wars films such as Darth vader and
Stormtroopers. The representation of race has been challenged in this film as Finn, one of
the main characters doesn’t fit in with the stereotypical race of previous Star Wars films.
While some fans feel, it has shown equality others believe it didn’t need to be changed just to
please some fans. Another representation which has been challenged is One of the main
characters being a female which has caused conflict between some Star Wars fans as they
feel the main characters should be males as they’re more suited to the roles

4. What are the current debates in society regarding representation that could be related to
the film?
One of the debates in society that relates to the film is the fact that the theme of sexuality
hasn’t been included in the film as it is quite important in society but isn’t so much in this Star
Wars film and this could spark discussion and challenge different views of society today and
how people may think that Disney doesn’t recognise these changes in society.
C) LEGAL AND ETHICAL ISSUES
LEGAL Explain the issue: Example in relation to THE
FORCE AWAKENS
Discrimination: The unjust or hurtful
treatment of different
categories of people,
especially on the ground of
race, age or sex.
Finn is a culturally diverse
character and has a main
role in the film. Also, Rey
another main character is a
female. Both of these shows
no discrimination has taken
place.
Copyright: The exclusive and
assignable legal right to
print, publish, perform,
film, or record literacy,
artistic, or musical
material.
Star Wars have the rights to
all characters like the
Stormtroopers within in the
film. Also, all of the theme
songs are copyrighted.
ETHICAL –Offensive material Explain the issue: Example in relation to THE
FORCE AWAKENS
Violence/sex/language: The use of Physical force/
action to cause harm or
damage to something or
someone. The way in
which the use of words is
communicated with the
audience to present
something.
The film involves violence
however the violence isn’t
major and too graphic for
viewers. There is no
offensive language spoken
within the film.
Children: A young human being
below the age of puberty
or below the legal age of
majority. They aren’t
legally allowed to watch
certain things if it is
inappropriate.
The film involves lots of
violence however some of it
isn’t that graphic however
some of the scenes aren’t
suitable for children but it is
up to the parents to decide
whether it is suitable or not.
HOW DO THE LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS HAVE AN EFFECT UPON THE MAKING OF THE
FORCE AWAKENS?

5. Disney must make sure that no offensive language Is used as they are trying to target the
younger generation and make them become interested in Star Wars and if they use any
offensive language then parents are going to want to make sure their children aren’t allowed
anywhere near the film as they don’t know what to expect. Therefore, Star Wars must
consider what violent scenes are put in the trailers are how graphic it is for the viewers. If this
isn’t done, then it could mean Disney will receive bad word of mouth and lead to their
reputation being damaged.
D) REGULATORY BODIES
BBFC
Who are the BBFC?
The British board of film censors is a non-governmental organisation
What role does the BBFC perform?
They are responsible for the national classification and censorship of films, television
programmes, trailers, adverts etc. and provides age ratings such as U, PG and 12A
which are released on DVD covers across the United Kingdom.
Why does the BBFC exist?
They exist as any film that is shown in the UK must have an age rating by law for it to
be released for the viewers to watch. It’s against the law to try and sell videos and
DVDs without an age rating. If you watch a film at a cinema the age rating also must be
displayed legally.
What rules does the BBFC set that have to be followed by film institutions?
The BBFC every 4-5 years carry out major public consultation exercise to find out what
the public thinks about the age rating of films and videos before they are released and
whether their standards meet public concerns
HOW DO THESE RULES HAVE A DIRECT EFFECT UPON HOW A FILM IS MADE?
EXAMPLE 1: (LEGAL)
The film may have to have scenes cut out of the film after they’ve filmed it which could
lead to them having to re-film or change the story slightly just so that they comply with
bbfc rules.
EXAMPLE 2: (ETHICAL)
If the viewer doesn’t believe what is happening in the film is ethically right it could
cause them to get bad reviews and cause the production company to receive bad
press and make their reputation damaged amongst the film industry.