legal and ethical

1. DISNEY: LEGAL & ETHICAL, REGULATORYBODIES
FORM COMPLETED BY:
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 contents of the media
were ‘injected’ into the
thoughts of the audience
who would believe what
they saw without question.
They believed society to be
made up of easily
influenced isolated
individuals.
No, because it isn’t true to
real life but a younger
audience may not
understand what is going
on and they my believe
what they are watching and
think if it as fact.
TWO STEP FLOW First the leader gets
information from the
media, then they pass on
that information to others
along with their
interpretation.
Yes because the leader can
watch the film, then create
a review that contains their
opinion and post it on
social media and tell their
family or friends.
USES AND
GRATIFICATIONS
Diversion- escape from
everyday life.
Personal Relationships-
using the media to identify
with the characters.
Personal Identity – you see
yourself in the characters.
Surveillance – using the
media to get information.
Individuals may watch Star
Wars as they want to
escape reality (diversion).
They may also watch so
that they can imagine
themselves as one of the
characters (personal
identity).
DESENSITISATION Reactions from the
audience are growing
weaker as the amount of
violence, death etc.
increase.
There are fighting scenes
shown in the film, this can
cause the young people to
become desensitised and
not see fighting as
something bad.
WHAT ARE THE POSITIVE EFFECTS OF THE FORCE AWAKENS ON AN AUDIENCE?
There are characters that a young audience can look up to and a strong female lead. There is
also a lot of diversity with there being a lot of different aliens being shown and no
discrimination against them is shown. It also offers entertainment for all ages and audiences.
WHAT ARE THE NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF THE FORCE AWAKENS ON AN AUDIENCE?
Younger individuals may become desensitised to the violence in the film, and may become
used to seeing those actions and believe it as normal. They may also not understand the

2. difference between good and bad and misinterpret the meaning of the film.
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 Having a wide range of races
within both the cast and the
later edited film (aliens)
shows that species are able
to live together attracts a
larger target audience and
shows that within the film a
person’s race does not
matter.
Including a minority in a film
provides positive
representation as very few
films have a racially diverse
cast. Diversity and
acceptance are also shown
in the movie when aliens are
shown to be living in peace
with everyone else.
Gender There are a both a male and
female lead, that lead
together and one is not
underneath the other, this
shows that everyone is
equal.
Having both a strong female
and male lead draws in a
larger audience as it shows
that no one is being cast out.
Age The film has a mixture of old
and young characters with
old characters having
appeared in previous Star
Wars films.
Both young and old
characters are shown to be
as equally strong with their
not being any physical
differences shown between
them apart from being able to
see that one is older.
Sexuality Sexuality is not particularly
shown in the film with there
not being an obvious love
interest between any
characters.
By not including sexuality
there is no way to cause
offence. Also the lack of a
love interest for Rey shows
that she can be strong on her
own and this may be useful
for young girls.

3. Does the film provide typical mainstream representations or does it offer something that
challenges society?
I think that this film challenges the typical male lead, because in this film the lead is a female,
this is representation for women and how they can be main characters instead of being
shown as the sidekick for a male character. I also think that this challenges who is on the
good side and who is on the bad side within society.
What are the current debates in society regarding representation that could be related to
the film?
The current debates are on wars and what is going on behind them and who is good and who
is bad, and also the roles of women in society.
C) LEGAL AND ETHICAL ISSUES
LEGAL Explain the issue: Example in relation to THE
FORCE AWAKENS
Discrimination: People being treated
differently based on their
skin colour or background.
In the Chinese film poster,
John Boyega was made
smaller compared to the UK
poster.
Copyright: People are unable to steal
or recreate any of the Star
Wars franchise, Ideas may
be taken and copyrighted
so no one else can use
them.
If ideas are taken from
Disney by someone else,
copyright will become
infringed and there will be a
loss for the company.
ETHICAL –Offensive material Explain the issue: Example in relation to THE
FORCE AWAKENS

4. Violence/sex/language: Some viewers may find it
offensive.
The violence shown within
the film may put people off
seeing it, children with strict
parents may not be allowed
to see it meaning they are
not getting the maximum
amount of views.
Children: The content within the film
must be suitable for
children and must suitably
represent the Disney
franchise.
The film shows people
getting shot and killed.
People looking for typical
Disney films may be put off
by this.
HOW DO THE LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS HAVE AN EFFECT UPON THE MAKING OF THE
FORCE AWAKENS?
They must make sure that the film is suitable for the target audience and follows rules and
age ratings so that they are able to reach as large of an audience as possible. They must
also think about how the age ratings differ from country to country and they must adapt to it
and change the film to make it fit regulations and laws.
D) REGULATORY BODIES
BBFC
Who are the BBFC?
The British Board of Film Classification
What role does the BBFC perform?
They decide the age rating for each film in Britain
Why does the BBFC exist?
To make sure that children are watching things that are appropriate for their age, easy
for parents to see if they should be watching or not.
What rules does the BBFC set that have to be followed by film institutions?
Compliance officers look at issues such as discrimination, drugs, horror, language,
nudity, sex, sexual violence and decide the appropriate age rating.
HOW DO THESE RULES HAVE A DIRECT EFFECT UPON HOW A FILM IS MADE?
EXAMPLE 1: (LEGAL)
The people making the film must follow the guidelines and rules that are presented by
the BBFC.
EXAMPLE 2: (ETHICAL)
They must create something that is appropriate for the age they are aiming for so that
they don’t get wrongly classified by the BBFC.