Matthew Ellis
Introduction
Hello my name is Matthew Ellis and I'm here for one last time as requested by Education Wise. Today I'm going to talk about ethical, legal and regulatory issues.
That stereotypes aren't always bad, stereotypes aren't always about the minorities and the less powerful, they can be held by one's own group, they are not rigid and unchanging and finally they are not always false. A positive stereotype in I, Robot would be the main protagonist being strong, caring and not afraid to risk his life to save others. This is evident in the final scene where he jumps from a large drop to catch the virus that will stop the robots that would have killed any normal man. A negative stereotype of I, Robot would be that the female scientist would need saving, re-enforcing the stereotype that women in films are only there to be saved and looked at. However a countertype (something that challenges stereotypes) is that the corporation who creates the robots isn't actually behind the robots turning against humans, as corporations in films tend to be portrayed as taking advantage of people for personal gain, or someone evil that needs defeating. This contradicts this stereotype as the head of the company does not actually know anything about the robots turning against humans and is eventually killed by the actual antagonist of the story. A second countertype would be that the character that Shia Lebeouf's character seems like a young igorant stereotype character that follows the protoganist around, however later in the film, he is at the front of the crowd that stands against te robots. This breaks the stereotype of young characters looking up and following around the main character, and generally being subordinate, as this character forms in to his own and becomes a confident character. This has a affects the audience by appealing to the younger audience, as the target audience is 12A.
Active/Passive Audience
First off something we need to know is the hypodermic syringe theory by Theordore Adorno in 1930. This theory states that the media has a negative impact as a mass audience (the general audience)believe whatever the media says. This would be a passive audience member. This can be applied to I, Robot in the sense that Will Smiths character generally speaks out against his superiors in the movie, as well as disregarding the rules to get things done. This can have a negative impact on the audience if they emulate this behaviour. However they could also emulate the fact that Will Smiths character is strong and caring, as seen in the scene where he goes out of his way to save a cat even in mortal danger as well as his concern for the female scientist in the scene with the rogue robot, this could influence a passive audience member to be more caring about others and more selfless. Another example to how this could positively effect the audience would be how the protagonist views the rogue robot later in the film as a human and shows him the same respect to him as if he was human. This could translate to being more understanding about people, that even if they look different or are not the same as you they are still human. This type of audience member would be easily influenced by what is seen in media, while an active audience member would be someone who would be more free willed and less easily influenced by media. This links back to the users and gratification theory where people consume products for their own purposes.Representation
Furthermore another way the audience can be influenced is by the use of representation. Representation is the use of stereotyping and how a character is portrayed, as well as how it affects the audiences opinion of many different things such as gender, homosexuality etc. This was theorised by Hall in 1980. Another theory that is related to this would be Tessa Perkins theory in 1979. It states that stereotyping is a process that contains a number of key factors;That stereotypes aren't always bad, stereotypes aren't always about the minorities and the less powerful, they can be held by one's own group, they are not rigid and unchanging and finally they are not always false. A positive stereotype in I, Robot would be the main protagonist being strong, caring and not afraid to risk his life to save others. This is evident in the final scene where he jumps from a large drop to catch the virus that will stop the robots that would have killed any normal man. A negative stereotype of I, Robot would be that the female scientist would need saving, re-enforcing the stereotype that women in films are only there to be saved and looked at. However a countertype (something that challenges stereotypes) is that the corporation who creates the robots isn't actually behind the robots turning against humans, as corporations in films tend to be portrayed as taking advantage of people for personal gain, or someone evil that needs defeating. This contradicts this stereotype as the head of the company does not actually know anything about the robots turning against humans and is eventually killed by the actual antagonist of the story. A second countertype would be that the character that Shia Lebeouf's character seems like a young igorant stereotype character that follows the protoganist around, however later in the film, he is at the front of the crowd that stands against te robots. This breaks the stereotype of young characters looking up and following around the main character, and generally being subordinate, as this character forms in to his own and becomes a confident character. This has a affects the audience by appealing to the younger audience, as the target audience is 12A.
Legal and Ethical
Another way in which there might be issues with the film would be copyright infringement. This is where someone uses someone else's product without permission, and is a serious legal concern to use other peoples products when they are protected by copyright law without asking for permission. However there is only one case of copyright in the film that would need to seek permission for, and that would be the deliberate use of Converse in the film. This is a scene where Will Smith's character puts on a pair of Converse shoes and states that they are "vintage". However this was most likely product placement than an actual copyright infringement. Product placement is a where a company would pay for exposure of their products in a film, this would have the affect of making teenage audience who look up to Will Smith's character want to buy Converse as it would be seen as something cool to have. The music would have needed permission to use for example the song "Top floor por favor", as well as other music pieces as the majority of the music was handled by Universal Music Enterprises. They would have seeked permission to use the music in the film as to not break any copyright laws and most likely would have had to pay a fee to use the music without breaking copyright.BBFC
Finally there is the BBFC. BBFC stands for the British Board of Film Classification, and their job is to give films an appropriate age rating. The BBFC have been classifying films since 1912 and are independent. This means that no outside influence from films will effect the rating of any given film.
They split the films age rating in to 6 different tiers. They do this by looking at the varying degrees of discrimination, drugs, horror, imitable behaviour, language, nudity, sex, sexual violence, theme and violence. The 6 different classifications are:
They split the films age rating in to 6 different tiers. They do this by looking at the varying degrees of discrimination, drugs, horror, imitable behaviour, language, nudity, sex, sexual violence, theme and violence. The 6 different classifications are:
U - Suitable for all. Doesn't contain any mature content.
PG - Parental guidance. This means that anyone can view the movie but some scenes may be unsuitable for children.
12A - Suitable for age 12 and over, but if someone below 12 is accompanied by an adult they are allowed to see a 12A movie.
12 - Suitable for people age 12 and over only.
15 - Suitable for 15 and over.
18 - Suitable only for adults.
The age range of I, Robot is 12A, meaning it is suitable for age 12 and over and anyone below 12 can only watch the film if they are with an adult.
In the US they use a different classification and I, Robots is PG-13. This aligns with the age rating in the UK.
I, Robot keeps to the guidelines it has set in the film by not having a lot of strong language, there is some but not overused. There is an explicit scene where Will Smiths character is naked, but you can only see a brief shot of his buttocks from behind. The violence is mainly against robots not people, there is also not a lot of blood and gore. However there is a scene were a girl drowns in a car, but is not shown, only presumed. In the case of drugs there is only people drinking alcohol, no drugs are present in the film beyond that. There is no racial discrimination in the film or any negative anti-social behaviour, there is a scene with a riot but it is people standing up to the robots. Lastly there is some frightening images with the dream sequence with a girl drowning and some children may find the robots frightening, however there is no sustained horror in the movie that would be unsuitable for 12 year olds. The effects on a younger audience such as people below 12 could be that the violence in the movie, even though against non-humans, could influence them to be more violent against people. Also contrastingly, because the violence is used against robots and since robots aren't human, the violence could seem more appealing because they think it might not have consequences. However this is a very extreme view. Also the use of alcohol could influence children that alcohol is good, but again that is in an extreme case as the scenes with alcohol they are only drinking a little and do not glorify and barely mention it. Finally the benefits of having scenes which are allowed to be showed to a younger audience would be that the amount of people that could go and see the film simply increases. It also appeals to people who actively avoid overly violent and controversial movies, as they disagree with them. Because of this, having a film with a scenes that appeal to a lower age rating means that overall it appeals to a more mass audience and therefore attracts more viewers.
ASA
The ASA is another important governing body when it comes to making films. However unlike the BBFC its focus is more on advertising. Its job is, through the use of codes that advertisers, agencies and media owners to follow, make sure that advertising doesn't in any way mislead the audience and doesn't have any themes that could affect a younger audience in their advertisement. Lastly they make sure that the people advertising are responsible for the content they create and post, as well as what effects it has.
A code that the film poster of I, Robot follows is this:
Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.
I, Robot follows this by clearly showing that the film is about Robots and the gathering of robots together and the way the robots are presented in the image is in a formation that an army would use. Also the main character is clear and visible on the poster, directly in the centre. Also it states in bold letters that the film will feature Will Smith, which is true as seen by his appearance in the poster. Also nothing in the poster is offensive in any way. No gore, drugs, sexually explicit images or any controversial political media. This is appropriate for a 12A audience because children are easily influenced and if they film has any of those themes it could influence children in a negative way.
Outro
And with that, thats everything legal from your audience
I, Robot keeps to the guidelines it has set in the film by not having a lot of strong language, there is some but not overused. There is an explicit scene where Will Smiths character is naked, but you can only see a brief shot of his buttocks from behind. The violence is mainly against robots not people, there is also not a lot of blood and gore. However there is a scene were a girl drowns in a car, but is not shown, only presumed. In the case of drugs there is only people drinking alcohol, no drugs are present in the film beyond that. There is no racial discrimination in the film or any negative anti-social behaviour, there is a scene with a riot but it is people standing up to the robots. Lastly there is some frightening images with the dream sequence with a girl drowning and some children may find the robots frightening, however there is no sustained horror in the movie that would be unsuitable for 12 year olds. The effects on a younger audience such as people below 12 could be that the violence in the movie, even though against non-humans, could influence them to be more violent against people. Also contrastingly, because the violence is used against robots and since robots aren't human, the violence could seem more appealing because they think it might not have consequences. However this is a very extreme view. Also the use of alcohol could influence children that alcohol is good, but again that is in an extreme case as the scenes with alcohol they are only drinking a little and do not glorify and barely mention it. Finally the benefits of having scenes which are allowed to be showed to a younger audience would be that the amount of people that could go and see the film simply increases. It also appeals to people who actively avoid overly violent and controversial movies, as they disagree with them. Because of this, having a film with a scenes that appeal to a lower age rating means that overall it appeals to a more mass audience and therefore attracts more viewers.
ASA
The ASA is another important governing body when it comes to making films. However unlike the BBFC its focus is more on advertising. Its job is, through the use of codes that advertisers, agencies and media owners to follow, make sure that advertising doesn't in any way mislead the audience and doesn't have any themes that could affect a younger audience in their advertisement. Lastly they make sure that the people advertising are responsible for the content they create and post, as well as what effects it has.
A code that the film poster of I, Robot follows is this:
Marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so.
I, Robot follows this by clearly showing that the film is about Robots and the gathering of robots together and the way the robots are presented in the image is in a formation that an army would use. Also the main character is clear and visible on the poster, directly in the centre. Also it states in bold letters that the film will feature Will Smith, which is true as seen by his appearance in the poster. Also nothing in the poster is offensive in any way. No gore, drugs, sexually explicit images or any controversial political media. This is appropriate for a 12A audience because children are easily influenced and if they film has any of those themes it could influence children in a negative way.
Outro
And with that, thats everything legal from your audience
