Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker is due out in just over a week, and we all know it’s going to be an incredibly popular movie. In an unusual, but definitely not unwelcome move, Disney has put a health warning on the film before people head to the cinemas.
Partnering with the Epilepsy Foundation, Disney has sent a letter to distributors of the movie asking that they let people know the movie is going to contain flashing lights.
“Out of an abundance of caution, we recommend that you provide at your venue box office and online, and at other appropriate places where your customers will see it, a notice containing the following information: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker contains several sequences with imagery and sustained flashing lights that may affect those who are susceptible to photosensitive epilepsy or have other photosensitivities.”
The Epilepsy Foundation has thanked Disney for “proactively providing information to movie theaters and moviegoers in advance of the movie’s release.”
It’s not often that we see major powerful corporations learn from their mistakes, but this seems to be an example of it. When The Incredibles 2 was released in June last year, people voiced their concerns about the fact that there were scenes with flashing lights which could trigger a seizure – and in some cases, had triggered one.
The Epilepsy Foundation released a warning about the film and a request that Disney let moviegoers know before they went to see the film.
Content warnings like this are slowly becoming more and more common, not just in the movie world but in a lot of online spaces. What might not seem like a big deal for a lot of people without Epilepsy could mean the difference between having an unexpected seizure and being able to continue going about your day because you were prepared for somebody else.
So if flashing lights aren’t your thing, just be aware before going to see Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker. And cheers to Disney for the heads up.
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