'Star Wars Kid' Sues Over Internet Video
4:27 p.m. EDT August 27, 2003 - A 15-year-old Canadian boy who videotaped himself pretending to be a "Star Wars" character is suing the kids who turned his moments of joy into instant -- and unwanted -- Internet stardom.
Ghyslain Raza's lawsuit claims he has been left emotionally scarred by the airing of a two-minute video he made of himself on the Internet. The video (shown in still from JediMaster.net at left), which shows Raza exuberantly swinging and twirling a golf ball retriever while pretending to be a Jedi master, a character from the "Star Wars" movie series, with the metallic pole substituting for a "light sabre" weapon from the film.
Raza allegedly made the video using a camera he took home to do a class project. But he returned the camera to school with the video still inside, and when four classmates discovered the videotape, they allegedly stole it, digitized it, and posted it on the Internet.
The video of the portly Raza quickly became one of the most widely distributed files online, downloaded millions of times using the Kazaa file sharing network, and Raza was dubbed "the Star Wars kid" by Internet fans across the globe. Raza's video has become the subject of television and newspaper reports in the United States and Europe, as well as in Canada, and soon, enterprising Netizens were altering the video, adding special effects to make Raza look more like a real "Star Wars" character, or to replace his fantasy with backdrops from "The Hulk" or "The Matrix." According to one of the many Web sites devoted to the teen, there are now more than 74 versions of the "Star Wars Kid" video available online. And merchandise, including T-shirts, is available for sale.
"Star Wars" fans even began an online petition drive to convince LucasFilm, which produces the science fiction series, to give Raza a bit part in its next installment of the films.
Raza's lawsuit, filed in Quebec last week according to Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper, names the four classmates who allegedly stole and posted the original video, claiming that the attention -- and ridicule -- Raza has faced since the video first appeared online has led Raza to seek psychiatric care to cope with his unwanted fame.
And while he has become one of the most popular people on the Internet, Raza recently told Canada's National Post newspaper, he just wants his life back.
Legal scholars are watching the case closely, as it could have implications for how privacy is regulated on the Internet, according to Court TV.
But many people who have seen the video say the real story isn't the legal case, or Raza's awkward, unguarded moment -- it's the unabashed enthusiasm he displayed in the video.
Joshua Griffin who edits the online "Star Wars" fan site TheForce.net, told Court TV that he wishes Raza would drop the lawsuit and "embrace" the video, which he admits to watching and enjoying.
"It's so funny," Griffin said." "He's the 'Star Wars Kid' in all of us."
Funny shit!!!
