Star Wars Kid

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The Star Wars Kid is an internet phenomenon surrounding a web video of a Canadian student wielding a golf ball rod like a lightsaber . The video was made by the student himself, but was shared on the Internet by others. The following teasing led to the student's mental health problems. The internet phenomenon is considered to be an early, well-known example of internet- related bullying .

Creation and publication

The student Ghyslain Raza recorded a video of himself in November 2002 at the Canadian school Seminaire Saint-Joseph in Trois-Rivières , showing how he wields a golf ball rod like a lightsaber . In the almost two-minute video, he imitates the Star Wars character Darth Maul as well as sound effects.

He left the videotape in his school television studio. Several months later in April 2003, another student found it and showed it to his friends. One of these, it spread via the peer-to-peer - file sharing network Kazaa and a private website. Within a few days, the video spread to other websites and numerous other websites discussed the topic. The video became very popular, and soon new versions with background music or light effects were added. A version that began with Star Wars music, underlaid the video with this and illuminated the golf ball rod like a lightsaber, proved to be particularly popular.

Effect on the student

The video drew numerous comments, most of which were condescending or malicious. Raza first changed schools, but also found there that it was almost impossible to attend classes as he was a constant victim of harassment. At times he stopped going to school and went to psychiatric treatment.

In July 2003, the student's family sued the families of three classmates who accused them of circulating the video. Ghyslain Raza is harassed and harassed because of the video and needs psychological support. Before the start of the trial in April 2006, an out-of-court settlement was reached with all three families.

Raza is studying law in Montreal, wants to become a lawyer and help victims of cyberbullying to gain their rights (2015).

Effect and reception

According to The Viral Factory, the video had been viewed over 900 million times by November 2006. According to the BBC, this made it the most popular web video to date . CNET ranked the video 8th in the Top 10 Web Fads of 2005, and in 2007 it was featured on Attack of the Show! on the first place of the viral videos . VH1 ranked it # 2 on Internet Superstars and the film garnered worldwide media coverage including The New York Times CBS , GMTV and BBC News .

Allusions to the Internet phenomenon can be found in various Cartoon Network television productions , including South Park , American Dad and Arrested Development , as well as in the computer game Tony Hawk Underground 2 . An online petition that tried to convince George Lucas to include the Star Wars Kid in the next Star Wars film received over 146,000 signatures two years after the greatest hype. The Star Wars Kid 2010 moved closer to recognized art. The artists Comenius Roethlisberger and Admir Jahic exhibited painted scenes from the video at SCOPE on the fringes of Art Basel .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d David J. Solove: The future of reputation: gossip, rumor, and privacy on the Internet Yale University Press, 2007, ISBN 0-300-12498-8 , pp. 45-48
  2. ↑ Tu Thanh Ha: 'Star Wars Kid' cuts a deal with his tormentors. In: The Globe and Mail. April 5, 2009. Retrieved August 23, 2012 .
  3. ↑ By Andreas Dietrich: Ghyslain Raza (27) became a mockery of the world with an embarrassing lightsaber video: “Star Wars” destroyed my life . ( blick.ch [accessed on October 27, 2018]).
  4. ↑ Star Wars Kid is top viral video , article on BBD News on web videos
  5. ^ Molly Wood: Top Ten Web Fads at CNET
  6. ↑ Dana Vinson. Top 25 Viral Videos of All Time! G4, April 25, 2007
  7. ↑ 40 Greatest Internet Superstars at VH1.com
  8. ↑ Compressed data: Fame is no laughing matter for the 'Star Wars Kid' , New York Times, May 19, 2003
  9. ↑ Ceci Moss: The Star Wars Kid (2010) , rhizome.org, June 24, 2010

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