Pissed Off, This Jedi Is

The parents of Ghyslain Raza, the Quebec teenager better known as "the Stars Wars kid" because of a widely circulated home video of him doing some Jedi moves, are taking legal action against the kids who originally posted the sequence to the Web.

Reports the AP via The San Jose Mercury News:

Many teens who post their images on the Web would probably be thrilled to get this kind of attention. But Ghyslain, who made the video while doing a school project when he was 15, has said he didn't intend for it to be seen by his classmates, let alone people across the world.

``I want my life back,'' he said in an e-mail interview with the National Post newspaper, a Canadian daily.

Claiming that their son has been humiliated, his parents are suing the parents of the teens who put the video on the Web.

Some say the case may become a step toward setting privacy standards on the Internet, which has been difficult terrain to police. But in the meantime, Web surfers are having a field day with Ghyslain's image on a multitude of sites.

View the tape and dozens of clones--and sign a petition to get Ghyslain in the next Star Wars flick, here. One can sympathize with Ghyslain, but this is a curious form of humilation: a cult following that is very good-natured and supportive.

Comments

[Rex Stetson]

Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate.
Hate leads to Suffering.

[Warren]

Comments withheld due to self-imposed moratorium on Canada Bashing.

http://www.reason.com/mt/mt-comments.cgi?entry_id=2544

PS link seems to be down again

[Plutarck]

One of the problems with a lack of privacy is it's so much harder to do embarrassing things without other people finding it; and a problem with mass communication is just how far spread out it can be.

Then again...it was a _video_. I don't get it - are we going to illegalize forms of speach not merely because it is offensive, but because it is _embarrassing?_

[Don]

I think he should "seize the day" and run with his 15 minutes of fame. Sure, it must be hell in HS with this on the net, but he might as well make the best of it.

Look at Jack & Kelly Osborne.

[Andrew Lynch]

Litigating humiliation. Now, I've heard everything. I hope the judge who hears this stands up on his padded leather chair, points his finger at Ghyslain's parents, and laughs uncontrollably for about fifteen minutes. That should provide the required level of humiliation for venally oppportunistic parents.

[jacob]

hey s'wonderful, is your name an oblique reference to the Susannah McCorkle song?

[joe]

I'm getting an error message on the link. Blocked already?

[James]

Sorry Jedi kid, I laughed my ass off! But hey, thanks for getting my Friday started on a humorous note.

10 years from now the Jedi kid will be able to look back and laugh at himself, especially if his parents are successful in suing other parents! (Which, as usual, I have a problem with.)

[James]

Joe, the link is active.

[twistedmerkin]

That is the best argument for legalized prostitution I've ever seen. I mean, who could condemn that poor bastard to die a virgin?

[B.P.]

"I want my life back". Yeah, one sure-fire way to avoid further publicity is to launch a lawsuit, instead of letting the whole thing fade into obscurity.

[Ray]

Kid plays his cards right and he's got a couple (relatively) lucrative movie bits in his future.

[Andy]

I feel sympathetic for this kid, I really do. For a second I actually forgot what it was like for some people in the "high school universe" as opposed to the "adult universe".

But what was he thinking? Why did he make this extremely embarrasing tape of himself? Why didn't he make sure to dispose of the tape himself? Or maybe he's an evil genius... I mean, if all one needs to do to hit the jackpot is to leave in plain sight a tape that will be irresistable to some other high school kid... and wait to sue when it blows up in your face...

Look at that kid. Obviously, he's an evil genius.

Andy

[Sandy]

One can sympathize with Ghyslain, but this is a curious form of humilation: a cult following that is very good-natured and supportive.

One can sympathize, because in the only world that matters to him at the moment -- that of his high school peers -- anything that makes you stand out in socially unapproved ways leads to social consequences that would be pretty horrific if experienced in the adult world.

So what we think of him is irrelevant to him, and will be for at least the next 4 years or so. Fortunately, college and time have a wonderful way of moderating other people's opinions as they mature.

But it's going to suck serious donkey balls until then, kid.

[Ryn]

Has he returned any of his gifts?

http://www.waxy.org/archive/2003/07/16/shipping.shtml

[s'wonderful]

I came across this video a few weeks back, and I had only one thought: Performance Art. I've seen dozens of performance artists, and none comes close to the beauty and tragic comedy of this video. A work of art borne from a bored teenage mind. I hope I'm not the only one who sees this.

[nm156]

If I was this kid, I would not want "my" life back. I'd want someone's life who wasn't a complete loogan.