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The Star Wars Kid Is Back 275

Posted by samzenpus from the embrace-your-fame-you-will dept.
An anonymous reader writes "It was eight years ago that Ghyslain Raza slashed his way into our hearts with his Star Wars Kid video. Sadly, Raza suffered from severe bullying and abuse for his video and eventually ended up in a psychiatric ward for children. However, his video was seen 1 billion times and multiple thousands of geeks came immediately to his defense. While those must have been the worst years of his life, things are now looking up."

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The Star Wars Kid Is Back More

The Star Wars Kid Is Back

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  • Didn't he get an iPod? (Score:4, Informative)

    by wandazulu ( 265281 ) on Wednesday June 09, 2010 @09:53AM (#32509688)

    As I recall, there was a group of people who contributed to buying him an iPod as a way of trying to show that not everyone who saw the video was laughing at him. Any idea whether he got it? TFA doesn't mention it.

  • He looks cute older.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by zwei2stein ( 782480 )

      Of course, he is lawyer now.

      Ain't this fate of most bullied nerds? They get attractive ... jobs later. (And opportunity for "lolno, not dating you" to what where popular girls at school)

  • Actually... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by FlyByPC ( 841016 ) on Wednesday June 09, 2010 @09:55AM (#32509714) Homepage
    There are millions of lawyers, but there is only one Star Wars Kid. Dare to be different!

  • Glad things turned out well (Score:5, Funny)

    by elrous0 ( 869638 ) * on Wednesday June 09, 2010 @09:57AM (#32509734)
    I was worried that his negative experience would turn him into a ruthless, soulless shell of a human being. Thank god he became a lawyer instead.

    • Re:Glad things turned out well (Score:5, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 09, 2010 @10:00AM (#32509766)

      I was worried that his negative experience would turn him into a ruthless, soulless shell of a human being. Thank god he became a lawyer instead.

      When we last saw him, he was but the client. Now he is the lawyer.

    • Re:Glad things turned out well (Score:4, Insightful)

      by cranky_chemist ( 1592441 ) on Wednesday June 09, 2010 @10:28AM (#32510070)
      Make all the lawyer jokes you want, but if this kid had picked up a gun and smoked 4 or 5 of his tormentors, we'd all be having a very different conversation right now. That he has managed to do anything productive with his life is a testament to his mental and moral fortitude.

    • Re: (Score:2, Informative)

      by theshowmecanuck ( 703852 )
      What is sad is that he has joined an organization to maintain 'cultural heritage' in Quebec. In Quebec people who like to maintain cultural heritage like to implement things like Quebec's language law. A law already rebuked by the UN human rights courts that force parents to send their kids to all french schools, force store owners to put only french signs on their store fronts (or be fined into bankruptcy), and yield any of your own cultural heritage to the fancophone Quebec majority. Think 'A French Versi

  • Better Title: Return of the Jedi? (Score:5, Funny)

    by xednieht ( 1117791 ) on Wednesday June 09, 2010 @09:58AM (#32509754) Homepage
    Clearly this article was not submitted by a "true" Star Wars fan. Use the force dude, use the force.

  • Slashdot is NOT helping here... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by captainpanic ( 1173915 ) on Wednesday June 09, 2010 @09:59AM (#32509758)

    He was anonymous again. Took him 8 years. His 15 minutes of fame were finally forgotten. He could continue with his life.

    Now Slashdot and that other website (rtfa) put up his picture, location, job/study... which will show up in every google search for the "Star Wars Kid", forever linking his new life to that old one.

    It's quite disappointing to see that his address, email, phone number, and the name of his friends and girlfriend (if any) are missing. Can we all have that too please, so that it's easier to ruin the rest of his life too? :-)

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by qoncept ( 599709 )

      name of his friends and girlfriend (if any)

      Heh, heh.

    • Too fucking right. Responsible journalism this is not. Idle or otherwise.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Xacid ( 560407 )

      I find it comforting in a way...like a "look at me now, bitches".

      I wasn't laughing at you, Star Wars Kid, I was laughing with you - because like the rest of us here on Slashdot: We've probably done similiar if not sillier shit in our childhoods.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by SoupGuru ( 723634 )
      He'll never be able to hide from it. He has to embrace it. Own it. "Yes, I'm the Star Wars kid. Thankfully, lightsaber skills aren't a requirement for this job!" Ha ha. We've all done stupid shit in our lives. His happened to be seen by a lot more people and that really sucks. I'm not saying it's easy but he has to come to terms with it.

      And who knows, maybe this news story is coming from him. Maybe he's finally ready to get back out there.

      Look at Tron Guy. He's owned it. Good lord, I would have wa

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by tmk ( 712144 )
      Exactly what I thought when I saw it on engadget & Co.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Morty ( 32057 )

      Aging changes perspective. For a high school kid, appearing as a fat, awkward kid in a famous internet video is epic shame. But for an adult angling to be a lawyer and a politician, *having appeared* some years before in a famous internet video is a great advantage. I rather think he has come to terms with his fame and is using it to his advantage. Good for him.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by elrous0 ( 869638 ) *
      You think it's bad for him, just think about what those poor Gosselin kids [wikipedia.org] will have to go through. It will another 12 years before they finally escape being made fun of at a public school (maybe longer if Mommy continues to hold them back from full-time school so they can spend more time filming cool vacations)

  • The Darkside (Score:5, Funny)

    by AnonymousClown ( 1788472 ) on Wednesday June 09, 2010 @10:06AM (#32509836)

    ... he’s putting his litigious experience to some use, getting his law degree at McGill University in Montreal.

    So, he went to the Darkside.

    See what happens when you bully kids?

    • McGill is the Canadian Harvard. Definite Sith Lord material.

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by fishexe ( 168879 )

      ... he’s putting his litigious experience to some use, getting his law degree at McGill University in Montreal.

      So, he went to the Darkside.

      See what happens when you bully kids?

      You don't know the power of the dark side.

  • I don't think he's alone when they say that the worst years of my life were, in fact, high school. Cliques full of assholes and status seeking social climbing butterflies pretty much achieved status by picking on people like me. I actually found the group of punks (smoking, piercings, tattoos, apathy, loud music, etc) to be the most welcoming group of people despite my lack of smoking, the fact that I listened to The Beatles and watched X-Files. The only people that seemed to really thrive in that crap were the popular kids and college was a welcomed change. I went from having four or five close friends in high school to entire crowds of people that I loved to talk to.

    Having been made fun of for reading Star Wars books in grade school, I sympathize with this kid though my pain was not on a global level like his. Still, I bet if you asked him now if he could go back and do things differently it would probably be better not to sue and instead milk that fifteen minutes by going on SNL or Conan O'Brien or even trying for a cameo in one of the Wayans Brothers' parody comedy flicks. Jesus, I bet he could make good money if he charged $5,000 per video and set up a site where he recorded himself doing his spiel and saying "Happy Birthday <insert your name here>" or "I only twirl around like a moron when I'm eating my <insert your food product here>!" And then just kept rerecording himself doing that. You might as well milk it and have fun with it ...

    Anybody know how Daniel Tosh gets around these potential lawsuits when he displays videos on Comedy Central in his show Tosh.0? I mean, I'm sure he gets permission first or it comes from a country with lax copyright laws but what kind of logic do they pitch to the guys that do just outrageously stupid things? "You did something stupid by starting a gasoline can on fire but you have the chance to do something smart and let me show it?"

    • I agree with you about high school. However, I found college to be just as bad. The college I went to had a HUGE frat/sorority presence, and it was like high school all over again, minus the bullying.

      I did my best to focus on the research going on at my college, but as soon as you left the building you saw those frat douchebags with their faux-football jerseys parading around campus with all the absent-minded hot sorority chicks.

      • Re:High School Was the Worst Years for Me as Well (Score:4, Interesting)

        by elrous0 ( 869638 ) * on Wednesday June 09, 2010 @10:56AM (#32510474)
        Actually, I was in a frat and found it quite welcoming (and a valuable social experience). Not all frats are a bunch of super-douchebags or the equivalent of the Betas in Revenge of the Nerds, you know. Actually, it was my experience that most of the anti-frat types were WAY more snobbish and bigoted than most of the fraternities themselves ever were.
        • I guess it all depends on the school. I went to a school almost equally divided between nerds and artsy people, and quickly found a fraternity that I liked. We had quite the mix of different types of people - different races, people from money, poor kids, geeks, druggies, rednecks, jocks, and even a few openly gay guys. I made a lot of good friends there, and have no regrets whatsoever. I also agree that there were many anti-fraternity people who were much more snobbish.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by MadKeithV ( 102058 )
      I was (and am) one of the "punk" group. Long hair, beard, listening to metal, playing guitar in various bands. I was (and am) also a geek/nerd, but I was protected from being picked on by being more obviously in the first group than in the latter group. I tried to step in whenever I saw the "popular kids" picking on what they thought was an easy target, just because it was (according to them) the cool thing to do. I'm still friends with a lot of those other nerds/geeks, and some of the punks. I don't

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Shakrai ( 717556 ) *

      I don't think he's alone when they say that the worst years of my life were, in fact, high school. Cliques full of assholes and status seeking social climbing butterflies pretty much achieved status by picking on people like me.

      "Do you know who Marcel Proust is? French writer. Total loser. Never had a real job. Unrequited love affairs. Gay. Spent 20 years writing a book almost no one reads. But he's also probably the greatest writer since Shakespeare. Anyway, he uh... he gets down to the end of his life, and he looks back and decides that all those years he suffered, Those were the best years of his life, 'cause they made him who he was. All those years he was happy? You know, total waste. Didn't learn a thing. So, if you sleep u

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Aladrin ( 926209 )

      High School was bad for me as well... But now I realize it was because I didn't handle it well, and compared to the rest of life, it wasn't really that bad. If I knew what I know now, I'd have ruled that school.

  • I'm glad he's doing fine. I'm sure 99% of the nerdocracy wish him well. Especially from me since I made a SW kid video.

    Good luck to him, but now we should leave him alone.
  • At this point, being where "Star Wars Kid" happened IS the cultural heritage of Trois-Rivières. I mean I'm sure other important cultural things have happened there, but all of them pale in comparison.

    There should be a monument at the location, along with informative kiosks and a mini-theater playing the video. You should be able to buy replica golf sabers, pose for pictures with cardboard cutouts of Ghyslain, and get to film yourself in the same room...

  • Sure, he was a nerdy kid, but the reality is nerdy kids typically make the most money after they get older. After-all, most are relatively intelligent, and most are going to go on to college. The attributes that draw ire from your high school peers are what often translate very well into sucess in a career.

    The high school girls are all swooning over that guy on the football team with a letter jacket. The 20-something girls though are swooning over the guy with the party-boat down at the marina.

    Get laid

    • Sure, he was a nerdy kid, but the reality is nerdy kids typically make the most money after they get older. After-all, most are relatively intelligent, and most are going to go on to college. The attributes that draw ire from your high school peers are what often translate very well into sucess in a career.

      Pfft.. Har Har... Very funny.

      Truth is nerdy kids would have about the same distribution of smart and braindead kids as any other group. Just cause the football club members aren't showing off their math skills to all their friends doesn't mean they're all stupid. And playing Magic or showing off your nerddom doesn't mean you are a misunderstood genius..

  • This guy is no different than Steve Bartman [wikipedia.org] who made a mistake as a fan that could have been anybody. He was chastised, ridiculed and pretty much couldn't return to Wrigley Field to watch the Cubs ever again. One ESPN writer did hunt him down [go.com] a few years later.

  • Reality vs. TV (Score:3, Insightful)

    by 192939495969798999 ( 58312 ) <[info] [at] [devinmoore.com]> on Wednesday June 09, 2010 @10:28AM (#32510076) Homepage Journal

    What's sad is that in the day and age where Napoleon Dynamite is a big selling movie and cool, he's only ironically cool and for anyone who actually does do something in real life that's funny or etc. they get bullied forever and there appear to be no consequences for the bullies.

  • The best was when The Venture Bros. did a take on The Star Wars kid in their episode "Tag Sale" in their first season; pretty much the all-around best episode ever to showcase the show concept, right next to the one with Race Bannon.

    • So did Arrested Development - whenever the Bluths recorded anything on a VCR, it would always be preceded by a leftover fragment of George-Michael doing the Star Wars Kid act.
  • [Paul Harvey] ... and now you know... the rest of the story. [/Paul Harvey]

  • Jedi = Lawyer = Sith (Score:5, Interesting)

    by DarthVain ( 724186 ) on Wednesday June 09, 2010 @11:39AM (#32511174)

    The Jedi are bound to a code of morality and justice and are trained in the use of the light side of the force but not the Dark side.

    There is no emotion, there is peace.
    There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.
    There is no passion, there is serenity.
    There is no death, there is the Force.

            Jedi are the guardians of peace in the galaxy.
            Jedi use their powers to defend and to protect.
            Jedi respect all life, in any form.
            Jedi serve others rather than ruling over them, for the good of the galaxy.
            Jedi seek to improve themselves through knowledge and training.

    If all of that doesn't describe a Lawyer I am not sure what does. Try to keep in mind people that not all (in fact only a very small but highly visible) lawyers are ambulance chasing souless bastards, or greedy corporate shills. Most try to uphold the law as best they can and protect people. I have a bias in that my Dads a lawyer I suppose. However just like Jedi, there are both the dark and the light side of the force. I suppose some lawyers are very Sith like to be sure.

  • I thought his acting was quite good once the special effects were added.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GJOVPjhXMY [youtube.com]

  • Needs a snappier headline (Score:3, Funny)

    by Purity Of Essence ( 1007601 ) on Wednesday June 09, 2010 @01:34PM (#32513202)

    Loser Lawyer Litigates, Laughs Last!

    Bulky Barrister Born By Bullies!

    Saber-Swinging Super-Star Supervises Saving Society!

    Crazy Counsel Courts Conservationists!

    Activist Attorney Accepts Arguable Acclaim!

    Famed Flabby Fanboy Fixes Fate, Flaunts Fellowship!

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