A long time ago – well, 14 years ago – in a galaxy that really isn’t all that far away, there was no Facebook and no Twitter. Myspace was in its infancy. But there was still cyberbullying
If you remember 2003, you probably also remember a viral video of a teenage boy enthusiastically practising some Darth Maul-style moves, using a home-improvised version of the villain’s famous double lightsaber (actually a golf ball retriever).
Dubbed “Star Wars Kid”, 15-year-old Quebec schoolboy Ghyslain Raza went on to achieve unwanted international fame, after the footage– which he had never intended to release online – was shared across the world. It’s difficult to count how many times it’s been viewed, but some estimates (via NBC) place the figure at over a billion.
At first glance, there was nothing particularly sinister about the video’s online popularity. Raza’s concentration and obvious delight in what he’s doing, coupled with the fact that he makes a somewhat unlikely-looking Sith Lord, are both endearing and hilarious.
Cottidae on May 19th, 2017 at 15:58 UTC »
"'Star Wars Kid' ... Now, that's a Meme I've not heard in a long time. A long time ..."
Rake_and_Roustabout on May 19th, 2017 at 14:42 UTC »
He inspired this great parody from Arrested Development, so his legacy of being awesome lives on.
TooShiftyForYou on May 19th, 2017 at 14:12 UTC »
“No matter how hard I tried to ignore people telling me to commit suicide, I couldn’t help but feel worthless, like my life wasn’t worth living,” he added, before recalling how his fellow students would “climb on to tabletops” in order to hurl insults at him.
The footage, shot on VHS in 2002 when its subject was 14, was transferred into a digital format and released online in 2003, without Raza’s permission, after it was discovered by some of his classmates.
Sounds like the bullies may have inadvertently inspired him to graduate law school.