Star Wars kid

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"Star Wars kid" is an Internet phenomenon which started when a fourteen-year-old Quebecois male high school student filmed himself wielding a golf ball retriever like a lightsaber in a similar fashion to that of Darth Maul. This video clip was found by some of his classmates and shared online using Kazaa, a peer-to-peer client. The child in the videos was taunted and criticized by his peers, which eventually led to a lawsuit. Estimated at over 900 million views, the "Star Wars kid" video was one of the most popular videos on the Internet of its time.

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[edit] Incident

On November 4, 2002 the boy made a video of himself swinging a golf ball retriever around as a weapon. The video was filmed at the studio of his high school, and the tape was left forgotten in a basement. The original owner of the videotape discovered his recorded acts and immediately shared it with some friends. Thinking that it would be a funny prank, they encoded it to a WMV file and shared it using the Kazaa peer-to-peer file sharing network.

Within two weeks, the file was downloaded several million times. An adapted version of the video was created, adding Star Wars music, texts, and lightsaber lights and sounds to his golf ball retriever.

As of 27 November 2006 it has been estimated by The Viral Factory that the videos had been viewed over 900 million times, making it the most popular "viral video" on the Internet.[1]

[edit] In the media

The case raised privacy issues and was extensively reported in mainstream news media worldwide, including The New York Times, CBS News, GMTV and BBC News.

[edit] Lawsuit

In July 2003, his family filed a CA$250,000 lawsuit against the families of four of his schoolmates. The lawsuit stated, in part, that he "had to endure, and still endures today, harassment and derision from his high-school mates and the public at large." and, he "will be under psychiatric care for an indefinite amount of time."[2] Legal proceedings against one family were quickly dropped.[3] The lawsuit had been scheduled to begin trial on April 10, 2006; but on April 7, the boy and his parents reached an out-of-court settlement with the defendants.[4] Previous court proceedings had included discussions about whether the defendants had liability insurance. In 2006 the boy finally came to terms with his classmates and received CA$351,000 in a lawsuit between three of the four classmates. (Associated Sun Press)

[edit] Cultural influence

The video and its subsequent popularity spawned many spoofs on television, including episodes of the Cartoon Network's animated series The Venture Bros. (Tag Sale -- You're It!), American Dad ("All About Steve"), Arrested Development ("The Immaculate Election", "Sword of Destiny," "Prison Break-In,", and "The Ocean Walker"), "Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide ("Video Projects")", Cory in the House" ("Kung Fu Cats Kid"), South Park ("Canada on Strike"). "Weird Al" Yankovic briefly imitated the Star Wars Kid in his music video "White & Nerdy" at about the 1 minute 25 second mark. In the Disney movie Sky High, 2005, there is a point in the movie in which the main character is learning about children of two super heroes that do not have powers, saying that there has only been one person that has not had powers, the camera zooms outside and looks at a bus driver who is using a window washer to perform Star Wars moves. In 2005, CNET listed the Star Wars Kid as #8 on its Top 10 Web Fads list.[1], while in 2007, the G4 tv show, Attack of the Show, rated it the number 1 viral video of all time[citation needed]. It was ranked #2 on VH1's "Top 40 Internet Celebrities"[citation needed], right behind the Numa Numa Guy.

It has also made it into a Tony Hawk video game, Tony Hawk Underground 2. You Tube Video

In late 2006, comedian Stephen Colbert, a Star Wars fan, initiated a contest entitled "Stephen Colbert's Greenscreen Challenge". The contest began with him standing in front of a greenscreen during a taping of his comedic News Show, The Colbert Report, and using a toy lightsaber to dramatically fight off imaginary foes in the fashion of the Star Wars Kid. It was then up to members of the viewing public to edit their own sound-effects, CGI enemies and settings, and music into the video around Colbert to correspond with his actions. Viewers would then send their customized videos into the show, who would select and air what they deemed to be the best ones during the program every night or two, with credit to the home editor(s). The show received thousands of submissions from amateur filmmakers and fans, and the contest eventually culminated with Star Wars creator George Lucas himself making an appearance on the program with his own elaborately effects-enhanced version of the video, with CGI done by Industrial Light and Magic.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Star Wars Kid is top viral video
  2. ^ Survive your inevitable online humiliation - Netiquette - MSNBC.com
  3. ^ Lampert, Allison (March 29, 2006). "High school was time of torment". The Gazette.
  4. ^ Ha, Tu Thanh (July 4, 2006). 'Star Wars Kid' cuts a deal with his tormentors". The Globe and Mail.

[edit] External links