Arguably one of the most popular Internet memes ever, the Star Wars kid viral video shows then 15 year old high school student Ghyslain Raza brandishing a golf ball retriever in a sequence of moves like that of Darth Maul in the movie Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace.

The Star Wars kid viral video also shows the then heavy-set Raza in a typical high school getup composed of a button down shirt and khakis glaring straight into the camera and mimicking the sounds of a lightsaber. Raza hails from Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada.

How the Star Wars Kid Viral video Craze Started

Ghyslain Raza, then a high school student at Seminaire St. Joseph made a video of himself on November 3, 2002 for a school project that he did not intend anyone to see.  He filmed it in a studio in his high school and left the tape in the basement along with other equipment for filming. The tape was found by his schoolmate Jerome Laflamme who then showed it to a friend, Jean-Michel Rheault responsible for creating an electronic copy of the video.

The Star Wars Kid video, then titled Jackass_starwars_funny.wmv was released among the other students via email messages, with one of the students, Michael Caron releasing the video on the Internet through peer to peer sharing networks. Court transcripts note that the video was released in the web on the night of April 14, 2003.

An edited copy of the Star Wars Kid viral video was also created with the additions of lightsaber sounds, music, light, and text from Star Wars. The Viral Factory estimated in November 2006 that the video holds over 900 million hits since it was released in 2003. Currently, the video has over a billion hits.

Public Reaction to the Star Wars Kid Internet Meme

After the global release of the viral video Star Wars Kid, a host of belittling and rude comments making fun of Ghyslain’s weight and looks also proliferated. On the other hand, other people feel for and cheered Ghyslain because of his remarkable and endearing ‘lightsaber’ moves, especially fans of the Stars Wars saga.

One such fan of the Star Wars Kid viral video is Andy Baio who is a web developer based in Los Angeles. He stated that he felt like Ghyslain is just like him and his friends so they feel somewhat connected to him. He also made remixes of the video and was one of the first ones to track the video’s origins when three of the boys implicated in releasing the video came forward.

Another fan of the Ghyslain, Jish Mukerji interviewed the boy and decided to plan a fundraiser for Ghyslain along with Andrew Baio so that they can get Ghyslain an iPod he wanted. They managed to raise $4334.44 USD which they used to buy him a 30GB iPod along with a hefty contribution of the leftover money.

An online petition started by fans of the Star Wars Kid video was also started with the intention of Ghyslain getting a cameo in the movie Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. Although the petition managed to gain 140,000 plus signatures, he didn’t get involved in the movie.

CNET listed the Internet meme Star Wars Kid as their No.8 Top 10 Web Fads list in 2005 while the Attack of the Show television show by G4 TV gave it the top honor of being the No.1 Viral Video of All Time. Likewise, VH1 rated Star Wars Kid as No.2 of the “Top 40 Internet Celebrities” after The Numa Numa Guy Gary Brolsma.

The Price of Fame

Ghyslain Raza’s family filed a lawsuit worth $250,000 CAD in July 2003 against the families of the boys responsible for releasing the Star Wars Kid video. In the lawsuit, it was stated that Ghyslain “had to endure, and still endures today, harassment and derision from his high school mates and the public at large” and “will be under psychiatric care for an indefinite amount of time.”

Charges against one of the boys’ families were dropped and the trial for the other boys and their families was scheduled to commence on April 10, 2006. However, on April 7, 2006, an out-of-court settlement was reached with all of the remaining defendants and Ghyslain’s family.

Ghyslain also dropped out because he was clinically depressed from all the actual and cyberbullying and had to finish a year in a children’s psychiatric ward. Ghyslain is now a man in the early 20s and is President of the conservation society “Patrimoine Trois-Rivières” created to maintain their town’s (Trois-Rivières) cultural heritage for generations to come. He is likewise enrolled in law school at McGill University, Montreal.

The Stars Wars Kid in Pop Culture

The Star Wars Kid video craze spawned references and parodies on a multitude of TV shows due to its superstar popularity. These TV shows include South Park, Cory in the House, Arrested Development, Teen Titans, Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide, and the Venture Bros.

The popular comedian Stephen Colbert also started a competition in 2006 called ‘Stephen Colbert’s Greenscreen Challenge’ in which he showed a video of himself brandishing a lightsaber ala Star Wars Kid against a backdrop of greenscreen. Viewers may then edit and improve the video and the best entry will be featured by Stephen Colbert.

George Lucas also created an entry for the Star Wars Kid video challenge in his grand Star Wars fashion and actually used Industrial Light and Music, his special effects company, responsible for all Star Wars special effects.

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