Ghyslain Raza (natural circa 1988) is a Quebecois teenager from Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada who, at a age of Xv, became known throughout the Internet in late April 2003 and May 2003 as the "Star Wars Kid."

In November 8, 2002 Razthe had processed a video of himself acting like a Star Wars character Darth Maul, using the golf ball retriever to represent his lightsaber. It was filmed at a studio of his high school (Séminaire St-Joseph). In April 19, 2003, the few of his class fellow stole a tape from either a barred storage unit & uploaded it to the Kazaa peer-to-peer file sharing network as a prank.

A cd file spread through a Internet pleasantly quickly; inside weeks it experienced been downloaded hundreds to thousands of days. Inside times, creative person completely above the world began making modifications to the original streaming, adding music, visual effects and sounds, combining it with more easily-known training videos or even scenes from either films, etc., for mirthful symptom. Among a numbers of renditions occurs as Matrix video, with Ghyslain as Neo.

Raza reportedly suffered considerable embarrassment, within a portion because a cd showed him to become somewhat overweight and not particularly athletic or even refined. A example raised significant privacy issues & was extensively reported within mainstream journalism worldwide, including a New York Times and CBS News and BBC News.

Around July 2003, his family filed the CAD $250,000 lawsuit against the families of the schoolfellow — Michaël Caron, François Labarre, Jérôme Laflamme, & Jean-Michel Rheault — world health organization allegedly took a streaming video & put it using your internet browser while forgoing Raza's consent. A personal claimed that Raza experienced suffered harassment & derision from either two his classmate & a general public because of the streaming videos. A causa stated that he got dropped away from school & got finished his school season at a Pavillon Arc-en-ciel toddler psychological medicine ward at a Trois-Rivières Regional Hospital Centre, & quoted Internet chat transcripts between the quadruplet suspect when demonstrating want of compunction. The transcript of an locate treat Radio-Canada (in French) with Ghyslain's attorney at a instance (François Vigeant) may be observed [http://www.jish.nu/GhyslainLawyerInterview.php here].

An Internet petition for Razthe a cameo role in Star Wars Episode III received more than 140,000 "signatures." Although George Lucas sympathized with a young human's plight, a film contains there is no such cameo & there were never any plans to launder soh, nor would it be the least bit clear that Raza himself would own wished it.

At a height of the streaming's popularity, 2 webloggers ([http://www.waxy.org waxy.org] & [http://www.jish.nu jish.nu]) began the fundraiser to purchase Ghyslain an iPod. Inside to the lesser degree the week, it raised across $3,200 & [http://www.waxy.org/archive/2003/07/16/shipping.shtml shipped him] the 30GB iPod & a $2,600 gift certificate.

Cultural references

Around 2004, an episode of ''Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends featured a story entitled World Wide Wabbit, which may have been based on this incident. Unlike Ghyslain Raza, a character caught in tape actually benefited from either it by creating awareness of the foster page.

Around 2004, the video game Tony Hawk's Underground 2 featured three references to Ghyslain Raza. In the Boston level, an overweight child by using glasses may be detected within an flat; a streaming video player could approach him & produce him dance in & produce wooshing noises when Star Wars like music plays in the background. He can likewise become discovered in the hidden front yard of the Triangle level where he may be seen standing atop an operating table fending off alien doctors. & when a streaming video player progresses through a game, the son may be unlocked as a playable character.

Around 2004, the TV-series The Venture Brothers featured the lightsaber attack by Monarch Henchman 21 that is a takeoff on the ill-famed Star Wars Child streaming videos.

Inside 2004, the TV network G4 featured Dave Navarro in a travesty of the Star Wars Child in their annual awards indicate G-Phoria.

Within 2005, the TV-series Arrested Development did a spoof on the Star Wars kid streaming videos. A character caught in tape therein time likewise benefited from either it, when his ex-girlfriend reconciled by having him when seeing a videos.

Inside 2005, the Swedish TV-series 100 höjdare'' (100 Highlights) stratified Raza's streaming videos clip when a Sixtieth funniest moment in the globe.

Within 2005, the TV-series Veronica Mars featured a information to the Star Wars child. In the episode "M.A.D." the character states that she fears the sexually expressed cd of herself is posted on the cyberspace, turning her into an internet joke similar to "Paris Hilton or that Star Wars kid."

Around 2005, the San Francisco Giants, when swimming at Pac Bell Park, played a videos of the Star Wars Child on the Jumbotron alongside the away team pitcher anytime the catcher & coach appear for a meeting on the pitcher's mound.

Within 2005, C|Net lists the Star Wars Child when #8 in its [http://www.cnet.com/4520-11136_1-6268155-1.html?tag=cnetfd.ld Top 10 Web Fads] list.

Around 2005, the TV-series American Dad, in the episode "All About Steve", had the geek that resembled Ghyslainside Raza go for it out at the sci-fi convention & swing a broom stick at Stan Smith in Ghyslain's trademark style. [http://media.putfile.com/AmericanDad-SciFiCon Putfile] has an extended videos clip showing this sci-fi convention scene.

Around 2005, the cartoon Teen Titans had an episode where the fat, geeky, villan Control Freak swung a lightsaber prefer device much in the way that Ghyslain Raza neutralise the videos.