They call him the "Star Wars Kid." The phrase is not intended as a compliment.
For most of his life he was simply known by his given name, Ghyslain Raza. The 15-year-old attended the local high school in his hometown of Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, and lived his life under the radar screen of public awareness.
All that changed when Ghyslain entered a school video lab last spring and made a short film of himself twirling a golf ball retriever as if it were a light saber from the Star Wars movies. Four other boys from the school allegedly stole a copy of the tape from Ghyslain's locker, digitized it and posted it on the Kazaa file-sharing network on the Internet.
Before we go any farther, a factor crucial to the plot of this saga must be mentioned. It concerns Ghyslain's physical appearance. Doctors would describe him as an endomorph. Benevolent adults and marketing representatives for clothing lines might call him husky. Kids, with less fondness for niceties, would simply call him fat. The distinction has merit because, had Ghyslain been slim, he would still be anonymous on the world stage.
In the original video, which is less than two minutes long, the bespectacled Ghyslain stands in front of a black curtain, wearing tan Dockers, Buster Brown shoes and a purple striped shirt. He adroitly twirls the golf retriever, while offering his own sound effects and fixing an intense stare on the camera.
Had Ghyslain been 40 pounds lighter, his schoolchums probably would never have stolen the video in the first place. They would have respected his skill in twirling, taking it as a demonstration of his martial-arts prowess. Instead, they took Ghyslain for a dork. Their intention in posting the video was to use a private moment as a weapon for public humiliation.
Apparently, they succeeded.
Once the video hit the Internet, it took on a life of its own. Ghyslain found out -- as had Tommy Lee and Pamela Anderson before him -- that there's just no putting the genie back into the bottle.
To date, there are over 96 cloned versions of the original video. One has Ghyslain moving at high speed, accompanied by Benny Hill music. Another has multiple images of Ghyslain moving simultaneously and is entitled "Dork Clones." A third features flatulence sounds added in time with Ghyslain's dips and spins.
It doesn't take a degree in child psychology to guess the effect on Ghyslain's psyche. The young man was so viciously teased about the video that he finished the past school year at a children's psychiatric ward. His parents have filed a lawsuit against the families of the four boys who they believe stole and posted the video, asking for $225,000 CDN in damages. The lawsuit claims that Ghyslain has been irreparably harmed by the experience and may need psychiatric care into adulthood.
It's hard enough dealing with the awkwardness of the teen years without being stigmatized as the quintessential dweeb. Can you imagine poor Ghyslain trying to approach a girl after all of this?
Girl to her friend: "Like, can you believe that 'Star Wars Kid' asked me to the prom? As if! I told him I'd rather show up with Yoda."
While some have used the video to poke fun at Ghyslain, many others have rallied to his aid. Some of the clone videos have been doctored to paint the teen in a heroic light. In one, he is portrayed as "Brave Kid" -- a take-off on the Mel Gibson character from the movie "Braveheart." The Web site www.jedimaster.net has started a campaign to get George Lucas to cast Ghyslain in a cameo as a Jedi Master in the next Star Wars movie. The site also has a message board where people can leave encouraging words for the Quebec teen.
I believe the message he needs to hear is this: These kids may have knocked you down, but they can't hold you there forever. Only you can do that. Everyone -- and I mean everyone, with no exceptions -- has had moments that, if they were filmed for public viewing, would show them to be dorks of the highest order. Everyone has put on a pair of headphones and played air guitar, pretending to be some six-string hero like Jimi Hendrix. On any dance floor, you can see people void of rhythm shaking what the good Lord gave them and looking more apt to bust an ankle than bust a move. How many times have you been at a red light and looked over to see the guy in the next car with his index finger knuckle-deep up his nose? Do you think he'd like to see that on the Web under the title "Gold-Mining Man"? Not to mention the horrors of the Karaoke craze.
My point is that everyone has dorky moments. What is important is what you do now. Lawsuits aside, Ghyslain, my advice is that you use this experience to fuel your dreams of what you want to accomplish in life.
This may not be a perfect analogy, but your story reminds me of Thurman Thomas, the great halfback of the Buffalo Bills. When Thomas was entered into the NFL draft, he was projected to be a first-round pick. ESPN sent a camera crew to his house to capture the moment when the commissioner would call his name as a top overall pick. Because of concerns about a knee injury he had suffered in his junior year of college ball, every team passed on him in the first round. As each team's pick was carried to the podium, the ESPN cameras cut to a live shot of Thomas surrounded by his family and friends, only to show the disappointment on his face. Things got so bad that, at one point, the camera caught Thomas sleeping, still waiting for a team to make him their top selection. Finally, in the second round of the draft, the Buffalo Bills, who had traded away their selection in the first round of the draft that year, made Thurman their pick.
Rather than dwell on the humiliation, Thurman Thomas used the snub as motivation throughout his playing career. Before every game, he reminded himself that the opposing team had had a chance to draft him and had passed up that chance. He made them pay for that error by running up and down the field on them, in a career that led him to four straight Super Bowls and will see him enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
What this video should be for you, Ghyslain, is a chip on your shoulder. You should think of it every day as your pursue your goals and dreams in life. Use it as motivation to overcome those who ridicule or doubt you. Remember, high school is only a small part of life.
Watching your video, I see a bright and sensitive kid who is smart enough to take this advice: The best revenge is in living well.
I promise you that the day will come when your infamy as the "Star Wars Kid" will seem like it all happened long, long ago, in a galaxy far, far away.
| Niagara Falls Reporter | www.niagarafallsreporter.com | September 23 2003 |