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Parents file lawsuit over Star Wars video
Humiliation forced Quebec teenager to drop out of school, document says

By TU THANH HA
From Wednesday's Globe and Mail

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MONTREAL — The parents of Ghyslain Raza, the Quebec teenager who became a celebrity this spring after classmates posted on the Internet a video of him mimicking a Star Wars character, allege that their son was so humiliated by the experience that he had to get psychiatric care.

The revelation is made in a lawsuit his parents have filed against the families of four classmates they accuse of maliciously turning their son into an object of mockery.

The video of Ghyslain, a portly 15-year-old pretending he is wielding a double-bladed light sabre, has been downloaded millions of times from several Web sites, which dubbed him Star Wars Kid.

Many other pranksters have created their own versions of the clip, with added video effects and sounds. One has him moving at fast-forward speed to goofy music from the Benny Hill Show. Other parodies were made with unflattering titles, such as Dork Clones, or mixed in with sounds of flatulence.

In a statement of claim filed last week in their home town of Trois-Rivières, the Razas say that Ghyslain was so widely mocked at his private high school that he dropped out.

He had to finish the session at Pavillon Arc-en-ciel, a ward specializing in child psychiatry at the Trois-Rivières Regional Hospital Centre.

Ghyslain "will be under psychiatric care for an indefinite amount of time," the statement of claim says.

"The stigma of mental illness can generate social prejudices having severe consequences" on the young man, including making it more difficult for him to enroll in the school of his choice or get a job, or even forcing him to change his name, the document added.

"Ghyslain had to endure, and still endures today, harassment and derision from his high-school mates and the public at large," it said.

The story has appeared in newspapers around the world, from the New York Times to the New Zealand Herald.

The Razas are now seeking $225,000 in damages from the parents of four teenagers: Michaël Caron, François Labarre, Jérôme Laflamme and Jean-Michel Rheault.

They say the four stole the video from a school filing cabinet where Ghyslain had stored a video camera he was using for a student project.

The lawsuit says the four young men then digitized the video before sending it out on the Internet in April, with messages inviting people to make insulting remarks about it.

The statement of claim includes lengthy excerpts that it says come from Internet chats in May between the pranksters.

Complete with misspellings, bad grammar and cyber-style acronyms, the exchanges are used in the statement of claim as evidence that the boys lacked remorse. They also brag in them that they evaded attempts by school officials to find the culprits behind Ghyslain's misfortunes.

Ghyslain's parents and lawyers would not speak to reporters yesterday. The parents of the defendants either did not answer calls or refused to comment because the dispute was before the courts.

While the video of Ghyslain's antics generated some derisive Internet comments, others felt bad and started raising money for him. One group collected more than $3,000 (U.S.), which they used to buy him an Apple iPod portable music player.

In the excerpts from Internet chats filed in court, the four appear to be plotting ways to get the gifts sent to another address so they can keep the iPod for themselves.

Dartaignon

Link = fubar

Link = unfubar Star Wars kid Sueing story

Slant Earthshaker

Only a quater of a million? Id be lookin for at least 3.5 mill or my name aint Sancho Panzo!

Master Damoiel Mindbend
Retired Enchanter of the 60th Season

zenrkscallytail

perfect example why you should you shouldn't act like a retarded fuck...

Orun Dreamstalker

Man, you have to be really fuckin' stupid. I mean really, really, really, really, really stupid. Kid goes "nutso" over acting like a fool and getting captured on film? Big deal, my buddies and I used to act out Transformers when we were kiddies, my parents made a film of it. Fuck, I was in a choir on Television. Thousands saw it, and I don't need any psychiatric treatment *twitch*...

Honestly, some people just need to suck it up, or shut the fuck up.


Orun

mirdorr

Acdtually, this is a GREAT reason to act like a retarded f***. Now the kid has a chance to be rich.

Winterworg

Hrm.... some might see this as an interesting and funny story. I see this as a blueprint for success. Its almost like entrapment really. I mean.... if you find a video like that of some dumbass, how could you not spread it to others to bring joy to their day.

DiscW

Jesus guys, he's just a kid.

Middle/High school can be unbearable enough if you just get picked on normally. But what happend to him, and how basically everyone at school laughed at him every day, would have an enormous effect on anyone. You probably don't realize it, but a kid having to change schools, going into treatment, or just snapping due to harrasment at school isn't exactly rare.

Oh, and anyone who hasn't done anything embarrasing like what he did, please stand up. Now sit back down, because you're full of shit.(hi zenrk)

Selwen Soulgazer

Got to agree with Disco here. I cant imagine what that poor kid is going through. Any of you all ever been humiliated? This kid is getting all that times a million. Hell,I'm glad he didnt go back school packin automatic weapons.

Tierfin

humilation? the kid is a famous person now...they should take money AWAY from him! for all you know he could have raped some big boobed white chick in colorado..oh wait...