Lucas urged to give role to Star Wars Kid By GAYLE MacDONALD Globe and Mail Update Fans of the ''Star Wars Kid'' have mounted an on-line campaign to get the hapless Quebec teen a starring role in the upcoming Star Wars: Episode III. So far, close to 100,000 Web heads have signed a petition beseeching Star Wars' creator George Lucas to give Ghyslain Raza a cameo as a sabre-wielding cult hero in the blockbuster film, now shooting in Australia and starring another Canadian, Hayden Christensen. The portly Raza, from Trois-Rivières, shot to Internet fame and notoriety last spring after some schoolmates allegedly found a two-minute video Raza had made of himself, as Darth Maul, fighting a battle with a golf-ball retriever, and making his own sound effects. It is alleged the kids stole the video from a storage locker and posted it on April 19, on the Kazaa file-sharing network. Since then, millions of people from around the world have downloaded the video. There are now up to 94 cloned versions of the original, including ones featuring Raza in Benny Hill, The Matrix, YoYao vs. Clutch, Mortal Kombat, The Hulk and Lord of the Rings. In July, Raza's mom and dad sued the parents of the four classmates, and are seeking $225,000 in damages, alleging that their son has been mentally scarred from this experience. Raza's parents say the ridicule and unwanted profile caused their son to quit school and he has had to seek psychiatric help. A spokesman for Lucas's company, Lucasfilm, told Variety magazine earlier this week that, while he is aware of the popularity of Raza on the Net, he could not say if he might be cast in the upcoming Star Wars film. "Obviously there has been a tremendous show of support for Raza, with tens of thousands of fans rallying around him," the spokesman told the magazine. "Beyond that, we have no further comment." Petitiononline.com urges the folks at Lucasfilm to take pity on the boy, and give him at shot at stardom. "Yes, we've all had our dorky, private moments," says the letter on the site. "But this poor kid is living a nightmare of having his private dorkiness projected across the world to giggling Web users." His story has appeared in newspapers from New Zealand to the New York Times. Raza's video has also been featured on CNN and the BBC. Some of the mock videos have been scathing, with titles such as Dork Clones, or mixed with sounds of flatulence. Raza's experience has also incited debate among academics and lawyers about Internet privacy and the need to protect individual rights. One Web group in the United States has reportedly taken pity on the Québécois, and collected more than $3,000 (U.S.) to buy him an Apple iPod portable music player. Some Internet chat lines think Raza and his family should forget about the lawsuit, and concentrate instead on cashing in on his newfound fame. For instance, at jedimaster.com, the SWK store is open, selling everything from We Love SWK (Star Wars Kid) T-shirts, frisbees, visors, mugs, bibs, boxers and thongs. http://www.globetechnology.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20030916.gtstarwars16/BNStory/Technology/
That kid is amazing and deserves to get paid. Actually, I would love to do a show as a host and have him as a regular.
That just proves that there are some things you don't need to do in front of a camera. Why are they suing the kids? Geez, the dumbass shouldn't have captured his stupidity on film. Put him in the movie, at least he'll get more positive pub that damned Jar-Jar (who I hope gets waxed).
I was wondering if anyone was going to say anything about that. I wonder if Jackie can give us the url so we can make sure that the author of that article actually said "YoYao vs Clutch".
http://www.globetechnology.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20030916.gtstarwars16/BNStory/Technology/ Sir Jackie taking a little artistic license with the article guys.. from the original article..
God, this better not even come close to actuality...Does anybody realize the actual number of fat kids with flock of seagulls haircuts there are in the country?
So it is, must have missed it. EDIT - AHA! I knew that "YoYao vs Clutch" thing was bogus. Boy that Jackie is a nosy trickster, isn't he?
Watch the edited version. Hilarious. But as for the kid he should use the fame to his advantage. Not to his disadvantage. It's how you spin it. What I think is interesting is that SNL can't come up with funny stuff like this. It doesn't take much to make us laugh and yet SNL seems to be missing the boat. Chris Farley woud have been great for a skit like this.
Let's urge Lucas to make a decent movie instead. Maybe all the fans know it will suck so they just want to get something out of it.
