Return Of The Star Wars Kid
Well, I don't know if you remember this or not. But a year or two back, a highschool kid was made famous by some his classmates. He borrowed a videocamera from the AV department, then proceeded to videotape himself pretending to be a Jedi Master. Unfortunately, he left the tape in the camera which was later found. These kids watched the tape and thought it was hilarious. They doctored it up with some sound and visual fx and posted it on the internet for all to see. This video became HUGE. Unfortunately, the poor kid was tormented everywhere he went. Anyway, the kid's parents filed a lawsuit against the kids who put the tape onto he internet and finally won. He walked away with $351k in damages. It's become a landmark case for 'cyber bullying' as they called it.
The irony is, when the news broke about the results of the lawsuit, it seems everybody tried to redownload it. I know I certainly did. Sites hosting this videos are being pinged to death from downloaders. Many sites already pulled the videos and any reference to the Star Wars Kid. I'm not sure if they are afraid that they will be sued too, or if its because of court order or if it is because they don't want so many people out there messing up their bandwidth.
What seemed like a harmless prank snowballed into something major. I feel bad for the Star Wars Kid, because I do believe he was negatively affected. It's hard to be the butt of a joke. But on the other hand, how were the other kids suppose to know. If I found that video, I'd probably find it funny and probably do the same thing, not thinking of the consequences. I would think it was all in the name of good fun. That's the highschooler's mindset.
I would definitely feel bad if I truly hurt someone and try to rectify the situation as much as I can. But in this day of instant distribution, there's not much you can do. It's so easy to lose control of this monster and it takes on a life of it's own. Even without you prodding it along. Technology is definitely shrinking the world.
1 comment:
You know what, people just have to much time on their hands and don’t know what to do with that extra time. This kid needs to grow some thicker skin, learn to roll with the punches and try to capitalize it in a positive way. But of course, in America, when our feelings are hurt, we sue people like a bunch of sissies. God help us, we are a country of wussies.
-Ian or the BIG IO
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