Here is another genuine Internet phenomena....
The last time the internet chose someone so totally random to be famous was the "Turkish Guy" whose website (a totaly normal website with pictures of him and captions in hilariously bad English) was visited by 10s of millions of people all over the world simply because he was kind of a funny looking dork. He went on a world tour and was greeted by adoring fans all over the globe......
This one is even better. The Star Wars Kid is a 15-year-old from Quebec known only as Ghyslain -- his parents are keeping his last name secret to protect his identity. Back in November 2002, Ghyslain was goofing off at a school video studio and recorded himself fighting a mock battle with a golf ball retriever lightsaber. Over two minutes, the video shows the lone, overweight teenager twirling his mock lightsaber ever faster while making his own accompanying sound effects.
Some school mates found the video and put it on Kazaa. Within weeks someone had added star wars special effects and the snowball really started goin'. Conservative estimates figure that various versions of the "Star Wars Kid" have been downloaded by 15 million computer users all over the world.
Websites have popped up all over in honor (?) of Ghyslain, who consequently has dropped out of school, and lives in misery with his new found fame.
Why does this phenomenon hit sooooo many people?
My Feeling is that Ghyslain is the Dork Martyr for us all. He was caught in a most dorky private moment, the kind of moment every person on this planet has had at some point. We all have some little private"performance" in our lives that would be utterly humiliating if ANYONE saw. Ghyslain was nabbed right in the middle of his fantasy of defeating the evil-doers (We got a president living out that fantasy right now!) much to his dismay and our profound delight.
I feel sorry for him a bit, but honestly, he is our teacher. We are all dorks, nerds, and profoundly uncool. The coolest cat on the planet is just putting up a front. Nobody's deep fantasies are cool, or hip. Ghyslain is helping us reveal our true, inner selves by revealing his and *sniff* I love the tubby bastard for it.
Check the Original http://www.cinecon.com/starwarskid/starwarskid.wmv
and the (now) classic Remix http://www.starwarskid.com/star-wars-kid-remix.html
The last time the internet chose someone so totally random to be famous was the "Turkish Guy" whose website (a totaly normal website with pictures of him and captions in hilariously bad English) was visited by 10s of millions of people all over the world simply because he was kind of a funny looking dork. He went on a world tour and was greeted by adoring fans all over the globe......
This one is even better. The Star Wars Kid is a 15-year-old from Quebec known only as Ghyslain -- his parents are keeping his last name secret to protect his identity. Back in November 2002, Ghyslain was goofing off at a school video studio and recorded himself fighting a mock battle with a golf ball retriever lightsaber. Over two minutes, the video shows the lone, overweight teenager twirling his mock lightsaber ever faster while making his own accompanying sound effects.
Some school mates found the video and put it on Kazaa. Within weeks someone had added star wars special effects and the snowball really started goin'. Conservative estimates figure that various versions of the "Star Wars Kid" have been downloaded by 15 million computer users all over the world.
Websites have popped up all over in honor (?) of Ghyslain, who consequently has dropped out of school, and lives in misery with his new found fame.
Why does this phenomenon hit sooooo many people?
My Feeling is that Ghyslain is the Dork Martyr for us all. He was caught in a most dorky private moment, the kind of moment every person on this planet has had at some point. We all have some little private"performance" in our lives that would be utterly humiliating if ANYONE saw. Ghyslain was nabbed right in the middle of his fantasy of defeating the evil-doers (We got a president living out that fantasy right now!) much to his dismay and our profound delight.
I feel sorry for him a bit, but honestly, he is our teacher. We are all dorks, nerds, and profoundly uncool. The coolest cat on the planet is just putting up a front. Nobody's deep fantasies are cool, or hip. Ghyslain is helping us reveal our true, inner selves by revealing his and *sniff* I love the tubby bastard for it.
Check the Original http://www.cinecon.com/starwarskid/starwarskid.wmv
and the (now) classic Remix http://www.starwarskid.com/star-wars-kid-remix.html
