http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060407.wxstarwars07/BNStory/National/home
A court in Quebec today ordered the families of the three kids who stole the infamous Star Wars kid tape to pay the kid $351,000. This irritates me only because in like 10 years, this guy is totally going to be all like “man I was the star wars kid” and milking his years of fame after he is old enough not to give a fuck.
But… but… but… he’s a fat geek… ;_;
The guy wasn’t hit so much by how global the movie was as much as the problems it caused at school, so in relative terms, this is not so different as what happens in all schools. The problem is that this won’t affect bullying in schools in general and therefore the lawsuit doesn’t address the problems society faces. I think “good for him” that he got the money. At least he’ll feel better about himself and he can move on with his life elsewhere. I don’t think him bragging about how he got 351k from the guys that did this in itself is so bad, because we all brag about how we stomped whoever was a jerk to us. 351k IS a bit extreme though.
What really bothers me about this type of ruling, and the American legal system in general, is how they came to that amount of money. Why $351K? Where did they get that number? So what if the kid got made fun of and bullied at school? That happens to plenty of people without them getting paid for it. You shouldn’t get rewarded for not sticking up for yourself.
Normally, trhey arrive at a set amount that covers both reperatiuons and coverage of costs - usually based on, say, medical and psychiatric bills - as well as a little extra, for emotional damage. But Damn, 351 K? That’s… rather excessive.
This is actually in Canada and that kind of sum is unheard of in Canada.
As for the bullying, sticking up for yourself doesn’t always work. You’re damned if you do and you’re damned if you don’t. Also, this, in a way, IS sticking up for yourself.
If you read it closer you’ll see that he sued them for 351k. How much he settled for is unknown.
Specifics of the settlement remain confidential
Oh. Well, damn, I’m dumb.
Don’t worry, your avatar is still cuter than mine. 
Well, of COURSE it is.
Only just noticed Sin’s post: Definitely. People think Bullies will stop if you confront them, and they will - possibly. That actually works best when you’re younger, though. In the latter part of people’s education, Beryond the age of, say, 12 or so, Bullies are a lot more confident about making your lives miserable. I had tos witch schools because of it, and that was nowhwere near as bad as this kid’s situation.
You’re right, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. But I don’t consider running to a lawer sticking up for yourself. Not in this situation at least.
Of course, there are going to be times when your best course of action is getting lawers involved. But I don’t think this is one of those times at all.
I see it as no different than running and crying to your parents.
People are way too quick to sue about everything. Why not handle your own problems without getting lawyers involved.
People are quick to get involved, yes. But having spent about three years learning the Criminal Justice field, I can say this: While the normal people are eager to sue, the actual Law practitioners - the lawyers, that is - HATE it. Too much paperwork and trouble. At least, considering how eager people are, they are quite adept at convincing people no, it’s a really dumb idea.
THis guy had a case, though. These guys essentially ruined his life, and he wants reperations.
The kid even has a easter egg cameo in a video game (Tony Hawk’s Underground 2). People would pay $351k for a chance like that.
I disagree about this case Dave, there was little he could’ve done considering how widespread the problem was. Bullying doesn’t always involve 1-2 people. Sometimes it can involve a significant portion of an entire class. What is the guy supposed to do in a situation like that? “Oh please stop doing that, I don’t like it , its mean”? Pick a fight with every last one of them?
Sin - You do make a good point, but I really doubt the lawsuit itself did anything to reduce the amount of bullying this kid was subjected to. If anything, I bet it increased the amount of harassment he received.
The parents of the bullies were basically made to pay through the nose because that jerkoff made an embarassing tape. It’s not right. Just because their kids are assholes, and like to bully other kids doesn’t mean the parents should have to pay all that money.
EDIT: And I’m not saying this is a moral or correct thing to do, but kick one bully’s ass and the rest might think twice about messing with you.
What really bothers me about this type of ruling, and the American legal system in general, is how they came to that amount of money. Why $351K? Where did they get that number? So what if the kid got made fun of and bullied at school? That happens to plenty of people without them getting paid for it. You shouldn’t get rewarded for not sticking up for yourself.
This is not a case of a kid getting bullied. This is a case of a kid being nationally humiliated. I think that certainly does warrant the sum of money. How would ‘sticking up for himself’ stop the videotape from being circulated to every corner of the Internet? Its kind of hard for you to stick up for yourself when everyone you encounter starts making fun of you.
As for his humiliation being a ‘good’ thing, I fail to see that. When he’s old enough to milk his fame he may not be able to because he’s so messed up from this experience. Then again, humans can be remarkably resilient.
And remarkably fragile. The article said he was diagnosed with Depression from the incident, and let me tell you, that mental disorder will stay with him forever. He might be able to live with it, but it’ll always be there.
I agree, that it probably did nothing about his bullying and very little in life will ever help with that if you can’t get a hold on it, like when you have that many people on your back. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t strike at the people responsible for what led to the flood of humiliation and make them pay. In regards to the parents, its not the parents fault directly since they didn’t make or distribute the tape. However if you break your neighbour’s window with a baseball, your parents still pay for it. Your parents are responsible if the shit hits the fan when you’re a minor and this is that principle in action.
Furthermore, the guy didn’t just make an embarassing tape of himself. If I recall correctly, the tape was made inadvertently when he was doing crap on a stage and someone had forgotten to turn off the camera.
And as I said, kicking 1 bully’s ass doesn’t always fix the problem. I know that by experience. And Esker is right in saying the kind of experience the guy had throughout school will remain with him a long time.
Ok. I didn’t know all the details about the creation of the tape and such. I’ll concede the point. He was justified in seeking compensation for what happened. But I still don’t think getting some money is going to help him or really change anything.
I just get really annoyed with people who play the victim, especially in bully situations, when they have done nothing to try and change it. I think a lot of those people are just too scared or too cowardly to stand on their own two feet. It is more convenient for them to blame others for their problems than it is to fix them.
But I guess that probably wasn’t the case here. I judged this kid without knowing all the facts. Perhaps going about it in a legal way was the only way for him to defeat his tormentors on some level.
So go on Star Wars Kid. Get your money. Just remember the immortal words of Biggie, “More money, more problems.”
The initial desire to sue is prevailant, yeah. But most people, after finding both how much trouble it is, how much money legal counsel would take, AND the fact that the people they want to sue could potentially counter-sue in some situations, not to mention how many judges will just throw out the cases entirely for being utterly stupid… Gimme a second, I forgot how I started this rant.
Oh, yeah. Anyway, people won’t sue so much for stupid reasons. Laziness wins out mroe often than not.