The Ballad of Barefoot Harris

damn the man.

I remember about a year or so ago I read that he wrecked an airplane and _still_ got away, pretty awesome story

Robin Hood? Oh wait.. he's not stealing from the man.. just rich folk.. eh..

Yeah...totally awesome, right? Unless, of course you owned any of the stuff that asshole stole, or have your insurance premiuims go up when the companies try to recoup their losses. But yeah, other than that...totally awesome.

Yeah, I hate theives!! I was robbed twice and my sister once last year.. fuckers.

I heard this, too. Made me think of that crappy movie "Catch me if you can".

10 to 1 Hollywood has rights on this thing within a year after the kid is captured.

The really sad part about this is that as romantic as it seems now, the best ending that kid can hope for is sitting in a jail cell somewhere.

-ReAct
"Knock knock." "Who's there?" "Go fuck yourselves."

That film was great. I love the fact it was based however loosely on real crimes Frank Abagnale committed.

The kid is too famous now. The odds of him being able to stop, walk away from crime, and just hide on an island somewhere are not good.

DB cooper struck once...I think this kid is addicted to his lifestyle.

TIME.com

Totally awesome.

Who is he, Bugs Bunny?

Fuck with my cars or boats and get shot. Bottom Line.

From the linked Time article:

Let's see, a 6' 5" convicted career criminal by the age of 18 who has escalated to stealing assault rifles after breaking and entering at least 50 people's homes.

I doubt if any of the fans of his ever lost their sole transportation to a thief, or had their hard-earned property stolen from them when someone broke into and ransacked their home.

Way to cheer for a scumbag.

Sooner or later he'll most likely be seeing the wrong end of a gun barrel, and if he's lucky he won't get shot.

I don't know.. Frank Abagnale Jr. now makes big bucks...

Fuckin' EXACTLY!

Having your home or place of business broken into can be an incredibly traumatic experience...even if little or nothing is taken. It's a HUGE sense of violation & vulnerability than can have lasting effects.

Second....having things of significant value stolen from you is infuriating. I have had a few things, of a significant value stolen from my house as well as from my car. I worked for the money to pay for those items. I carefully saved so I could have those things....and some shit-sucking scumbag decided that they just wanted them instead.

As far as this kid being a sympathetic figure.....fuckin'....WAhhhhhhhh! The line for kids with abusive parents & shitty childhoods forms to the left. It's no fucking excuse, nor is it a mitigating factor. I had an abusive father and a shitty childhood...and never once broke into a house or stole an assault rifle.

He's not stealing to survive. He's not shoplifting loaves of bread to feed starving babies. He's not chopping cars to pay for his grandmother's dialysis. He's a career criminal stealing for personal gain, notoriety...and kicks.

Aside from the likely millions of people who grew up in abusive environments who DON'T steal shit.....notable people like Oprah Winfrey, Tyler Perry, Gavin DeBecker & Drew Carey are just a few examples of people from well-documented cases of abusive home lives going on to be productive members of society.

i can appreciate the flair and romance of this kid's lifestyle, but like the others in this thread who feel that appreciation, i'm a complete lamebrain who is incapable of recognizing the genuine harm that results from this kid's activities.

oh wait nobody's brains is lames, and therefore i (and probably others as well!) can simultaneously throw a fist up for this kid and empathize with those from whom he stole. i've been robbed. it sucked. this kid is still pretty cool.

Please...tell me what makes this kid so "cool"?

Criminals have been lionized throughout the ages, this isn't a new phenomenon.

I'm aware of that, thanks....but it doesn't answer the question.

Same thing that made John Dillinger cool.

And the vast majority of Western fiction is obsessed with the notion of one man standing up against vast institutions & organizations & succeeding against all odds. Seeing it happen in real life is both unusual & slightly thrilling to watch.

Is anyone going to make an actual argument...or give a tangible explaination?