He shouldnt get charged, Im 99% sure he’s learned his lesson. My brother once stuck a paperclip into an electric socket on a dare (he was in 8th grade). My brother was craving attention apparently, so he did something stupid. Not only did he get a very painful burn, he was nicknamed “sparky” for a good many years later. He has stayed away from sockets.
I honestly dont think there’s a solution to these sorts of things. Kids will be kids. You try to ban jackass or move it ot a later time and there will be kids who still watch it. Its like the illicit thrill I felt in middle school turning on George Carlin on HBO at 1 am w/ the volume low. When something moved to the “banned” category, I only wanted to see it more. Once I heard about Stabbing Westward’s Smack My Bitch Up video, I had to see it (that was only a few years ago). I listened to the horrible sounding Adam Sandler and Jerky Boy tapes in middle school against my parents wishes. Then I made a prank call to one “Mike Hunt” (say it outloud) ala my Jerky Boy heros… except they called back. I stopped making prank calls. The only way I was going to learn that lesson was through the school of hard knocks - I got in deep doodoo. You can disclaim all you want, youll still get a handful morons doing this stuff. They will learn the lesson and move on. Even if it was taken off the air - there’s still the internet. My p2p returns like 300 hits off of a “jackass” search.
I’ll tell you one thing. I’m moving, and I brought a few huge cardboard boxes and a large bag of bubble wrap home the other day. After seeing Jackass: The Movie, I’m thinking I have a great potential stunt here. I’m tentatively calling it “The Boy in the Plastic Bubble” and I’m thinking it involves bubble wrap, duct tape, cardboard boxes, and an ice covered hill.
Please don’t tell my husband and ruin the surprise, OK?
MrVisible, what happened to your friend was an accident. When I ever have a kid, believe me they wont be doing some dumbass stunt like lighting themself on fire.
<nitpick>
IIRC Prodigy made “Smack my Bitch up”
</nitpick>
There’s a world of difference between getting burned in the process of saving someone else’s life and setting yourself on fire without the appropriate safety measures in order to make a video. Anyone who mocks the former is an asshat of the first water. Anyone who ridicules the latter is simply practicing one of the most effective forms of social control.
Why’s everybody flaming him? I’m sure this guy will be the toast of the town when he’s released from the hospital. In fact, I heard he already has a lucrative ad deal with Coals Department Store.
Seriously, if you are stupid enough to do this at 15 y.o., you deserve everything you get. First he does it (on videotape!), then lies about it to police, then says he did it because of Jackass. Jackass, indeed.
Nope, it’s Prodigy, from their 1997 album, “Fat of the Land.”
Mr. Visible, your anger is misplaced. Your friend did not set himself on fire as a stunt, so there is no parallel between his plight and that of the 15-year-old idiot.
Now, heres my opinion on the issue.
If a kid is stupid enough to do these stunts, I cross my fingers and hope he gets hurt. Real bad.
Jesus christ…
15 years old is fucking smart enough to know fire burns.:mad:
dopers,
i grew up watching tom and jerry, but i NEVER hit anyone with a board or a frying pan because it would f****ng hurt, excuse me for blowing my own horn here but that is a possible indicator that i was not a complete moron!!!, my cat knows not to get on the bbq pit!, this kid is injured because he IS AN IDIOT!!! end of story.
This is why whenever someone asks me if I think soaking themselves with rubbing alcohol and setting themselves ablaze is a good idea, I remind them that gasoline is a better accelerant.
Yep Hanz, you better believe it. Its not that this kid is a complete fucking idiot, and deserved what he got, it’s that he or his parents or whoever, feel the need to place the blame elsewhere. Why can’t they say something to the effect of …
“Well to be honest we have no idea what the fuck little Kelvin was thinking. Maybe he saw it somewhere, but even if he did, he should know better.”
So if Jackass was never on the air he would be living a crispfree life rightnow?
Its akin to some dumbass flying by you on an icy highway doing 100 Mph, and having a bit of satisfaction when you pass him 15 minutes later when their car is in the ditch on the roof. You don’t wish death on them but the sure as hell deserve what they had coming.
Except, of course, that he’s not putting the blame on Jackass, and neither are his parents. You can prognosticate about what the future will hold all you want, but until you can come up with an article about this that says that the kid or his parents are suing the show, or that they’re suing whoever for this, then you’re speaking ex cathedra from your anus.
I’m sure the kid isn’t blaming anyone right now. He’s probably in too much pain to do much of anything.
And wishing someone dead so that you don’t have to pay a portion of their medical bills is pretty amazingly heartless, don’t ya think?
The news story was unspecific on who, exactly, associated the “stunt” with Jackass. However…
I’d like to point out that anyone who’d think it’s funny/brave/a good idea to douse themselves in alcohol and set themselves ablaze would probably be at the front of the line to goof on someone else in his same situation (No, I don’t know the young man. This is my guess).
Mr. Visible, the universe is a heartless place. The laws of physics and chemistry do not care about good intentions or pleas of youth and inexperience; if you douse yourself with chemicals and then set them on fire, you will burn. That’s pretty damn harsh, I know, but that’s the way the universe works.
I’m sure Kelvin’s parents are worried sick about their son, and Kelvin himself is certainly in a great deal of pain. But the point is that he brought it on himself–he is not a victim of anything except his own stupidity. If Kelvin were a very young child who did not understand that actions have permanent consequences, people here would doubtless be more sympathetic. Fifteen is old enough to get a learner’s permit to drive in many states; if he is old enough to be behind the wheel of a car, he is old enough to know that fire=hot.
Someone who is that stupid will find other ways to get in trouble as he gets older. Would you feel as sympathetic for Kelvin if he killed other people in a car accident because he was being as reckless with a car as he was with fire?