Being popular and not wearing shoes makes someone a badass? And ordering pizzas to the edges of woods and occasionally donating money does too? The only good one is the plane one, though he never was able to land the plane right, since iirc he crashed them all.
I don't get the appeal. He doesn't champion any cause, or represent really anything. All he does steal to survive and makes himself a celebrity because of it? That is just stupid. The only thing that might make a bit of sense is it highlights how incompetent the authorities are if they couldn't catch this kid. But people seem to completely ignore all the negative aspects of his stealing. At least Robin Hood stole from the rich and gave to the poor. All this kid did was steal for himself. Including expensive things like planes. Imagine how you would feel if you drove out to the airfield one morning, only to find your plane stolen. Or your store was broken into, or your house.