I always miss this threads...
well, this is a simple case of "look at me, look at me, I self mutilate! Im so damn cool! I rock!" which is pathetic and sad of course... god if I know from experience...
no I wont discuss further about that 
I saw a documentary about african tribes who do this, it was certainly disturbing because they do it since they are little, the boy they showed was around five, and the scars were done on his face...
We can argue that the end result is similar (to show virility somehow as someone who takes extreme pain) but the reason this guy have its a sort of inferiority complex, while the african tribe has this a tradition and implies religious aspects, as they believe they'll be protected by their gods if the are scarred... this could be an interesting discussion, can we really compare both? imo I think not.