"Bubble Boy" Protests: Kinda Funny. (1 Viewer)

[AaronJB]

There's been a little bit of business on the news lately about how the upcoming Disney flick "Bubble Boy". If you haven't seen the incessant advertisements for the picture, it involves a boy inside a protective plastic bubble who has to go cross-country to proclaim his love to a chick.
Of course, certain groups are protesting its treatment of people in bubbles. That's not the funny part.
The funny part is, these groups are protesting a movie that no one is going to see. If this film made 1,000,000 or more on the weekend of the 24th, I'd be stunned. These people are going to waste their time protesting empty theaters.
I dunno, just my 2 cents.

 

[Jason Seaver]

And, it's about a sick kid who chooses not to be a victim. Sure, it's played for slapstick, but isn't that better than playing this kid as someone with no hope to be anything other than an object of pity?

 

[Scott Weinberg]

I'm awaiting Disney's next one. It's called Hemophiliac at the Razor Factory.
Should be hysterical.
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Scott
Check out my Movie Reviews at Epinions. Help support my debilitating DVD addiction!
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[Duane Robinson]

Damn, they stole my idea.
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"I'd rather have 2 girls at 21 than 1 girl at 42." - W.C. Fields
"One man's simple is another man's huh." - David Stone

 

[Sebastian_M]

I really enjoyed the use of the "Bubble Boy" phenomena in the Seinfeld episode they did of it. They were able to go just far enough before it got offensive. The film just looks stupid.
Seb
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All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.

 

[James D S]

I remember when Emperor's New Groove played at the local cineplex and a bunch of people where protesting the use of an asshole as the center of the comedy. They were chanting things about assholes being people too, etc. They said one could not choose whether or not a person is an asshole and to make them the center of jokes was insulting to all people afflicted with the condition. It was crazy, but alas, this is the current state of America. Someone's gonna get insulted.

[Edited last by James D S on August 17, 2001 at 09:05 PM]

 

[Mark Pfeiffer]

I saw some interviews on MSNBC in regards to this. The thing is this: nobody has seen this movie yet! Those critical of it haven't. Critics likely haven't had the opportunity to see it. (The advance I'm attending is on the 23rd. Is this the night before it opens? That says enough about the confidence the studio has in it.)
By raising a ruckus, all they're doing is drawing more attention to it than it otherwise would have had. That Disney's name is attached to it (via Touchstone) makes me wonder if the "uproar" would be this prominent if another studio were releasing it.
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[Morgan Jolley]

Protesting movies is probably the dumbest thing I ever heard. Nobody is going to go to theater and change their mind about seeing this movie because someone is shouting about people in bubbles not being funny. The movie isn't really about the boy being sick and in a bubble, its about him exploring the world that he hasn't had a chance to see his whole life. I think it should be considered inspirational rather than comedy.
Also, people were protesting Dogma before they even saw it. Anyone who saw the film would know that it in no way makes fun of Catholicism, but rather uses it as a centerpiece that holds the whole film together. The film was a comedy, but it was very good and I don't know anyone who saw it who thought it was sacreligious(sp?).

 

[Peter Kline]

The movie makes fun of a very serious malady that affects mostly young people. They do not have very long lives unfortunately.
How about a comedy based on the adventures of a polio victim forever encased in an iron lung. Now THAT would be funny!
Seriously, in 1976 John Travolta and Glynnis O'Connor starred in a very good TV movie called '"The Boy In The Plastic Bubble". Based on a true story it was moving, funny and biittersweet.
The whole idea of this new film is simply the ultimate in bad taste, perfectly in tune with today's audience I'm afraid.

[Edited last by Peter Kline on August 18, 2001 at 12:42 AM]

 

[SteveMc]

It seems no one can do or say anything in this country any more with out someone getting offended. This film does not put down this character in any way or portray him as a bad person. But people get pissed when someone makes a joke that they don't like. Don't like it, fine. Don't see it. Like George Carlin says, anything can be funny. People need to stop to being so damn sensitive and lighten up a bit...life is too short to bitch about a joke!
I am not trying to make light of this disease, but soon we won't have movies about anything but Tom Green humor. Hope that movie didn't offend people who wear cheese helmets. I'm not saying people should just go out and blatently start slurring people, but IMO this movie did not cross the line. Please don't start flaming me, I am entitled to my opinion just as they are entitled to theirs.
On a different note, I think the movie looks stupid anyway.
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Crash
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[Edited last by SteveMc on August 18, 2001 at 01:29 AM]

 

[Bob_L]

Excellent job, guys!!! You've just given Disney a whole bunch of free publicity for a movie that the film's trailer suggests it doesn't deserve.
As a rule of thumb, I don't go see a film if the trailer features the same joke done three or more different ways. In this case, bubble boy gets hit by something and flies through the air. Then, bubble boy got hit by something and he flew through the air. Now -- GET THIS -- later, bubble boy gets hit by something and he sails through the air.
Now THAT'S entertainment!!!!
To paraphrase Beetlejuice, "And it just gets funnier, EVERY TIME I SEE IT!!!!!"
Sigh.

 

[Joel Mack]

If this film made 1,000,000 or more on the weekend of the 24th, I'd be stunned.

Prepare to be stunned.
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"If we blow up, whatever's left of me is kickin' your butt."

 

[Rachael B]

Thanks for the laugh Scott!
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Rachael, the big disc cat! "...Mandrake, have you ever seen a commie drink water..."
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[Morgan Jolley]

No offense, but if they are going to make a movie about how weak the people in bubbles are and how we should feel sorry for them, why not make a movie about one who goes out into the world and doesn't stay locked up in his house? To tell the truth, even the kids allergic to water take baths and kids allergic to the sun get to play in the sand. If you can't make a lighthearted comedy movie that will probably make no money on opening weekend about a boy in a bubble then you shouldn't make a movie about how sad his life is either.

 

[Jonathan Gross]

Hey, I don't remember anyone protesting Deuce Bigalow when he was with the girl that had one leg. I lost my leg to cancer and when I see his reaction when he pulls her leg off I laugh so hard there are tears. It is funny. I bet if someone in a plastic bubble got the opportunity to see this movie they would laugh louder than anyone. The people protesting it aren't even afflicted with the problem. They need to get a life and get a job.

 

[Mitty]

Hey, I don't remember anyone protesting Deuce Bigalow when he was with the girl that had one leg.

Deuce Bigalow was a never ending stream of potential offenses, yet no one protested. Narcolepsy, Tourettes, you name it.
However, they shot Mr. Magoo here in Vancouver, and locations were routinely disturbed by protesters from the CNIB (Canadian Nat'l Institute for the Blind).
I saw a bit on (I think) CBC Newsworld about what they called the "Industry of Protest" or something like that. Essentially, this IS a job for many people and they're very protective of it. I don't remember details, but there was a protest some people were mounting and the organizers received hundreds and hundreds of phone calls and letters from people that the protestors were allegedly representing, disagreeing with the intent of it. So, what did they do? Destroyed the letters, told no one about the phone calls, and carried on. It was only after another protest that resulted in some arrests did someone divulge any of it.
So, even if Bubble Boys around the world shouted from the rooftops that this new movie was a tale of empowerment for them, it wouldn't matter.
Of course, there are also people who make the effort go to anywhere where there is civil disobediance. Hobbyists, I suppose. A friend of mine was down in Seattle shooting footage of the WTO protests in Seattle and got a streeter interview with a man, a recent college graduate, who had been to dozens of big protests all over the country, for things not even remotely related. He said he saves up for it, like some people save up to go travelling. He also said there are hundreds, if not thousands of people who do this, and that at any given major protest anywhere in the U.S., if you look around you'll see a lot of the same people. It's their high; it's what they get off on. Interestingly, the same guy referred to the WTO more than once as the T.W.O. suggesting that maybe he didn't even really know what he was there protesting.
Protest can be a powerful tool, but it is disheartening to know that sometimes the means to the end is not entirely honourable or well meaning.

 

[John Miles]

A friend of mine was down in Seattle shooting footage of the WTO protests in Seattle and got a streeter interview with a man, a recent college graduate, who had been to dozens of big protests all over the country, for things not even remotely related. He said he saves up for it, like some people save up to go travelling. He also said there are hundreds, if not thousands of people who do this, and that at any given major protest anywhere in the U.S., if you look around you'll see a lot of the same people. It's their high; it's what they get off on.

Link Removed

 

[Patrick McCart]

Put ONE hemophilliac in a razor blade factory and you got Hemophilliac-A-Go-Go!
These screwballs need to get a life. The best way they can show their dislike for the movie is to not buy a ticket like everyone else in the world.
Mr. Magoo was a foam peanut of a movie...the only part I liked was the opening credit sequence. Mister Magoo is a really funny character and it makes me wonder how in the hell did Disney get the rights to make a movie out of a UPA character!
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P.S.: There's no P.S.

 

[Rain]

If anyone should be pissed off about this movie, it's Jerry Seinfeld. Tell me this movie ever would have been conceived were it not for the "bubble boy" episode.
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[John Spencer]

I would almost pay to go to this movie, if I were to know there would be a group of bubble people outside. That way I could walk into the theater yelling, "I'm sorry. The card says MOOPS!!!!"