All of us Seinfeld fans must unite and show solidarity in supporting Bubble Boy humor. If she is succesful we may never see the Moops again.
Mother of "Bubble Boy" blasts Disney over film
By Brooks Boliek
WASHINGTON (The Hollywood Reporter) --- The real "bubble boy's" mother wants to shoot down Touchstone's spoof of a lovesick teenager confined to a plastic bubble by an immune system disorder.
Under the auspices of the Immune Deficiency Foundation, Carol Ann Demaret is sending letters to newspapers nationwide asking moviegoers to boycott the "Bubble Boy" film. Demaret's letters are backed up by an Immune Deficiency Foundation publicity campaign designed to get people to avoid the movie.
"There is nothing funny about living with a potentially life-threatening disease, and it is irresponsible and reprehensible of (Touchstone parent) Disney to have proceeded with making the film," she wrote.
In the letter to the editor, written on Immune Deficiency Foundation letterhead, Demaret accuses the studio of heartlessly making fun of her son David, who was confined to a bubble from birth until his death at age 12. Demaret and the foundation want Disney to pull it from theaters before its release.
David Vetter suffered from severe combined immunodeficiency and died in 1984 after a last-ditch attempt to cure the disease by a bone-marrow transplant. His life was portrayed by John Travolta in the 1976 telefilm "The Boy in the Plastic Bubble."
In "Bubble Boy," produced by Touchstone, Jake Gyllenhaal plays a teenager confined to a bubble room by an immune disease who chases after the love of his life in a bubble suit after he hears she's marrying someone else.
"According to promotions, Disney Studios' 'Bubble Boy' appears to be a feature-length joke mocking people without immunities, people who live with and die from David's still-fatal disease," Demaret wrote in her letter. "The notion of making a comedy about a life-threatening disease is, in and of itself, a travesty. It dishonors the memory of my son David and is an insult to families and children who are born with his disease and died from it."
Disney executives declined to say anything officially about Demaret's concerns, but executives said unofficially that the film is not meant to poke fun at people with a horrible disease.
"The film was not done to try to go after people with immune-deficiency disease," one executive said. "The bubble is a setup for a road-trip comedy. It doesn't make fun of immune deficiencies."
Other parents of children with the disease have also appealed to Disney to pull the film. In a letter dated July 30, Marcia Boyle, founder of the Immune Deficiency Foundation, appealed to Disney chairman and CEO Michael Eisner.
"With the release of 'Bubble Boy,' you are letting down the families who have come to depend on Disney Studios for movies with good values and movies that are uplifting and inspiring," Boyle wrote. "You are appealing to audiences seeking the lowest form of humor: immature people who laugh at someone with (Down) syndrome, at cancer patients showing the physical effects of chemotherapy or someone in a wheelchair. I am hard-pressed to think of another serious disease that has been taken so lightly on film."
Disney executives are quick to point out that the film is being released by Touchstone, a subsidiary, rather than Disney. They also note that there is a disclaimer saying the picture is not meant to portray any real-life person.