Bubble Boy

Bubble Boy is a 2001 film that depicts a boy who lives in a bubble going on a journey to find his true love.

The plot revolves around the different kinds of people the bubble boy meets when he tries to go to Niagara Falls to stop a wedding.

Bubble Boy approaches all the different characters through the use of parody and satirical characterizations. The film was heavily criticized upon its release, partly because it makes light of a real-world condition, and partly because of the way various religions are depicted. Some examples of the latter are: the bubble boy's mother, an extreme Christian who even has a cross shaped cookie cutter; the Hindu ice cream man who attempts at atonement while a cow's carcass is repeatedly run over in front of his eyes; the Bright and Shiny cult, which seems to parody the Heaven's Gate cult, as it involves castration and being taken away by aliens.

One theme of the film is moving beyond the past. Several characters the bubble boy meets such as the biker, Pippy, and Pappy experienced bitterness and regret because of their inaction in the past. The bubble boy comes along and renews their motivation to go after someone they love.

The film is a comedy but its main character is based on David Vetter, a boy in the 1970s who was forced to live without human contact and which inspired a film with John Travolta, The Boy in the Plastic Bubble.