Monday, June 7, 2004

The Boy in the Plastic Bubble: A Baked Ziti Exclusive!

This is another video-based entry. It's a request from a dear friend of mine, Jennifer Prescott. The Boy in the Plastic Bubble, for those of you who don't know, was one of the greatest TV movies ever made. It stars a pre-Saturday Night Fever John Travolta as Tod Lubitch, a child born without an immune system. He spends his life in a sterile environment. His room is completely hermetically sealed against germs, his food is specially prepared. They can only touch him using special gloves, etc. The real meat here is how rife with overacting (and equally horrendous editing) the film is. Here are four examples:

Part 1: "Champagne OK!"

This is one of the funniest edits I have ever seen (or heard). Robert Reed plays the Tod's father. After bringing Tod home from the hospital, he makes an extremely clumsy attempt at a romantic evening with his wife.

Part 2: "Just Take Me to the Hospital!"

Tod, after being humiliated at the beach, demands to be taken to the hospital instead of home. Note Travolta's terrible acting as well as the bad synchronization of image and sound. Overall, a fabulous clip!

Part 3: Buzz Aldrin

In the hospital, Tod is inexplicably visited by Buzz Aldrin, the man who allegedly walked on the moon. This is horribly acted and just plain creepy.

Part 4: The Pillowbiter

I have no idea who this guy is (sure, I could just check the credits, but I'm a busy man). Damn, is this SUPERB overacting! Our mystery man, sharing a hospital room with Tod, has been snubbed by his roommate and begins to cry into his pillow. First prize if you can guess what he's saying. I think it's something like "MMPPHHH! PHRMM GGBBBBBAH!" but I could be wrong. Nice John Lennon poster. Maybe he's crying because Richard Avedon threatened to sue him.

Okay, that concludes our Boy in the Plastic Bubble special. Hope you enjoyed it.

- posted by gene @ 7:25 AM