This is where we separate the men from the boys, folks. We separate the lame, touchy, Oooh, Im easily offended, cheese-eatin surrender-monkeys from the people who can take a friggin joke. If you havent already heard, the makers of Bubble Boy have already come under fire for making a comedy about a child born with an immunity disorder. But thats not all! Bubble Boy doesnt stop with immunity disorders, it manages to make fun of the religious right, cults, Hindus, freaks, midgets, bikers, the elderly, Asians, and a few others. Meaning, of course, thats its funny as hell.
Granted, our standards have been lowered by comedies like American Pie 2,Freddy Got Fingered,Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles, and many others that have been shat out lately, but we found Bubble Boy funny because its just so wrong. But apart from that, it also manages to be just unreal enough to make the jokes workthe Boy (Jake Gyllenhaal) goes out into a real world in which bus stations and convenience stores are marked with giant red signs that read simply: Bus and Beer. Armed with a warped perspective on humanity forged by a freakishly conservative mother, he encounters angry midgets (Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Mes Verne Troyer, whose first line of dialogue is Im not mini!), a shiny happy cult leader (Fabio!), and even the Howard Stern Shows Beetlejuice. Perhaps the most surprising thing is how deadpan most of the jokes are, which helps balance out some of the movies more over-the-top moments. So check your sensitivity at the door, America, and learn to laugh for a change.