Monday, August 14, 2006

A TRAVESTY IN JAKE TIMES

There have been a few miscarriages of justice regarding Jake over the years, most recently "Crash? Bitch, please!" and "George Clooney? Bitch, please!" but on Friday I witnessed a new travesty; the blatant plagiarism of Bubble Boy in the Australian soap Neighbours. HERE is a synopsis of said episode.

Now, I realise most people might not give a shit but I do. Neighbours is the greatest soap in the history of the world and whilst is has scant regard for realism, decent special effects and continuity is always original, so imagine my dismay when they referenced Bubble Boy without actually mentioning the film or Jake himself. I'm not going to go into the, frankly lame, storyline but basically Zeke the Freak was pretending to be confined to a bubble to make his obese girlfriend look good for the local newspaper. For a moment I thought it might be just coincedence but then can you guess who Zeke introduced himself as? JIMMY!

I'm getting so worked up about this because Bubble Boy holds a special place in my heart. Some people may think Brokeback Mountain was Jake's finest performance to date or that Donnie Darko gave him his breakthrough or that he looked his most hottest in Jarhead but to them I say no, no and NO! Bubble Boy is where it's at! 500 dollahs! So I now call upon you all to march for Jimmy Livingston and his electrical rock music guitar and boycott Neighbours for this travesty of Jake times!

I think we should take a moment to bask in the glory of Bubble Boy...

Jimmy: "Hi, my name's Jimmy Livingston. My mom says, when I was born, I came gift wrapped from heaven."

Mrs Livingston: And then Pinocchio came out of his plastic bubble and touched the filthy little whore next door and died. The End!

Jimmy: Dog poo! This is awesome.

Mrs Livingston: "Dear Mr. and Ms. Livingston, we have kidnapped your son. Give us $100,000 dollars or he dies. Signed, the Jews." Are you kidding? ARE YOU KIDDING? Who in their right mind is going to believe this note Morton? THEY'RE THE JEWS. THEY'RE GOING TO WANT MORE THAN $100,000!

(PS - I couldn't find a picture of the actual offence so you'll have to make do with a picture of Harold, the resident coffee shop owner and trombone player. He is the personification of the show.)

(PPS - I'm not sure there is enough material to turn this into a feature.)

26 comments:

Anonymous said...

"Bubble Boy" didn't invent the bubble concept. There was at least one real-life kid who lived in a bubble, and documentaries about it. Not sure if there were other fictional accounts. And "Jimmy" is not an unusual name.

But even if the movie did inspire the soap, that sort of thing is done all the time, even in feature filsm. The directors call it "homage." I call it being lazy - unless it's done for humorous effect and works.

Anna said...

LOL, britpop! I love Bubble Boy - it's absolutely brilliant. I can't get the Bright and Shiny song out of my head some days. :D

Did you listen to the commentary with Jake and the director Blair Hayes? Almost as funny as the movie.

Becky Heineke said...

I just watched it this weekend. "I don't think that's the kind of friend JESUS WOULD WANT YOU TO HAVE!!" How is that not classic cinema? Even my dad thinks it's hilarious. I agree. All hail Bubble Boy!

Neighbours is where Kylie Minogue sprung forth from, isn't it? I don't even think they show it over here. Travesty.

Anonymous said...

I think that I recall John Travolta playing a boy who was trapped inside a bubble.

Those bubbles! They only seem to want the good-looking ones.

britpopbaby said...

I realise the idea of a 'bubble boy' is not an original Blair Hayes/Jake Gyllenhaal vision but I think after Bubble Boy you can't put a boy in a plastic 'bubble' and expect me not to be outraged at the fact you've stolen the premise from there. Surely, everyone in the world by now (apart from joyce and katie) have seen Bubble Boy?

Anonymous said...

Not that I want to be disagreeable or anything, but I just thought I should point out that Seinfeld actually had a Bubble Boy episode long before the movie ever came out(I actually think it was said that the movie was inspired by the episode, but I didn't care enough to pay much attention at the time). I also think the Seinfeld Bubble Boy was named Jimmy as well. But I sympathize with your outrage, BPB.

Anonymous said...

There is some fantastic stuff in Bubble Boy....I watched in again last night and I laughed and giggled a lot. There are some classic moments and some great lines...

"It's alright Pushpop, your religion is all lies"

britpopbaby said...

Not that I want to be disagreeable or anything, but I just thought I should point out that Seinfeld actually had a Bubble Boy episode long before the movie ever came out(I actually think it was said that the movie was inspired by the episode, but I didn't care enough to pay much attention at the time). I also think the Seinfeld Bubble Boy was named Jimmy as well. But I sympathize with your outrage, BPB.

WHAT??!! Okay, I'm just going to erase this from my mind...Bubble Boy is a masterpiece of the 21st century...nothing can change that...not even the fact they robbed it from Seinfield...

Anonymous said...

I *heart* Bubble Boy, so much so, that a couple of years back was at my ex's house and it came on the tv. After a while he wanted to make an exit to the bedroom - it took some convincing to get me to follow him. Jake as jimmy or the ex in bed. It was a tough choice believe me but I felt I had to do my duty otherwise he would only have thrown a strop.

JadziaDragonRider said...

Bubble Boy is the truth. Shame on that show I've never heard of trying to steal it's thunder! For shaaaaame!

JadziaDragonRider said...

Also, I have never in my life experience this, but the commentary track is even better than the movie. When I pop in ye olde DVD more often than not it's to here.

~ [Jake's Black Woman's Voice]You go boy. You go after her! You go after he sweety![/JBV]

~ a sissy bitch fight between director and star.

~ "How hot is John Carol Lynch?"

~ "OMG, their all wearing gray suits!"

~ "First I want it to go this way, then swing the car over here and it EXPLODES from the building then I want this and then that and go do it!"

~"Jake is like the new Buster Keaton."

~ [Jake's Eastern European Accent]Oh Jake you tell them all the secrets of the movies. Why you so ugly Jake.[/JEEA]

The Chemistry Guru said...

Ah! Squallcloud, you brought back some memories!! The commentary alone is to die for, I've never heard anyone be so funny and inventive about their movie.

Case in point:- after mudbath scene;
when Blair tells him that he is losing his train of thought...hahaha!

Nothing Really Matters said...

Neighbours was so funny! Do you Watch Home & Away Brits??

JadziaDragonRider said...

Heee kokodee. They started early too. "Look Jakey, look at all the cartoons!" also "You flattened me behind the camera." and "Had to cast a baby with big eyes and... big bubble." "This is gonna be a porn before it's all said and done." "That shot got us our PG 13 right away."

Poor Blair Haynes. His career like stalled after that. I thougt BB was a good film. I think JW visitors and the guy who did Jake's Fame Audit on Fametracker are the only people who think this.

Has everybody seen these?
http://www.fametracker.com/fame_audit/gyllenhaal_jake.php

http://www.fametracker.com/2_stars_1_slot/gyllenhaal_maguire.php

http://www.fametracker.com/2_stars_1_slot/gordon_levitt_lebeouf.php

britpopbaby said...

Nah, I've never been one for Home & Away. I didn't like that they live near the beach whereas Neighbours is almost British - it never seems sunny in that street.

And PG - that is where Kylie is from and also Jesse Spencer who I think is in 'House' now.

I've also never watched the Bubble Boy commentary but this is mainly because it's Anneka's DVD and she has it with her in Wales.

only1annabel said...

I love both Neighbours and Home and Away-they are on after each other its my Aussie hour! I certainly did notice the Bubble Boy rip off and thought it odd that there was no mention of Jake. He has had a mention on Neighbours before tho...I don't remember who it was but someone watched TDAT and said he was hot or something! Might have been Lana or Sky when they weren't going through their lesbian stage! Anyway I must confess I'm still hooked on Neighbours so might not be able to boycott it as I'm too intrigued by crazy Cameron! Please don't ban me Brits!!
As for the Bubble Boy commentary I love it!!! Blair calls Jake "Jakey" which is so cute!

Anonymous said...

Also in the commentary, Jake saying, "That is not me. That is definitely not me," during shot of (definintely) Jake standing at the altar in his underwear.

Anonymous said...

Ok, now you convinced me and I am off looking for Bubble Boy and Highway!

The Chemistry Guru said...

I love fametracker, I discovered it two years ago when I was afflicted with *ahem* affleck fever (god, what was I thinking??) which was mercifully breif (my rather embarrasing Pearl Harbour/Shakespare in Love phase).
I especially love the maguire vs gyllenhaal (I love how they're like, jake's got the better eyelashes...mwahhahaha!)
Check out Kendra's photo comparisons
http://jake-weird.blogspot.com/
Cute and funny!

Elena said...

thanks for promoting disinterestedly my blog, kokodee! Don't blame on yourself for your "Affleck mania". Majority of my crushes vanish soon, only Jake, Kirsten and a few relevant ones are lasting. Ah, talking about crushes, Jimmy from Bubble Boy won a honorific one in my "weird" scale. I put a hint to his "pledge allegiance" in my banner slogan.

Anonymous said...

Wikipedia has an entry on "Boy in the Bubble" that brings up all the references we've mentioned.

It also cites one that I'd forgotten: A Paul Simon song that I'd thought was called: "These are the days of miracles & wonder." Turns out that was just the refrain. The proper title is "The Boy in the Bubble."

Anonymous said...

I watch Bubble Boy every time it is on tv. It is so funny. I don't care who was the original Bubble Boy or where it came from. Jake made Jimmy hilarious. Hail Jake.

Unknown said...

Bubble Boy is my all time favourite film! The commentary is hilarious too - the sweetest thing I've ever heard Jake do is sing 'Wouldn't it be nice' by the beach boys in a chipmunk voice at the end of that commentary. Really, i nearly cried - it was adorable.

yanmaneee said...

moncler jackets
kyrie 6 shoes
off white hoodie
curry 8 shoes
kyrie 4
air jordan 1
jordan 6
chrome hearts outlet
supreme clothing
adidsas yeezy

theatay said...

other replica ysl bags go now best replica designer bags go to this site replica ysl

Unknown said...

navigate to this site this page why not look here next use this link go to this web-site