MovieChat Forums > The Boy in the Plastic Bubble (1976) Discussion > So I guess he dies, right?

So I guess he dies, right?

posted 8 years ago by MdmBadenov
1 reply | jump to latest

Tod gave up on waiting for a cure and made the choice to leave his safe isolation and enter the outside world even though it would mean his certain death...yes?

Interesting because the movie was made while David was still a little boy, living inside his bubble. He made the choice to do the same as Tod, with the difference being David had a bone marrow transplant, an attempt at a cure giving him hope he could come outside the isolation. He didn't want to remain inside anymore, I think he and his parents knew it was a gamble. They were all willing to try.

In the movie, it seems like Tod came to the same conclusion.

[–] Wuchak (8081) 6 years ago

The movie leaves it open. The doctor said he may or may not survive outside the germ-free zone. It was a gamble, but Tod was willing to take it in order to be free and experience the small wonders of life firsthand, if only for a short time.

The true-life story of David Vetter is irrelevant because the movie was only inspired by the lives of Vetter and Ted DeVita, both of whom lacked effective immune systems. Vetter and DeVita were still alive when the movie was released on TV. The former died in 1984 at the age of 12 & a half while the latter died in 1980 at the age of 18.