10 Disturbing True Stories Behind Famous Movies
7. The Real Bubble Boy, David Vetter, Died Aged 12 - Bubble Boy
The John Travolta-starring 1976 drama The Boy in the Plastic Bubble and its Jake Gyllenhaal-starring 2001 reimagining, Bubble Boy, revolve around a boy with a malfunctioning immune system who is forced to live out his life in an incubator-like plastic bubble.
Both films end with the boy, now a young man, boldly deciding to abandon the bubble and discovering that they can indeed survive outside of it.
However, the true story from which the movies are inspired is sadly far more heartbreaking and unsettling.
The real Bubble Boy, David Vetter, was born in 1971 with severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) and, after spending just 20 seconds in the outside world, was placed inside a plastic bubble for his own safety.
However, David died from lymphoma at just age 12, ensuring he didn't even reach his teenage years as depicted in both movies.
While Hollywood turning a tragic true story into a more wholesome, hopeful yarn is nothing new, knowledge of both films' devastating inspiration sure does make it impossible to watch them the same way ever again.