Gyllenhaal Defends 'Bubble Boy'

Jake Gyllenhaal said people are missing the point by complaining that his movie "Bubble Boy" is insensitive to people with immune deficiencies.

Gyllenhaal stars as a young man born without immunities who lives in a plastic bubble, but ventures into the outside world to stop the woman he loves from marrying the wrong guy.

The Immune Deficiency Foundation has called for a boycott of the Disney comedy, which opens Friday, saying it makes fun of people with the disease.

"The irony is that the hero of the film is the boy in the bubble," Gyllenhaal said last week while promoting the movie.

"He's the hero, and anybody who sort of crosses his path or is abrasive to him in any way gets their share of bad karma in the end.''

The 20-year-old actor said people may misinterpret the film as merely an absurd comedy.

"It's actually really political, and I think, while being political, really empathetic to people who might be considered sort of oddball and different, and so in essence it becomes different itself," he said. "Bubble Boy" co-stars Marley Shelton and Swoosie Kurtz, with cameos by Fabio and Verne Troyer.