Bad Boy Bubby

Saw Bad Boy Bubby. It opens on Bubby and his mother in a gross little cement apartment, the walls spattered with brown splotches, dusty furniture everywhere, and an iron sink in the corner, next to a rusting stove. Bubby is retarded and his mother is abusive. We are in for a long, disturbing ride here folks. I can dig a disturbing film, but I thought this was a bit obvious and kind of mentally dug in my heels. Sure enough, further grotesqueries ensue until Bubby at last escapes from his mother and roams the wild streets of Australia, idiotically repeating things people say and freaking out women who resemble his mother.

The film redeemed itself a bit for me by the end. I was worried that the ugliness of it was its whole reason d'etre, but there's maybe more to it than that. I began wondering if he as supposed to be a horrible product of his environment (ie these terrible, terrible modern times) or if he was supposed to be some holy idiot, ala Being There. Bubby's mother uses Jesus as a threatening authority figure and there's also a drunken priest who comes around every so often but I feel these are not very serious attacks on organized religion. Far worse is the prison system, who merrily abuse Bubby. I kept waiting for some kindly person to bring him to a mental hospital try to rehabilitate him but of course this isn't that kind of film.

This film is ugly and wierd, intended to shock the elderly and amaze the young. Being somewhere beteen those two, I was amused but not exactly enthused and yeah, it was ugly, but not totally. There are odd bits of heart here and there, just to add to the mix. I was fairly confused by the film. I wasn't shocked or repulsed, just kind of at a loss as to what it all meant or what it was all for. I have a similar reaction to Harmony Korine's films which this one may as well be. Eh.