An actor from the sitcom “Two and a Half Men” made headlines again recently. Surprisingly enough, it was not for substance abuse or its resulting behavior.
Child actor Angus T. Jones denounced his character, Jake, on the sitcom calling it “filth” and “bad news.” These comments came after the star recently became a Seventh-Day Adventist. Apparently, his character’s role on the show does not match up with who he is in real life.
While I understand that Jones has found religious convictions and is standing behind them, he took a very passive-aggressive approach to a very common problem. Instead of having a conversation with the writers of the show, he chose to divulge this information during an interview for an online Christian talk show called “Fore Runner Chronicles.”
Jones could be burning a bridge with the people who put him on the show, displaying a red flag to anyone else that may want to cast him for future roles. No person wants to hear that someone has a problem with him or her through a video online, especially not one that has more than 1 million views on YouTube.
Jones has definitely grown up since the show first aired in 2003. His $350,000 salary per show is something that most grown ups would envy. Two and Half Men has been around for 10 seasons with about 20 episodes per season. If you do the math, that is $70 million before Uncle Sam takes his share from the 19-year-old.
I am sure that Jones is experiencing more national, if not international, backlash for his recent statements. But I am also sure that having an eight-figure bank account two years shy of the legal drinking age lessens the blow.
Despite the implications of Jones’ actions, it does raise some questions in my mind about his motive. His presence on the show has been reduced to mere Skype conversations since he has been shipped off to the Army. Usually when a character on a show gets sent to some obscure location, that means he is about to leave the show. It makes me wonder if some changes to either the show or the cast are in the works. According to Nielsen ratings, the show has seen a decline in viewers since Charlie Sheen left.
According to the “CIA World Factbook,” more than one-third of the world is Christian. I am pretty sure that there are other people in the world whose jobs might compromise their beliefs sometimes. Instead of criticizing his bosses, Jones should have asked, “What would Jesus do?”