"If you watch ‘Two and a Half Men,’ please stop watching ‘Two and a Half Men.’ I’m on ‘Two and a Half Men’ and I don’t want to be on it."
Angus T. Jones denounces his own show, based on religion. Quit the show then, man. What kind of religion is this, where you blame people for consuming the "filth" — his word — in which you are deeply embedded? If you don't know you can walk away from the show, then I wonder whether you know you can walk away from the religion.
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He's still under contract. Render unto CBS.
Since Charlie Sheen left, the show sucks anyway.
What does he stand to lose by leaving the show? Money? I thought those Christian types weren't supposed to value money over God?
I read that in this last season he was getting $300K/episode. I have no idea what the residuals are worth to him. So, when you got yours...
Looks like he's a recent convert, so it's not like he's been feeling this way for years.
Have you considered the possibility that what he has to say about the show gets a lot more attention b/c he's on it? Or that he might feel that he can influence future scripts this way? (OK, unlikely. But he's 19. They think they're highly influential.)
The show has been trash since it started and has moved steadily to the 'bluer' side of the comedy spectrum for years.
Not that there's anything wrong with that; if it offends you, don't watch.
And yeah, 1) he is bound by a contract and 2) he sounds like a new convert. His mom said that he was 'being used' by the denomination.
Even though he is of age I would be more concerned about him donating all his money to these people.
But better them than the $cientologi$t$.
I think he can be forgiven for past association with the show--I mean, he's just a kid--if he's willing to break his contract now that he's an adult and he's seen the light. People break contracts all the time. It's expensive, but it looks like he's got the wherewithal to do it if he's serious.
THey can change the title of the show to 2 men.
He started on the show when he was only 10 years old. Wonder if he's been unhappy for a while, but had parents, agents, etc., pushing him to stay with it.
Yeah... He started this while he was a kid. Didn't have a choice. His mother says he's being exploited by the church? OMG. And what was it when he was 10?
He's allowed to grow up.
Hopefully he had someone honest looking out for his interests and investing his money for 9 years.
Ann,
It's the LOVE OF MONEY that is the root of all evil. Most people are quite attracted to money and will compromise their own beliefs to get it.
I've never seen the show and know nothing about this actor, but can it possibly be so that a teen-ager in a secondary role in a TV series is being paid $300,000 PER EPISODE? How many episodes are there in a season? Gosh I wish MY church had gotten hold of him first. We could use the money -- and WE wouldn't exploit him!
What better way to get publicity for a struggling show? The kid deserves a raise.
You might think a law professor would understand the advantages of getting your employer to fire you versus the costs of the employee breaking the contract. :)
He is surrounded by 'filth' though. A sitcom based on middle age men hooking up, waking up with a different strange women in the house with a pre-teen/teenager witness this as role models. Filth gets old, for many younger adults it doesn't have the 'taboo' factor. Lewdness/potty humor stands on its own.
I'd really love to know what exact designs the SDA church has on his money as claimed by two earlier commenters.
There have been several entertainers like Little Richard and Clifton Davis who converted to Adventism and I don't recall ever hearing anything about money.
He sounds like a person who has made a life decision and wants to renounce his former choices. Nineteen is about the right age for that to happen. Why does it have to be exploitation at all? He can make adult decisions now and it sounds like he's trying to do just that.
Exploitation is what's been happening to him if the stories of child actors hold true in his case.
"I've never seen the show and know nothing about this actor, but can it possibly be so that a teen-ager in a secondary role in a TV series is being paid $300,000 PER EPISODE?"
I've only seen a couple of episodes. And yes, it was pretty funny.
the "secondary role" is actually a title role. The kid is the "half" man in the title. And the primary thing that's funny is that he's growing up in this appalling male environment, though his dad tries to be a good dad, and his uncle is a hose bag... or something awful... A woman objectifying man-slut. And what's funny is that it's all done in front of this little kid.
I don't think he quite counts as a secondary character.
I've seen the show a couple of times and, yeah, pretty dumb.
And, again, this may be the first time the kid's been allowed to speak his mind - he may not have liked it for a long time.
Consider the piece by Melissa Francis.
He can't quit the show, he's probably under contract. Also, he has very little input into the show now as it is and his role has been very scant as of late as well.
The show is very seductive in the way Southern California, or should I say the ideal of Southern California, a dream of effortless hedonism, is seductive.
I see infomercials in his future.
He makes $350,000 per episode staring this year. New convert, I say let him sort it out. He's 19 years old. Letting your son work with Charlie Sheen says more about you than the church he's attending. Good grief. Momma has made a pile of money off of her son's career I have no doubt.
will he be declining the substantial residuals from the syndicated episodes?
"If you don't know you can walk away from the show, then I wonder whether you know you can walk away from the religion." - Ann
Maybe he doesn't want to walk away from the religion, and he's still under contract. Being a law professor, I'm sure you've heard of contracts, no?
I know, I know... contracts were made to be broken. I have contracts that I could have broken by filing bankruptcy, but I signed on the dotted line, and it didn't sit right with me. Even though it has been financially painful, I honor my word. My word and a handshake is better than a contract; I always do what I say I will. Always. It's called ethics.
BTW, I've never seen the show.
"will he be declining the substantial residuals from the syndicated episodes?"
I suppose he'll have to decide. I know people who wouldn't. OTOH, he did the work, so why not take the pay?
"Go, and sin no more." is pretty clear.
I don't recall anything about divesting one's self of previous material goods as part of conversion.
The rich young man told to give everything he owned to the poor wasn't about how his wealth was gained, initially, and isn't seen as something required of everyone.
Eating food sacrificed to idols might be a near equivalent and we're told that meat is meat *but* if you've got a problem with it, don't eat it, if you're going to trip someone else up by eating it or offering it to them, don't eat it, but really it's not the meat.
And if meat sacrificed to idols doesn't carry with it a spiritual stench, then why would money?
If he decides to give that money to the church or a charity should the church refuse it because it's dirty? And if not, then why would it be spiritually tainted for other use?
But if the source bothers HIM then, yeah, he should probably not keep it.
At the age of nineteen some people forget their faith and others find their faith. Some surrender to complexity others work through to simplicity discovering as Jesus assured his followers that belief in him was so simple even a child could experience the life of God. Others for the sake of a relationship, a career or a perceived better life just turn and walk away.
Jesus didn't say following him would be easy, just worth everything.
If you watch Two and a Half Men you are too stupid to do anything else.
Palladian said...
"I see infomercials in his future."
Well, that would be better than bad porn flicks like Screech (Dustin Diamond).
Palladian said...
"I see infomercials in his future."
Some of these child actors go and do something normal, like college and non-acting.
"The rich young man told to give everything he owned to the poor wasn't about how his wealth was gained, initially, and isn't seen as something required of everyone."
I thought of that Bible story as I was writing this post, but I didn't have time to include it because I was prepping my Religion and the Constitution class.
Also... I have never watched that TV show. I've avoided that "filth." Only because I'm not interested.
Regarding television shows, and the most oft-repeated advice offered by television addicts (tiger?):
"If it offends you, don't watch. (But, shut up.)"
Let's say I live in Detroit, and I see how crack cocaine is destroying my city.
"If you don't like crack cocaine, just don't do it!"
And, having not ever done it, I look out my window and see my city turned from the "Paris of the West" into Hell on Earth.
So no, I won't shut up. Television and the nation's collective addiction thereto, whether I watch it or not, has nearly finished destroying America.
Damn near every person I know, even so-called "Christians" believes everything these sitcoms, the late-shows, and the 6:00 local and 6:30 Network Nightly News Brainwashing -- has been fully and completely programmed, and believes everything their "stars" and producers and writers tell them to believe.
Addiction is sick, and telling people they are addicted to something that is destroying their minds and the cohesion of our society MAKES THEM ANGRY.
My 2 cents.
The next Kirk Cameron, not Screech.
Good luck.
In the words of Nancy Reagan:
"JUST SAY NO!"
Someone turns on a television -- I either leave the room, or the house.
I have never watched that TV show. I've avoided that "filth."
So he's basically telling people to do what Althouse is doing. And you object!
What kind of religion is this
He's an Althousian!
You guys really don't watch the show, do you? His character is actually in the military and his love interest is Miley Cyrus (who is a lot funnier than the rest of the cast!) I actually like Aston Kushner better in the show than Charlie Sheen. It was pretty much unwatchable by the time they killed Charlie's character off. I think he's entitled to have his say and I understand why he would want to finish out his contract.
If you don't know you can walk away from the show, then I wonder whether you know you can walk away from the religion.
Kidnap him and deprogram him with porn, then, worrywart.
"because I was prepping my Religion and the Constitution class." - Ann
Atheist protests to follow...
That does sound interesting; maybe some day I'll be able to order you on thegreatcourses.com (hey, everyone needs a vice).
What's freaking me out is how he looks like Jon Cryer now. He used to look like the fat kid who wasn't related to anybody. Nobody on that show looked related to anybody. Jon Cryer looked nothing like Charlie Sheen, neither of them looked like their mother, and the fat kid just wandered in.
There's no family vibe to that show at all. Which is kind of the point to the show, I think. So they cast people who look nothing like one another. Just three atomized individuals living in the same house.
Now the actor totally looks like Jon Cryer. Ugh, creepy!
If you watch that show you are wasting time that you could use in a far more productive way. A heroin habit would be more useful,for instance.
You guys really don't watch the show, do you?
I've seen a few episodes. Like a lot of television, it's mindless fluff. Good enough to watch and suck your time away. But it's not an admirable work of art or anything.
I've quit my cable subscription and only watch DVDs now. So if a TV show is really good--like Justified--I'll rent or buy the DVDs and watch a whole season. What's nice about that is that I'm not sucked into watching stuff that's just mediocre. I control what I watch.
Which has freed up time for me to fart around on the internet!
Is Althouse a better place to spend my time than, say, CBS? I say yes!
Is Althouse a better place to spend my time than, say, CBS? I say yes!
Indeed.
I've only seen parts of the show while channel surfing. I was surprised by some of the content considering kids could watch. I've never seen it since Sheen left, but the two characters I did find amusing were the kid and the psycho girl neighbor.
I've been taking his advice since the show started.
Skipper said...
will he be declining the substantial residuals from the syndicated episodes?
Why should he? He worked for it. What a preposterous notion.
Why are Christians the only people not allowed to be hypocrites? A vegan can work at McDonald's and--off duty--tell the world that a low fat, non meat diet is the proper way to live your life. The guy on Cheers was a recovering alchoholic who profited from the sale and consumption of liquor. The whole premise was hypocritical....This young man is certainly no worse than those Hollywood types who speak for the environment and travel by private jet.
So his mom thinks he's being used for money and attention? The same mom who has had her son out-earning her (and his father, if he has one) since he was eight years old?
Well, I guess I'll defer to the expert. If anyone knows what an exploited Angus T. Jones looks like, it's her.
Seriously, he's a 19-year-old kid who is ranting about the entity he works for and doesn't have a practical way of parting ways with. This is nothing new. The only thing mildly different about this guy is that he's actually had ~10 years of employment before he took to the internet to rant. Good for him.
Jeeze. Judging by the comments, there seem to be some people on the planet who have actually watched this show. Who'd a thunk it?
He apologizes to the cast and crew for his comments here. But, as the commentary points out, he's really just apologizing for the hurt feelings he caused. He's not apologizing for the substance of his remarks.
Since when do Hollywood types cheerlead what makes them wealthy? Seems the opposite is mostly true.
People berate this kid because he's sympathetic to religion--Christianity, specifically. The same people berated Dylan for his "Slow Train Coming" album.
Predictable as a summer solstice. Yawn, superfucking yawn.
In my experience 7DA's are very unlikely to exploit someone for their dough. Personal integrity is important to them and everyone I've known tends to walk the walk. Don't tell Crack.
A lot of actors- many, many actors- take jobs and keep jobs which produce a product they do not believe in, or further a message they disagree with. They are making a living, not forcing anybody to watch what they help create.
Sometimes they talk about how bad their product is, and sometimes they simply refuse to do promotional work for it.
As someone else mentioned, he is no more obligated to not be a hypocrite than the actors who fly on private jets and yak constantly about global warming.
I imagine this kid has seen a lot and believes he has good advice to people on how not to fall into the traps he has seen others fall into.
I do have to laugh at how outraged some people are at his idea that tv shows influence people's brains. These are a lot of the same people who want shows to push the green message, or tolerance, or get out the word about Obamacare.
These are a lot of the same people who worry about "money in politics" because SuperPacs can advertise their message and influence peoples' votes.
I see that Saint Croix beat me to it. He denounced his denounce. From the St. Paul MN paper this morning:
NEW YORK -- Teenage actor Angus T. Jones of the comedy "Two and a Half Men" apologized Tuesday, Nov. 27, for a series of interviews denouncing his own show, an episode that has rivaled former colleague Charlie Sheen's meltdown as an off-screen oddity.
Interesting that thus far there have been only two comments agreeing that the show is filth, and many more ridiculing the young man who pointed that out.
So what. Berta makes the shaow anyway
Good for the kid. I suspect that the divide between believing Christians and devotees of the Church of Progressivism is just going to get wider and wider and it's going to take fortitude to coexist with these people who hate what he believes. I hope he's taking to heart John, chapter 5:
18 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20 Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’[b] If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. 21 They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. 24 If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. 25 But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’
The kid has already caved under pressure. Hardly the heroic Christian witness of John 5, more like John 18: 15-26
"Quit the show then, man."
Perhaps Althouse wants to represent the young man in his breach of contract trial?
He probably can't walk away from the show. He's almost certainly contractually obligated, under a contract his parents signed for him when he was 9 years old.
That's some pretty strong emotion there. There's been some talk recently about institutionalized molestation of child actors. When we're talking about a *show* about the inappropriate sexualization of the environment a young motherless child, and add the way he was put in close proximity to Charlie Sheen, porn-industry hanger-on, and good God who knows what's been going on with that kid.
I dunno, maybe it's nothing, but this just makes me suspicious as hell about the whole situation. And kind of mad at Chuck Lorre, if half of what I suspect about that show's production environment is even close to true.
I find it hard to believe that anyone ever watches or watched an entire episode. I can't think of a worse show, though surely there have been some.
But then, I don't watch TV any more, really. Once you're away from it for a while, most of what's on TV looks incredibly stupid.
What Mitch H said is right on the money.
Both of the memoirs I mentioned detail molestations of child actors.
Many of them have come forward with tales of the same.
Hollywood people are the worst of the worst.
A former Native American professor might go so far as to term them "Little Polanski's."
And the kids retraction is a carefully worded PR tract meant to diffuse the situation.
He seems to speak from the heart in the video.
You make the call.
You elitists who claim to have not seen the show are obviously not aware of the recent history of this sitcom.
Charlie Sheen got out of an even bigger contract by torturing Chuck Lorre the producer until he fired him. Lorre is one of the sleaziest scumbags in Hollywood which is really saying something. Even Charlie Sheen couldn't take his nonsense anymore and I think we can agree that Charlie has a pretty high tolerance level for sleaze.
This show is one of the most sexually explicit and corrupt shoes on television. It has absolutely no socially redeeming value. Chuck Lorre revels in the fact that he is a sleazy scumbag and at the end of the show puts up a "producer's" note that
illustrates what a POS that this douche really is in the scheme of things.
When you say you are not aware of it you are all just lying sacks of shit. This show is omnipresent now. It is stripped across latenight and the dinner hour of the entire week in syndication. Anyone who flips through the channels will run into the show at one tiime or another. So saying you don't know the show because you only watch "Downtown Abbey," "Homeland" or Bill Moyers Journal is a heaping pile of bullshit. You can't sit in an airport without seeing it on the TV.
Angus T Jones reminds me of Tim Tebow. Not because he is as devout as Tebow. He probably is not. But Tebow is attacked incessantly because he is a committed religious person. Sports talk radio has hosts and callers who denounce him daily and say what a lousy quarterback he is when the guy doesn't even play! To be religious in this society is to be attacked by the elites and the secular absolutists.
Angus T Jones is an unlikely hero for religious people. Much like a football player would be.
He is just a kid who has had enough. Like most child stars have in shows they have been in for ten years or more. Read Alison Arngrim's "Confession of Prarie Bitch" or Mackenzie Philips "High on Arrival" or check out Kim Richards on "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" to see what happens to your child stars. It is not pretty.
The only way Angus T Jones would get any slack would be to become a Muslim.
"Interesting that thus far there have been only two comments agreeing that the show is filth, and many more ridiculing the young man who pointed that out."
I said it was sort of funny, I didn't say it wasn't a cesspool or somewhere I'd want my kids to be working.
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