$300,000 a Week Making "Filth"
Young actor Angus Jones plays the half a man on CBS' hit comedy "Two and a Half Men." It's a pretty bawdy show, and it's had its share of troubles (Google "Charlie Sheen drugs" for the full-on lurid background) but for the past year or so, with new co-star Ashton Kutcher, it's been quietly successful.
Too quiet, as it turns out. The young co-star Jones recently discovered a) God and b) just how bawdy his own show is. Which has led to this, from Boston.com:
Jones, 19, has been on the show, which used to feature bad-boy actor Charlie Sheen and remains heavy with sexual innuendo, since he was 10 but says in a video posted online by a Christian church that he doesn’t want to be on it anymore.
‘‘Please stop watching it,’’ Jones said. ‘‘Please stop filling your head with filth.’’
In a radio broadcast, ‘‘The Voice of Prophecy,’’ recorded for the Seventh-day Adventist Church on Jones’ birthday in October, he described his religious path. He has been attending a Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Los Angeles area.
Jones said he felt drawn to God after a tough time in his life when his parents were going through a divorce and he experimented with drugs.
‘‘I never drank,’’ he said. ‘‘That was one thing God protected me from, and I'm still a virgin. God protected me from those things.’’
Jones said that ‘‘it’s very weird that I'm on a television show, especially now that I am trying to walk with God. My television show has nothing to do with God and doesn’t want anything to do with God.’’
Part of me sympathizes with the young man. You only really have one conscience, and one moral compass. It can't be easy to spend your day doing something that directly contradicts it.
Of course, there are compensations to creating "filth:"
Jones said that he had no plans to get out of his contract, which reportedly pays him $350,000 an episode.
I can't decide what to think of this. Part of me, as I said, sympathizes with the young man. But the bigger part of me, the television producer part of me, wants to slap the kid silly and tell him to shut up and read his lines.
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Mar '12
Re: $300,000 a Week Making "Filth"
This young man goes through a conversion and finds a dilemma. He wants to walk with God, and that walk will cost him $350,000.00 an episode.
Not everyone who experiences a conversion will look in the mirror and at the checkbook at the same time, but all of us who do experience a conversion will look in the mirror and at something else which is important, and we had to make life-changing decisions, or not.
With regard to Cameron and S Baldwin, I do believe that their coming out had real costs, re the $350,000.00 kind of costs or greater.
So we'll find out what this y0ung man really wants. He himself will tell us.
Aug '10
Re: $300,000 a Week Making "Filth"
Brian Clendinen
Tommy De Seno: Rob - do you think Kirk Cameron and Stephen Baldwin are denied opportunities because of Christianity? Baldwin seemed to say so this morning. · 1 hour ago
Edited 0 minutes ago
Kirk Cameron can't act so I would say he is not a good example. Stephen actually can act so his statement has a lot of validity.
I would love to see Stephen and Alec in a movie together, about brothers who don't see eye-to-eye on things, written and directed by Mike Judge (since he's pretty good at non-partisan political satire).
Aug '10
Re: $300,000 a Week Making "Filth"
Shane McGuire: A few points-- First, the kid is correct. The show is trash.
*He started on the show at 9, which means he has parents who thought it would be great for their son to be in a show that glorified the hookup culture and sex without love.
I disagree that that's the problem with the show.
The Charlie Sheen character, IMHO, was never really glorified. He was a louse, and an alcoholic, who resorted to the use of prostitutes, and ended up being pushed into the path of an oncoming subway train by the last woman who had stood by him over the years.
He was always a cautionary tale.
The problem with the show was his brother, Alan, played by John Cryer. The loving and devoted father and husband who played by the rules and was ridiculed as a useless sap, who ended up becoming a leech and a louse in his own right.
The message wasn't that being bad is good. The show almost always portrayed bad as bad. The message was that being good isn't good either, and that's why the show is filth.
May '10
Re: $300,000 a Week Making "Filth"
I watched the video statement and was thoroughly creeped out by the presence of his Adventist "guru." He seems lost and being taken advantage of by his newfound spiritual leader. Would they be giving him quite so much attention if he was a homeless LA runaway? They are exploiting his fame to draw attention to their platform, which I find far more distasteful and exploitative than the content of the show.
Re: $300,000 a Week Making "Filth"
Tommy De Seno: Perhaps some are overstating the effect a sitcom can have on a society? Is it really better to quit rather than stay and fight for a better show from the inside?
Rob - do you think Kirk Cameron and Stephen Baldwin are denied opportunities because of Christianity? Baldwin seemed to say so this morning. · 2 hours ago
Edited 1 hour ago
Hmmm. I think probably yes. Although the truth is, this town fills up with young talent every day. So it's hard to pinpoint a single reason why someone isn't working. Kirk Cameron, by his own admission, was a pain in the neck on the set of his show. And Stephen Baldwin was never really much of a star. So who knows?
The only real issue I have with what Angus Jones said -- and he's entitled to call his work "filth" if he wants to -- is that a lot of folks work on that show. In all capacities, most of them not terribly well paid. So to tell the audience, "Stop watching the show" is a bit different from saying that you don't like its content or message.
Re: $300,000 a Week Making "Filth"
EJHill: The rehab wards are full of former child actors. I can't speak as to the beliefs of the Adventists, but I think he knows the score for child actors that have made the successful transition to adult careers.
If not the church then maybe Paul Petersen's organization, A Minor Concern, is the answer for the kid. Petersen, who played Donna Reed's son on her 1960's sitcom helps child actors move from the bright lights of the set to the real world.
And Rob, I don't remember you ever being involved with many projects involving child actors. · 13 hours ago
You're right! I file it under the "Too Much Trouble" department. Also: I've always felt uncomfortable auditioning and hiring children. It's creepy, no matter how you do it.
Aug '10
Re: $300,000 a Week Making "Filth"
Rob Long
The only real issue I have with what Angus Jones said -- and he's entitled to call his work "filth" if he wants to -- is that alotof folks work on that show. In all capacities, most of them not terribly well paid. So to tell the audience, "Stop watching the show" is a bit different from saying that you don't like its content or message.
A lot of folk work in porn, in all capacities, most of them not terribly well paid.
A lot of folk work in terrorism, in all capacities, most of them not terribly well paid.
A lot of folk worked on the holocaust, in all capacities, most of them not terribly well paid.
Are we really all that concerned by some 19-year-old kid saying "stop watching a tv show"? He's just saying!
(Besides, I bet ratings will go up as a result.)
All sorts of people say I shouldn't do all sorts of the things that I do. I'm not at all worried by people saying I should stop doing something I enjoy.
When they force me to stop, that's when I get worried.
Re: $300,000 a Week Making "Filth"
Rob Long
And Stephen Baldwin was never really much of a star.
Foul!!!
I sentence you to another viewing of The Usual Suspects.
Aug '10
Re: $300,000 a Week Making "Filth"
Tommy De Seno
Rob Long
And Stephen Baldwin was never really much of a star.
Foul!!!
I sentence you to another viewing of The Usual Suspects. · 30 minutes ago
Not to mention:
Actually, when you look at his filmography, The Usual Suspects seems to have cursed his career. He works plenty, but never in anything of the same quality.
Still, he's always kept working. Ya gotta have a lot of respect for that type of working actor. Say what you will about him, he keeps plugging away at it.
Will young Angus Jones have the same sort of "never give up" tenacity in his career, willing to take whatever role he can get as long as he's still working?
Or will his career be more like the filmography of Kirk Cameron?
Not that I'm criticizing Kirk Cameron. If I had the same sort of nest egg that he must have accumulated from his time on Growing Pains, I doubt I'd keep working much.
Jun '12
Re: $300,000 a Week Making "Filth"
I haven't been on Ricochet for a month because of the election and the first day back people are dumping on Rob. From reading many of the responses it seems people don't appreciate what a spectacularly unlikely event a hit show is, let alone one that runs for nearly a decade. More unlikely then a Superbowl, its closer to a perfect game. Now imagine how you'd feel if as you sat around hugging the trophy, one of the members of the team says, "ya know, we athletes are really overpaid and privileged. I hope the season ticket holders cancel. yada yada yada." For the adults who work to make it all happen, slapping is reasonable. Guess I'll take some more time off.
Aug '10
Re: $300,000 a Week Making "Filth"
I've always dumped on Rob, but that's cuz I know he can take it.
I kid, because I love.
Oct '10
Re: $300,000 a Week Making "Filth"
~Paules:
Put aside for a moment the debate between virtue and vice. Does anyone think it's a good idea to put $300k per week into the hands of a nineteen year old?
If it's my nineteen year old, you're damn straight it's a good idea! Assuming the brat doesn't go all uptown on me or forget the repayment schedule I've been tracking for him since his first nappy (with interest, of course). As they say, children are an investment in our future. What's wrong with having one that goes cha-ching?
OK, seriously, I don't think you can generalize on this, tempting as that is to do. The Harry Potter child stars? They seem to have turned out well despite the (if memory serves) $Billion with a B bank accounts at Angus' age. I don't often, but when I've heard about them or heard them speak, they seem grounded, mature & thoughtful.
And then there's Lindsey Lohan.
Money is not the issue. It's the love of money that kills you (1Ti 6:10). Or the love of fame, of adulation . . . that's what does in the child stars.
Aug '10
Re: $300,000 a Week Making "Filth"
HVTs
OK, seriously, I don't think you can generalize on this, tempting as that is to do. The Harry Potter child stars? They seem to have turned out well despite the (if memory serves) $Billion with a B bank accounts at Angus' age. I don't often, but when I've heard about them or heard them speak, they seem grounded, mature & thoughtful.
Not to mention:
I once read an article that claimed the track record, on average, for child stars is actually pretty good. It's simply that the train wrecks get more press. (Sorry, I don't have a link to back up this claim.)
Also note: All the male actors on Two and a Half Men are former teen actors. Jon Cryer and Ashton Kutcher turned out pretty well.
Edited on November 29, 2012 at 12:20amApr '11
Re: $300,000 a Week Making "Filth"
I agree with Rob that he should ride this out. I also am glad to see he is finding his worth and building his foundation on something more substantive than cheap thrills and big paychecks. Him being just 19 is neither here nor there. He thinks like a 19 year old because he is one. Better this than for him to be 50, still thinking like a 19 year old (a former co-star leaps to mind).
Sep '12
Re: $300,000 a Week Making "Filth"
Hey, they'll probably write it all into the script now. It would be the most-watched finale ever: Charlie's ghost coming back to warn Jake to repent. I might even watch that!
Mar '11
Re: $300,000 a Week Making "Filth"
Mollie Hemingway, Ed.: If he were talking about any other show than the vile, disgusting and criminally unfunny Two and a Half Men, I might be down on the kid.
But that show is a direct product of Satan. On that we can all agree, right? · 20 hours ago
The first season or two were off-color, a step or two beyond "naughty", but very funny. After that, it turned the corner past "crass" and became unwatchable. Even the considerable talents of Jon Cryer couldn't save it.
Aug '10
Re: $300,000 a Week Making "Filth"
Five other stars who badmouthed their own tv shows.