Striking Writers Troll Jenna Ortega on Picket Line
Jenna Ortega is not only the lead in Netflix breakout hit Wednesday. She also has a starring role on striking writers’ picket signs, according to Hollywood Reporter. After Ortega complained about how she had to rewrite her show’s cringey scripts earlier this year, writers are firing back with cheeky placards.
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Why so mad, bro? Here’s a quick recap of what Ortega said in March on Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast: “There were times on that set where I almost became unprofessional in a sense, where I just started changing lines. … I would have to go through and explain why I couldn’t do certain things.”
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So apparently, striking writers have long memories. Ortega’s remarks are not only inspiring picket sign jokes but tweets from writers on The Bear and Bojack Horseman:
We get why TV writers were miffed at Ortega for (sort of) disparaging their carefully considered words, but she is hardly the first actor to suggest alternative lines or bring their own creative perspective to the set. There’s a reason why they say film is a collaborative medium. So it’s not surprising that Ortega’s online fans (er, she has a few, such as the 40 million-plus who follow her on Instagram) are miffed.
Still others blame the media for fanning jokey little flames into a social media bonfire.
Not sure if there’s a lesson to be learned here, other than to suggest to everyone on the picket line that Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav or Netflix co-head Ted Sarandos are more appropriate targets for their ire. Last we checked, Ortega isn’t the one dismantling writers' rooms and manipulating streaming residuals. Then again, Cracked readers probably aren’t going to see us publishing stories about funny Bob Iger signs anytime soon. Maybe the striking writers know what they’re doing after all.
