There's this show on Netflix called Orange Is the New Black about women in prison. One of the actors on this show is Jason Biggs, who has a Twitter feed. One need not watch the show to enjoy his Twitter feed and vice versa. Neither is integral to the other. There is literally no requirement whatsoever that the two of these things be consumed in tandem.
And yet, there's a Very Serious Post over at Salon by Daniel D'Addario in which he pronounces that "Jason Biggs's awful Twitter feed is ruining 'Orange Is the New Black.'" I am ... puzzled. Well and truly puzzled. Because, as I wrote not 50 words previously, there is literally no requirement whatsoever that the two of these things be consumed in tandem. One can watch the show and understand every single detail without ever once reading a 140-character missive from Mr. Biggs. And one can read his 140-character missives about The Bachelorette without ever once watching even a second of his television program and still understand that he thinks the program is dumb. They are not related at all. If you think OITNB is amazeballs and that Jason Biggs' Twitter feed is utter shite—two opinions I happen to hold—you can watch the show and not follow him on Twitter. The whole point of Twitter is that you can follow whoever you want and are required to follow no one.
D'Addario seems to misunderstand how "Twitter" and "acting" works:
But covering Biggs’s persistent awful taste isn’t, or isn’t solely, indulging a celebrity who wants to troll us. Biggs isn’t on just any series — he’s on a show that’s been roundly praised for its sensitivity and nuanced take on issues of sexuality, gender, and race. And he spends his off hours putting out into the world jokes like this, or this, or this. In a cast comprised largely of women who speak eloquently in public about all manner of issues, Biggs spends his time drowning them out with jokes about how ugly are the women and how gay are the men of "The Bachelor" franchise. He seems like an actual nightmare!
You ... you do understand how "acting" works, right? That an actor is someone who reads words someone else has written and that he doesn't necessarily either believe those words or live up to their ideals, right? That being on a program doesn't mean one must echo the sentiment of that program? Like, Christian Bale isn't running around stopping crime and fighting Terminators and scamming government officials. You do realize this, right?
Of course, D'Addario would never call for an actor to be fired for holding unsavory opinions. He'd just kind of slimily hint that he should be fired because of PR, or something.
There isn’t, and shouldn’t be, a litmus test on opinions when it comes to an actor’s employment. But the manner in which Biggs has chosen to express himself on Twitter — using each airing of "The Bachelor" or "The Bachelorette" to let fly another round of sexist, homophobic, or just plain nihilistically mean jokes — is and should be a public-relations problem for "Orange is the New Black." Part of Biggs’s job as an actor is not to cast his series in a negative light, no matter what the series; that he’s associating a show that’s simultaneously funny and humanistic with a public persona that’s neither is extremely unfortunate.
Why should Biggs' Twitter feed—which, again, has literally nothing whatsoever to do with the television show—be a "public-relations problem" for the show? Why? Why why why why why? Who cares what he tweets? If you don't like his stupid tweets, don't read his stupid tweets. Why does it matter what an idiot actor says in his free time? Why does this upset you so much that you darkly hint he should be fired?
Jason Biggs' Twitter feed isn't ruining Orange Is the New Black. It can't ruin Orange Is the New Black as they are two entirely unrelated entities. If he's really bothering you that much, unfollow him. Trust me, you'll be much happier for it.