Netflix’s hit series Wednesday’s star Jenna Ortega has been facing a massive backlash as well as equally fierce defending from fans ever since snaps of her smoking a cigarette emerged. And now the heat just got turned up after her mother — Natalie Ortega — decided to admonish her daughter in a very public manner.
After the 20-year-old Scream star was spotted in West London smoking a cigarette with fellow actress, Gideon Aldon, the online community took particular offense and bashed her for being “incredibly stupid” as she indulged in a habit that is bound to affect her health in the long term just to appear “cool and edgy.” Many also took her side, calling out the critics for targeting her just because she is a celebrity and forgetting that she has the right to make her own choices. Some also highlighted how a big chunk of the population smokes and no one feels the need to insult them.
But all these arguments on Jenna’s behalf not only failed to sway the ones vehemently against the idea of her smoking, but also did nothing to deter Momma Ortega — who is a nurse by profession — from reprimanding her daughter openly on Instagram. It starts with her using a picture of Gollum from Lord of the Rings to insinuate the kind of future that awaits those who smoke, followed by screenshots of an article detailing facts like how it can cause lung cancer, and damage teeth and gums, etc.
The whole Instagram story, made of 12 slides in total, goes on in a similar fashion before taunting people smoking to look “cool” and ends with a Toan Lam quote about how it is necessary to be around those who “tell you the TRUTH.”
Yikes.
I mean as much as an individual has the right to steer their life on their own terms, a concerned parent is bound to butt in if they believe their child is not making the best decisions for themselves. To top that off, Jenna’s mother is a nurse. So, this mega scolding comes from a mother and a healthcare professional. But we can’t help but get embarrassed on junior Ortega’s behalf – couldn’t dear mom instead call or at least slide into her DMs to give her a sound lecture on the perils of smoking?
But there is no denying the universal truth – moms work in mysterious ways. And the majority have already resigned themselves to the fact that it is a commonplace occurrence across the globe.
While I cringed for Jenna’s sake, it is time to accept that being a celebrity does nothing to dial down a mother’s wrath.
One dissected Momma Ortega’s post as an attempt to simply dissuade fans of Jenna to be influenced by her smoking.
If this is the first time Natalie decided to reprimand Jenna over the whole fiasco, I am dreading what words she has in store for her when she sees her in person. *gulp!*
