In Chapter
Sixteen of ,declares that he hates actors. He finds actors exaggerated and
inauthentic:
They never act like people. They just think
they do.
Holden concedes that good actors do act slightly
like real people, but this depiction of real personalities is only superficial and, therefore,
not "fun to watch." If actors are really good, Holden adds, then the audience can
usually detect that they are aware of their talent, and this self-awareness then spoils the
effectiveness of their performances. As an example of his point about the phoniness of actors,
Holden mentions Sir Laurence Olivier, a famous British actor who played in major films and in
the 1948 production of Hamlet. Holden feels that in playing Hamlet,
Olivier portrays a man who is "like a general" rather than a "sad, screwed-up
type guy."
Then, in a rather revealing statement, Holden mentions that
he must read the play himself that he views because when he attends a play, he keeps
"worrying about whether [the actor is] going to do something phony every minute." It
becomes apparent, therefore, that Holden again perceives another facet of life through his own
faltering psychological lens.
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