When I saw Timothée Chalamet’s promotion strategy for his movie “Marty Supreme” I couldn’t help but cringe. For nearly every advertisement or event for the movie, Chalamet played the egotistical and bold main character, acting in the same ways you would expect his character would. In one promotion, he even went out of his way to stage a Zoom call where he displayed the attitude that Marty, his character, would exhibit throughout the movie.

There’s nothing objectively wrong with what he was doing during his promotion; it just felt like too much in every possible way. I’ve seen plenty of praise and criticisms for Chalamet’s personality and, frankly, I feel increasingly inclined to lean towards the arguments criticizing his behavior the more I see of him; the audience seemed to think the “Marty Supreme” promotion was an innovative, captivating marketing campaign, but it’s one I’ve seen too many times to count.

Those types of promotions aren’t so much about the plot of the movie; to those actors, it’s just about the role they play. Rather than bringing the character to life, it feels more natural to see the character as the actor. Not only does Chalamet replace his own character, but the over-the-top use of props and stunts for “Marty Supreme’s” promotion overshadow the whole plot. I’ve met people who have heard of the promotion but have no idea what the movie is even about. It gets to a point where even playing a normal character during promotions feels like an arrogant move on the actor’s side.

The criticism is dramatic and unnecessary, yes, but the concept of “ego” has no place in society: not for famous actors or for any collaborative job. There should be absolutely no tolerance for it. Performers rely on the feedback of their audience, so there really is no reason for them to push such eccentric and unconventional marketing campaigns.

The problem isn’t just limited to Hollywood actors. Most people are getting way too comfortable being rude for character and calling it “personality” or “authenticity;” people have started confusing arrogance with confidence. It especially doesn’t help when someone acting annoying or over-the-top isn’t a famous actor performing for pay.

This brand of  “eccentric attitude” becomes increasingly popularized with social media as platforms push creators who have engaging and exaggerated content. It may be tolerable on social media, but having common courtesy in real-life situations is a natural expectation.

That egotistical attitude that actors can get away with isn’t funny to most people: it’s obnoxious. In a work environment, a school environment or any professional environment, an unpalatable attitude, fake or not, is completely pointless.

It doesn’t matter whether it’s to promote a movie or to build a persona; when the cameras are off, people represent themselves, not a character.

The views in this column do not necessarily reflect the views of the HiLite staff. Reach Marianne at [email protected].