If you’ve ever been accused of outright plagiarism then Stealing School is bound to bring up a few bad memories, since being falsely accused of stealing someone else’s writing isn’t just wrong, it’s a sure way to ruin one’s life in a way that’s hard to get away from. April Chen is a college student only a short ways from graduation when a teacher’s assistant accuses her of plagiarizing someone else’s work, and as April is a prodigy it almost feels as though the assistant might have it in for her at this time, though it could come out that something else is amiss that we’re not seeing yet. For the moment though, the teaching assistant definitely appears to have it in for her, since a lot of times when plagiarism is the issue the person being accused will need to prove that the work that they’ve handed in is their own and that there is reason to doubt that they cheated. That’s the idea anyway since in many institutions and throughout society, plagiarism is something that can’t be tolerated since it is the theft of ideas that don’t belong to the one doing the plagiarizing. But to be accused without good reason is an issue that many people have had to deal with over the years, and it’s something that is not taken lightly by those who have been accused but have done nothing to deserve such treatment.
Right now it would appear that the teaching assistant has a problem with Chen for one reason or another, and if it becomes a personal issue, and Chen is found not guilty, then it would become obvious that the assistant was either a part of something bigger conspiracy that was aimed at Chen for some reason, or that the assistant was bound to ruin her for his own reasons. The former feels more likely than the latter since the realism would be a little more prominent, but there might be something to a story about an assistant attempting to ruin a prodigal student by using the system against her. But all the same, the devious nature of this is enough to bring up bad memories for some that might have been accused of plagiarism in the past. For those that make a living from their writing, or are current students struggling to get through one essay, one term paper, one thesis after another, this is something that might give them nightmares or at the very least a healthy bit of anxiety since being called a plagiarist puts their reputation on the line, and in so doing puts their professional life in jeopardy as well, since employers don’t often look kindly upon those that are accused of stealing ideas from others, no matter what business one enters upon leaving school. Plagiarism is, in its own way, kind of like a mark that might fade with time, but is still bound to come back haunt a person from time to time.
There are more people out there that have had to deal with plagiarism than one might think, and most don’t want to admit it since having been accused and forced to prove that their work was their own, many would be happy enough to move on and never talk about it again. But as bad as plagiarism is, being accused of it when no plagiarism has occurred is far, far worse. Having been there myself, having been wrongly accused of plagiarism in the past, I can attest to the reality of this plot since not only is the feeling of being called a plagiarist utterly horrible, it’s a signal for many others, many of who might not have known a person existed in the first place, to pile on the verbal abuse and disgust that they feel for such an act without ever taking the time to learn the facts of the matter or the truth behind the accusation, since as accusers tend to realize very quickly, a mob can be effective when used to the ends they desire, and plagiarism is the type of clarion call that attracts writers that might be skilled, but show their lack of character by dog-piling, metaphorically speaking, on those that have been accused of stealing another’s idea. Believe it or not, this will happen each and every time a person is accused of plagiarism, whether they’re proven to be guilty or not. Even after someone is proven innocent, or people know them to be an honorable person, far too many people will react in a negative manner towards that individual, as plagiarism is despicable to many people.
Watching this movie is bound to burn a few people up inside since the very idea of stealing ideas is abhorrent to any writer with an ounce of integrity, but it will be interesting to learn the reasoning behind the conflict.
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