Kaavya is Innocent, Until Proven Otherwise

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Dear Kaavya,

This is your Akka writing. The fact that you have never met me is immaterial; we are brown and we don’t live in the land our parents were born in—that alone means that you probably have relatives you’ve never met, just like I do, so Akka it easily is.

Paavum Kaavya (letÂ’s call you PK for short), there is something I want you to know, but before I disclose that, I have to admit a fault of which I am rather ashamed, a fault which I hope youÂ’ll forgive your imperfect Akka for.

I was jealous of you.

Just a bissel, but it was enough to make me loathe myself for a few minutes. Green looks fabulous on me, but envy surely does not flatter. Wait, don’t frown—I promise that once I was aware that I was being a twat, I earnestly called myself out on it and owned my jealousy. Long before I admitted that my “unlikely-fantasy-if-wishes-came-true” job was acting, I cherished what to me seemed an even more far-fetched aspiration: to write. Getting a book deal seemed like the greatest thing which could possibly happen to someone. To get paid to write? Wow. And that you did, with a stunning advance, which everyone bandies about ad nauseum, since it makes your “fall” all the more violent.

Sigh. How I wished that my parents had been savvy enough to enroll me in an Ivy-League-Prep-Camp-Thing. Where my counselor, who just happened to be a published author, would discover me as if I were some naïve starlet in a ‘40s era soda shop and then pluck me out of the sweaty, freaked-out ranks of cloned overachievers and marvel at my genuine uniqueness. My parents made me turn down Columbia for U.C. Davis. My parents are SO not your parents. Your parents gave you everything, including an inadvertent star-making opp that made me want to howl. You’re nearly half my age. It’s like watching your little sister get married before you do. It’s a little humiliating to endure, in this obsessed with chronological-milestones culture we share.

So, whenever this group blog of mine did a post about you, I’d look down and notice that my skin suddenly looked wayyy more olive than usual. Then I’d take a deep breath and tell myself that you deserved it. That you had hustled for it, working on your writing when in comparison, 17-year old me probably would’ve been brooding over which Smiths or Ultravox LP to spin next. My skin would go back to the shade my mother calls “irrantharam” and I’d exhale with relief. It felt good to be silently proud of you.

Here’s the thing my little PK: I still am. And I’m a little appalled at how many people are crowing elatedly about your alleged toppling. The first thing I thought of when I read the “Crimson” writing on the blog was that tragically accurate, snarktastic story about the pet shop with international crabs. You’re looking at me blankly. I’m sure you haven’t slept. Tut-tut. That won’t do. You know brown girls are predisposed to developing those nasty under eye circles. Take a benadryl, bachi. Your skin and, well, everything will thank you. Hell, take a nap right now. I’ll dispel your probably non-existent curiosity about crabs for you, like a wee bedtime story.

So, there was this pet store and it was renowned for carrying the most exhaustive selection of crabs aroundÂ…there were specimens from Mexico, Japan, RussiaÂ…almost everywhere, really. Each tank had a very secure looking cover to hold in the precious crab-cargo. All, but one, that is. Perplexed, a customer pointed to the open cage and asked the pet store proprietor why it didnÂ’t have a lid.

“Oh. Those are the crabs from India. A lid isn’t required, because as soon as one of them climbs up, all of the others furiously yank it back down. So they never get out.”

Look at you, almost asleep. And I haven’t even come to my main point yet! No wonder you got the book deal and I didn’t. We hadn’t met, so I have no way of knowing if we have this in common, but something tells me we just might—you see, I have a near photographic memory for all things useless. Didn’t help me with German vocab, but it does help me recall conversations I’ve had almost flawlessly, even if it’s been some time since the words were originally spoken (as you can imagine, this makes me a terrifying girlfriend, since it’s exceptionally easy to destroy my boyfriends in arguments…but we won’t go there, in case your parents are reading. Wha-? OH. Hi Viswanathan Uncle and Auntie! I promise I’m a virgin who’s never conversed with men, even ones I’m related to—I’m totally safe to keep around Kaavya!) Whew, that was close.

Anyway, I remember lots of other things as well. I can remember what my very best friend Eileen Perfume was wearing the day Los Angeles exploded in to riots over the Rodney King verdict. (Maroon boucle turtleneck sweater, black crinkle skirt with blood red roses here and there and black knee-high boots, which she had folded down slightly. She had her hair half-up and half-down, eyeliner on the lower lids, ruby lips and no other makeup.) Like you probably are, I’m a devoted bibliophile who can’t bear to be without something to read at all times. My memory kicks in here, too, since as edifying as Gita Mehta or Vikram Seth might be, knowing what either of them wrote at some point ain’t gonna get me an “A” on anything.

So this memory of mine, which I suspect you got too—sometimes, it is almost dangerous, yes? I can remember being in graduate school (has it already been five years since I graduated? Mein Gott.) and being so exhausted, because I worked full-time (as required by my program) AND took all my classes from 7-10 pm each night. I’d read books and articles throughout the entire day and then sit at my computer around 1 am, after the dinner dishes had been washed and my then-boyfriend had been tended to like some entitled Maharajah who keeps asking for “pani!” when he’s supposed to be asleep. Then, exhausted to the point of sleeping mid-keystroke, I would type. And sometimes, I’d go back and see a sentence and think, “weird”.

I’d feel that odd tingle that unmoored recognition evokes. And then slightly horrified and suddenly awake, I’d realize that I had typed, almost verbatim, something I had read earlier in the day. Sometimes, what I had borrowed wasn’t even brilliant. I’d shake my head then. I was terrified of getting caught, since I was certain that one day I’d turn in a paper that contained a sentence that I hadn’t “re-recognized” in time. “Dear Lord, please don’t let it be something craptacular…if I get in trouble, at least let me parrot something genius.” But that’s not how my little universe works, PK. When I was in third grade, my dramatic ascent up the Spelling Bee ladder was destroyed when I misspelled a word so simple, I’m too ashamed to even type it. It’s always the little things that I trip over, in the end.

I donÂ’t believe that you are the torment-deserving fraud that many of my fellow pajamahadeen think you are. I donÂ’t think you copied those words, that youÂ’re a plagiarist. I think that either one of two things occurred, neither of which is really your fault:

1) You pulled an “Akka” and regurgitated something that was playing on your mind. Like the number “170”. Even if this is true, I blame your handlers for not vetting a manuscript that had received sooo much attention, in this post-Frey era. Perhaps I am mistaken, but aren’t they supposed to read, re-read and triple read what they’re hawking? I can’t help but believe that this is quite common in terms of the writing process, this borrowing a phrase or voice. If this public flogging hasn’t happened often to other writers, then I feel like some critical step was missed in this entire process. Even if I’m wrong, and the process allows that manuscripts DON’T get vetted as carefully as a cabinet-level appointment (WTF?) I think you didn’t intend to lift such craptacular writing. If you were pushed over the ethical edge by exhaustion, pressure and your Ivied obligations, I think you would’ve chosen someone better to borrow from.

2) And this one is the more sinister, more galling and I think, most possible. I keep reading that your book was initially quite different. Darker. Truer. Kaavya-er. I heard that THAT manuscript wasn’t “marketable”, not with a pinkish cover and some strappy stilettos. I heard that lots of Kaavya disappeared and in its place, fluff was stuffed in to Opal Mehta. I don’t know if you’re being set up (that would be even MORE sinister! Perish the thought!) but I do think that someone else did that heavy lifting, dear girl. And I think you’re the one who’s getting marched up to Golgotha for it.

Speaking of Golgotha, perhaps the reason I have so much faith in you is because I suddenly have a lot in me, quite literally. I spent enough time in church last week to qualify being religious as a part-time job, potentially with bennies, if itÂ’s like Starbucks. I emerged from my week of holiness, calmer, stronger, fortified with light. Buoyed by hope and a renewed determination to see good everywhere, in everyone, in all things. If I can have faith that bread and wine when consecrated by a priest, become the body and blood of my savior, I can give my PK the benefit of my doubt. Let people trash and thrash you, Kaavya. Blogging has thoroughly taught me that the bile which they spew (my sinful self included, natch) indicates more about them then you, anyway. You deserve to be innocent until proven otherwise. And I believe that you might just be exonerated of these heavy, back-breaking charges which lay now on your similarly irrantharam shoulders. And if you should fall, while on your way, no matter what causes you to stumble, you will have my prayers and support. We are all human, pots and kettles the lot of us and we all deserve a little bit of compassion.

Sincerely,

Anna-akka

564 thoughts on “Kaavya is Innocent, Until Proven Otherwise”

  1. Right on. Please people, let’s wait to hear what she has to say. The evidence certainly is damning on the face of it, but we have no idea what the circumstances were which led to their publishing. There will undoubtedly be some statement in the days to follow. Please at least save all anonymous blogorrific judgements until then…

  2. we are brown and we donÂ’t live in the land our parents were born in Anna,

    Well written. I understand your compassion.

    However,

    PK was born in India and did not come to Amreeka till age 12 via UK

  3. Phew.. one calm voice amidst all the crowing! The grad school thing, been there, done that. My first month as a grad student, I have sat in a class filled with FOB brown faces (engineering, what did you expect?), screamed at (“this will be ok in India, but not here in the US of A”) by a professor for inadvertant (for a FOB, btw) acts such as these, this same man who had shocked us the previous week (our first ever seminar class) by telling us that he had caught his wife in bed with another man (inappropriate or what?).

    This is a brown tendency, this placing-on-a-pedestal and calmly toppling it off at the slightest hint of anything that’s remotely negative. We see that in our sports (read cricket here, btw) teams, our movie stars and our politicians. So I shall wait too.

  4. Even if she didn’t intentionally plagiarize, what kind of person would PUBLICLY (to the NYT, no less) declare the following?

    Ms. Viswanathan’s own parents have been intent on giving her a book party when she gets home from college this summer. “They wanted to have a red carpet strewn with rose petals,’ she said, her voice rising. “And I’ve just woken up and I’m still in my pajamas and my mom will call, and she’ll say like, “Kaavya, would you prefer pink or white rose petals?”

    Classic. Simply classic.

  5. I am more inclined to believe theory #2……….

    2) And this one is the more sinister, more galling and I think, most possible. I keep reading that your book was initially quite different. Darker. Truer. Kavya-er. I heard that THAT manuscript wasn’t “marketable”, not with a pinkish cover and some strappy stilettos. I heard that lots of Kavya disappeared and in its place, fluff was stuffed in to Opal Mehta. I don’t know if you’re being set up (that would be even MORE sinister! Perish the thought!) but I do think that someone else did that heavy lifting, dear girl. And I think you’re the one who’s getting marched up to Golgotha for it.

    ….as far-fetched as it seems. And I’m no conspiracy theorist!

  7. i’ll admit to a dollap of green. but there’s much more to it than that. i think you’re being far too kind, anna. but you’re quite hilarious.

  8. Crimsonite,

    I made some TRULY cringe-inducing statements when I was a teen. In fact, I have met versions of myself-as-a-teen recently and I have wanted to throttle those girls, right until I realized that what I hated in them, I once shared.

    We do not know this girl. As someone who has been tarred and feathered online, I might be hyper-sensitive about protecting others from such things, but I don’t think my essay was unjustified, not that that’s what you were getting at. Look, if reality TV has taught us anything, it’s that editing renders “truth” absosmurfly suspect. Of course the “money” quote would have Kavya sounding unbearable, right?

  9. I would certainly like to know the following:

    a) Who put the passages in? Was it her, or was it her publishers? There is far too much plagiarized stuff for it to be a subconscious mistake or taking some liberty of copying a writer’s style, whom she may admire.

    b) If it wasn’t her, she needs to come clean immediately. She has already lost credibility and doesn’t have much future (Unless she comes up with work that is ground breakingly original). South Asian or not, it doesn’t matter. This topic has nothing with how brown she is.

    c) If it was her and something she thought she’d never get caught with, or it didn’t matter, she is very mistaken and has learned a tough lesson of life. People spend money for book with HER name on it. Her browness shouldn’t attract people to read it, the quality of her work should. It may have an effect on how the book is marketed, but the body of work needs to speak for itself. It screams ‘lazy, sloppy, and copycat’ here.

    d) I understand the argument that if the passages copied were relatively few (like one or two), people may let it pass. However, there are way too many examples of how things were lifted and rearranged from multiple books by the same author.

  10. Thanks for the needed defense, Anna. I write and I suffer from the same affliction. Though without as much horror.

    The other thing that I think is interesting is how much this is NOT an affliction but sometimes an inheritance from the way hip hop artists give props to each other by citing (not biting 🙂 rhymes–or any other musician covers or remixes songs. I mean, I know that’s where it comes from for me–i LIKE what i read and certain turns of phrase and want to recapture them.

    But that’s hoping that this is actually what she’s done. I want to hope for the best. Somehow though…overachiever…lots of money…I feel pity, but remind myself to be at least a little skeptical too. But most of all not to pay attention too much, because there really are no winners in this and this is the kind of thing that could make a high achieving 17 year old crumble.

  11. A N N A

    U plagiarized my thought before i had the chance to type them. How did u get access to my thought 🙂

    Anyways…i loved your crab analogy. So fuckin true.

    Lets wait to hear what PK will say !!

  12. By the way, I see that the Mutiny is the no 1 hit for “Opal Mehta.” So I am 100% sure that Kavya is reading every single comment printed here (I know I would, in her shoes).

    It’s something to keep in mind, as the storm of opinion rages all around. Let’s make this already bad day a little bit better for her.

    My 2 cents:

    The best known work by the world’s most celebrated writer is a long play called “Hamlet.” It is believed to be heavily indebted to Thomas Kyd’s play (now lost) of the same subject and plot. The play “King Lear” is basically a remix of an earlier work called “King Leir.” Shakespeare lifted more lines than you ever will.

    In our time, “originality” is much vaunted, but beyond that, people don’t think through what it is that gives something value. The echoed phrases were not the problem in your book, Kavya. The problem was writing something that you knew wasn’t true to your artistic calling. You can do better than that “50 pages in two weeks” scrambling-to-meet-a-deadline thing. You’ve got great work within you.

    Now you have a chance to make it happen. Give us the truer, darker Kavya. People will use you for their purposes only if you let them. Don’t play their silly games any more.

    All the best and live strong, girl.

  14. Akka,

    We have all made some pretty ridiculous statements in our younger years but I’m sorry–this is a 19 year-old woman who knew what she was doing. I can understand dropping a line like that to friends (as a joke), but it is so clear that she didn’t mean it as a joke (her voice rising? what?!). And you can’t seriously be arguing that she didn’t know this quote would end up in an NYT article read by hundreds of thousands of people. I do think it’s unfortunate that everyone is jumping on the “bash Kaavya”/bandwagon (mostly because this says something about the Indian American community; I completely agree with your crab joke and think it’s one huge reason why the Indian American demographic, relative to our wealth, has a negligable amount of political capital and media influence), but I don’t really have any sympathy for her. The arrogance that she has displayed is something you simply cannot ignore. If she did in fact plagiarize, it makes all of her quotes and comments that much more reprehensible. This is and will continue to be a stain on the (South) Indian American community.

    I don’t know her personally, but know many who do. I would never speculate as to what kind of state of mind she was in when she wrote it/made all the comments, but based on what I’ve heard from friends, I’m not entirely surprised by the result.

  15. The best known work by the world’s most celebrated writer is a long play called “Hamlet.” It is believed to be heavily indebted to Thomas Kyd’s play (now lost) of the same subject and plot. The play “King Lear” is basically a remix of an earlier work called “King Leir.” Shakespeare lifted more lines than you ever will

    Shakespeare adapted plot. It was the practice for writers to remix the standards in the Elizabethan age. WHAT HE DID NOT DO is ‘lift lines’ as you put it. He made the plays what they are with his own words. James Joyce ‘lifted’ the plot to Ulysses from Homer – that is common and expected literary artistry. Shakespeare adapted existent plots and made them his own – he did not copy the words ‘To be or not to be’ from other sources.

  16. This is and will continue to be a stain on the (South) Indian American community.

    Most melodramatic and ridiculous line I have read all day.

  17. I don’t understand why it’s our responsibility to “make her day a little better.” I’m not angry about this because I don’t want to see a fellow desi succeed; I’m just angry that I spent my hard-earned money on this book that is a total fraud. And I’m not buying the excuse that the packager/editor did it; either she wrote most of the book and plagiarized on her own, or she didn’t really write much of the book at all, but was rewarded with a huge advance and early admission to Harvard anyway. Either way, I don’t feel sorry for her.

  18. Did anyone bother to consider that maybe this is all a publicity stunt? You know, just like James Frey’s book sold more copies after he was trashed by Oprah and Jayson Blair got a book deal after lying/plagiarizing in the NYT?

  19. I’m all for giving her the benefit of doubt…but keep in mind this girl did pay someone to help with her college applications. When you shell out $20,000 for a service like IvyWise you are getting more than just grammar check. Someone helped her write her admissions essay, her resume, and helped her fill out all the forms. And not to be a crab, but I can’t help but wonder how much of her application essay was all hers. And Kaavya dear, one isn’t a prime number. It is the very first line in you book- you shouldn’t be that careless.

  20. When plagarism is plagarism?

    If I mention E=mc^2, do I need to acknowledge Einstein everytime. No.

    If I mention F = ma, do I need to acknowldge Newton everytime. No.

    If Kill Bill (Vol. 1 and 2) uses almost dozens of movies for scenes and inspiration but openly acknowledges it. No.

    If Magnificent Seven and Sholay uses Seven Samurai for inspiration but openly acknowledges it. No.

    If CS Lewis and Tolkein uses Bible for inspiration but openly acknowledges it. No.

    When someone claims, “what are you talking about it?” when asked by a newspaper. Then, Yes.

    I earlier said on Abhi’s thread she need not be crucified. It is very possible that it is the 17th Street Boy-band like (as Manish puts it) factory laid bare. But she and others should take responsibility. It is too eerie (same sentence structures and details) for inspiration.

  22. Dolores, it’s not only lifting lines that makes someone a plagiarist. It’s taking credit for the ideas of others. Google “King Leir,” will you? Shakespeare’s play hews rather closely to it.

    The point I’m making is about changing standards: what was permissible in Elizabethan England is considered criminal now. Your point is that standards do not change. Your comment about James Joyce is a non-sequitur.

  23. Please explain why this is melodramatic. I’ve been on three message boards this afternoon and I keep seeing people talking about how the Indian media has been “owned.” For good reason, they put out all the stops in promoting her book and her obvious connection to Harvard, and now that the wall comes crashing down, it’s pretty damn embarassing. As for the stain comment, the FIRST thing people are noticing about this entire story is her name. Will this profoundly affect the entire Indian American community? Of course not. But I can see how something like this might make ignorant publishers think twice before publishing a work by the next Indian American phenom. I’m sure the fact that she’s Indian American had SOMETHING to do with the fact that the publishers offered her the contract to begin with. It’s like the “positive stereotyping” that goes on in Silicon Valley and other regions of the U.S. as well. I can’t count how many times people have assumed I’m intelligent or well versed in math/science/engineering simply by virtue of my ethnic background. In any event, perhaps “stain” is not the most accurate term, but I stand by the intent of my comment, which is to express the fact that her heritage will be something that is widely noticed in this drama.

  26. I can see how something like this might make ignorant publishers think twice before publishing a work by the next Indian American phenom.

    Well thank God something positive will come out of this 😉

  27. The point I’m making is about changing standards: what was permissible in Elizabethan England is considered criminal now. Your point is that standards do not change.

    There are many things that were permissible during those years that aren’t now. It is no excuse. Though I am very interested in hearing/reading about her position on this. She needs someone asking tough questions, like how Oprah took James Frey to town, where he admitted his work wasn’t autobiographical. If she can withstand the heat, she’ll be forged into someone stronger and smarter. Kaavya may not get another book deal as a result of this, but she’ll atleast have her integrity intact if she wasn’t the culprit and the publisher was.

  28. Some girl in one of my literary workshops just emailed this news item (it’s on cbc.ca) to all of the participants. Bloody annoying.

  29. the bile which they spew indicates more about them then you

    Truer words hath ne’er been written. Right on, A K K A! Kaavya has some tough times and a whole lot of soul-searching ahead of her for sure, I hope she gets through it with her sanity and survival instinct in tact.

  31. “AWESOME to see that my plea for compassion inspired so much of it.”

    Anna, congratulations on another well-written post. However, I can’t buy into the notion of your second “Golgotha” point as some sort of justification for what happened. If she did allow her publisher to dilute her work for the sake of marketing, what does that say about her artistic integrity and credibility? I wouldn’t say that she deserves to be crucified (we still have to wait for the whole story), but she’s certainly not an innocent pawn.

    Why would she approve the final product if she didn’t believe in it?

    I’m not a crab looking to drag someone down for the sake of it, but I have a problem with people taking credit for something they weren’t responsible for. No matter what kind of pressure she might have been under, she couldn’t have been entirely ignorant of what was going on. I’ll wait to hear what she has to say.

  32. She’s a popular girl!

    Witch hunt!

    Once again, I’m proud to be a human being.

    I hope you’re someday on the receiving end.

  33. “im not a biter im a writer for myself and others I say a b.i.g verse im only bigging up my brother picking up my borrow im big enough to do it im that thorough plus I know my own flow is foolish “

    maybe shes just that gangster.

  34. Crimsonite,

    I should be more clear: I’m referring to the comments in the link in #24, in which several people expressed a similar sentiment that the actions of an individual will put a stain, a blot, a whatever on the “community.”

    Crimsonite (#23):

    But I can see how something like this might make ignorant publishers think twice before publishing a work by the next Indian American phenom. I’m sure the fact that she’s Indian American had SOMETHING to do with the fact that the publishers offered her the contract to begin with.

    If this is true then both publishers – the one who offered her the contract because she’s Indian American and the one who’ll think twice before publishing a work by the next Indian American phenom – are ignorant.

    Kaavya Vishwanathan’s success as a young author has not uplifted the Indian American community. Certainly she has been celebrated as a successful Indian American. In the same way, this incident will not harm the Indian American community, but it is certainly, it appears, harming her individually. At least so far. But again – let’s wait.

  36. The point I’m making is about changing standards: what was permissible in Elizabethan England is considered criminal now. Your point is that standards do not change. Your comment about James Joyce is a non-sequitur.

    Shakespeare did not directly copy the words of other writers. Adapting plots is commonplace. That is what Joyce did with Ulysses. It is a timeless practice. That is not plaigarism. It is adaptation. It is about the words themselves. The words that a writer uses to write the work. Shakespeare adapted from Ovid, from other plays and numerous other sources. Your example has no context for this situation because it is an entirely separate allegation that is being made.

  37. Madurai, did you not read my previous comment?

    “But I can see how something like this might make ignorant publishers think twice before publishing a work by the next Indian American phenom.”

    I’m aware that they’re ignorant. But that’s largely irrelevant. What IS relevant, however, is that her actions may very well have a negative impact on the community because the “positive” ignorance will end, and some publishers will adopt a negatively ignorant perspective. In some bizarre sense, the positive stereotyping that we benefit from will gradually erode as incidents like this crop up. Of course this is an inevitable conclusion, but very public situations like these accelerate the process.

    Also, I’m not sure where you’re getting the “the one who offered her the contract because she’s Indian American” comment. I am positing that that was one factor in their selection of her work, but hardly the sole or even primary one.

  38. I cant belive I am actually defending jay z but..you would be hard pressed to find someone with a better flow, however lacking his actual content might be. The best word would be swagger I guess. Hes got his swag down. And as far as gangster, he had a 100k in cash before his record deal from dealing dope, and he did stab Un. But debating the hip hop aside.

    I was with Anna for a hot second on this. I mean sure there have been times when I wrote something, and then was utterly confused as to where I could have read that before. Im sure it has happened to everybody at one point or another. But this does seem to be evidence beyond a resonable doubt.

    A biter it is.

  40. All I’m saying is two things:

    1) Wait until we have more facts to play jury.

    2) Remember that SHE IS A BABY.

    AND, If she’s anything like I was at that age, she’s even younger than that because brown parents over-parent, over-love and generally micro-manage their offspring long past when it’s appropriate. For me, being a 17-year old brown girl meant being about as savvy or mature as a 14-year old “Amreekan”.

    I’m not defending what she may or may not have done, I’m just trying to appeal to the best in all of you, especially since she will probably read all this. I guess we could use this rule wrt our comments: if you’ve got the balls to say it to her face, write it and post it, because there’s not much difference betwixt the two situations.

  41. Crimsonite,

    Yeah, I did read it – that’s why I quoted it 🙂

    I know you said ignorant. I was trying to bring out the fact that if indeed you are correct that her ethnicity did play any part in her book deal, BOTH publishers in question are in fact ignorant.

    Anyway, this is just headed for an “is too – is not” argument as to whether in fact the Indian American community (to whatever extent it exists as a whole to be impacted positively or negatively) is impacted by this.

    I’d much rather get some sleep. Good night!

  42. I think in the end this isn’t about literary plagiarism but about lying. Americans are sick to death of liars, espcially those that don’t come clean. We are a nation at war because of lies and half truths. We are a nation that listens to the latest Enron testimony on NPR every morning while holding back vomit. We are a nation that uses the word “truthiness” more often than the word truth. KV is just a flashpoint for our collective anger at the possibility that lying just isn’t a big deal anymore. It isn’t haterade that is being heaped upon her here. It isn’t unfair judgement in my opinion either. People just want a bit of justice, even if it is vicious mob-style justice that involves a relatively young girl that made an ultimately forgiveable mistake.

  43. when the story about her book deal broke, she was universally applauded. i blogged about her as did several others i know. there was no jealosy involved. just pure appreciation for an amazing achievement. i did not stop to ponder on how she landed the deal, whether she got someone else to write for her, whether she had “connections” or any such random thing you can think of. when the story about the plagarism accusation broke, she was universally condemned by most people that i talked to. this reaction again was not based on jealosy or the need to kick someone when they were down. it was based on the feeling that plagiarism is just plain wrong. it was based on the feeling that we were misled. of course we’re basing our judgement on the passages posted in the news story. the fact that she is 19 is definitely something that you must consider, and sure you feel sorry for her. that does not mean it is wrong to discuss the story and say that what she did was stupid. also, you can be foolish and immature at 19, maybe enough to copy your math assignment due the next day, not enough to plagiarize on a book for which you’ve been paid $500K. that of course is just my opinion.

  44. Abhi, I’m glad you pointed out (even if backhandedly) that it’s more important to call up the White House and your Congresspeople and demand Donald Rumsfeld’s resignation (if not President Bush’s) rather than engaging in “vicious mob-style justice that involves a relatively young girl that made an ultimately forgiveable mistake.”

    no agenda here 🙂

  45. anna,

    i agree w/ you that we don’t need to kick someone when they’re down and that we still need to hear her side of it…but i’m not really comfortable w/ the idea that she’s a “baby” or “more of a baby b/c she’s Indian” …

    i don’t think maturity has much to do with it…we all know the difference between right and wrong…and i don’t know why this is bugging me as much as it is…i mean i would never have the balls to pull something like what she’s been accused of…especially at that age! my mom would have unhinged my jaw

  46. i don’t know abhi…i think there’s a lot of truthiness to what you’re saying ;). you’re right, we are sick of being lied to…but this is a little bit different than WMD-level prevaricating. we’re not going to go to war over chick lit. she’s not our president– he owes me a bit more than some teenager.

    besides, in this shit-magazine-lovin’ country (Star, US, InTouch) etc, fluffiness is voraciously consumed but not necessarily abundantly in supply. that’s why the same pictures of jessica simpson pondering tuna v. fish are everywhere. the media helped build KV up, now it’s relishing bringing her down. she’s just getting tossed about by the whole storm, a bit-player in the edge-of-our-seats drama which is unfortunately, her actual life.

    i really think that she wouldn’t get quite as hated upon if she went to Michigan, btw. something about that H-bomb…

  47. rather than engaging in “vicious mob-style justice that involves a relatively young girl that made an ultimately forgiveable mistake.”

    Actually I’m not against the mob-style justice in this case. Without small flashpoints there would be an ultimately larger explosion. I just wanted to point out why there is a mob to begin with.

  48. I’m not buying the “she’s just a baby” excuse either. Nor do I think that being brown excuses her immaturity (if that’s what caused her to do this). There are plenty of brown teenagers out there who are fully aware that plagiarism is wrong, and that getting caught plagiarizing (especially if your work is published) could have huge consequences.

    And if I knew her, I would say everything I’ve posted to her smug face.

  49. rani, i TOTALLY stand by my contention that IMO, brown kids are “younger” than their unbrown counterparts, right down to the fact that we append “-y” to our parents’ titles, no matter how wrinkled we might be (cough! guilty!). we don’t get pushed out of the nest anywhere near as early. i know it’s a controversial idea to assert, but i’ve seen it too often (not just in my family) to not say it.

    also, it’s not an excuse– it’s just something i’m keeping in mind as this all unfolds. i always want to know WHY something happened and not just some of the WHYs– all of ’em. look, if i were younger, i’d hate on her to her face, too. but if she’s not at fault? i’d feel like quite a sheepish asshole. that’s why i won’t join the mob (hell, i’m the one standing between it and its prey).

    even oprah stood up for the frey guy, until she couldn’t.

    if she IS guilty, then i think pity is a more apposite reaction than rage. but tha’s jus’ me.

  50. AKKA,

    You’re right when saying that “she wouldn’t get quite as hated upon if she went to Michigan.” At the same time, there is no way in hell she would have received all of the positive media coverage over the past few weeks if she had gone to some other school. The H-bomb runs both ways, and so if people are going to benefit from it, they have to expect to be potentially burned by it to a proportionate degree. I don’t necessarily think it’s justified, but Harvard is such a high profile school that anything somewhat out of the ordinary (e.g. the Scalia Orgy comment, the Harvard Yard snow penis incident, Larry Summers, etc.) suddenly gets covered by AP and other news outlets. I don’t think people are intentionally hating on her BECAUSE she goes to Harvard, I just think that the negative media coverage (just like that of the positive variety) is simply more abundant by virtue of her institutional affiliation. Insofar as people will take a passive and reactive stance toward news generated by the media, it’s understandable that she is receiving this much “hate.”