Oregon Media Insiders

It's weird: I had the pleasure of meeting Ben at the Mercury's AAN shindig last weekend, and he seemed like a nice enough guy. At the very least, he didn't seem like the sort of guy to toss out a half-hearted plagiarism accusation.

Looking at both reviews, yeah, I can see his point--but I also think the similarities are due to the fact that Ben and Alison are reviewing the same play, and having similar issues with similar problems within that play. This is about both of them pointing out the play's weaknesses, and agreeing on them--it's not about Alison getting all klepto with stuff from, of all places, the Willamette Week. After all, both she and Ben have been writing about theater for a while; one would think if Alison was a plagiarist, she'd have proven herself to be one before. Except she isn't, she hasn't, and she didn't here.

Another weird thing: If Ben genuinely feels Alison stole his review--and that is what he's dancing around, but not coming out and saying--he should have nutted up and just outright accused her of plagiarism. But instead, he offers a vague, cutesy semi-accusation with that condescending tone that his writing sometimes takes on. And he does it in a public forum, no less. Which makes me think he knows he's full of shit, but he also knows this is as good of a way to get attention as any.