Posted by Neil at 205.163.142.226 on February 22, 2000 at 17:19:59:
In Reply to: Questions for Kevin posted by ParodyAnything on February 22, 2000 at 16:25:47:
: Your movies are the biggest inspiration in my life. They tell life how it is. "Clerks" inspired me to write my own screenplay with my friend. It's not finished, but it's 95 pages. We wrote our own tribute to "Clerks" in it. It's actually an entire scene (this script is a parody...hence the name) However, my friends who have seen it think it's plagerism, and i can see where they are coming from. My questions are...
... but plagiarism is passing off material as substantively your own, that which is the work of another. If your work has artistic, social or other redeeming value above and beyond that which Kevin Smith did, then you're probably clear. If it doesn't, well... then rewrite it. Put some creative elbow grease into it and make it your own.
It's ok to want to write stories about people who go on long funny rants because Kevin Smith inspires you... just like it's ok to write space opera because George Lucas inspires you. That doesn't excuse you from your work as a creative artist. It's just the beginning.