On page 214, Jonathan Lethem quotes the cartoon The Simpsons. In an episode where the ownership of fictional cartoon characters Itchy and Scratchy (the show`s modified version of Tom and Jerry), the writer of the cartoon-within-a-cartoon declares "Animation is built on plagiarism! You take away our right to steal ideas, where are they going to come from?" (kinda funny that my summary`s taken from Lethem`s essay, right?) In the context of The Simpsons, when Rodger Meyers Jr. makes this declaration, the cartoonists are using him to mock the animation industry since many shows, movies and films all have similar ideas, outcomes, plot lines and stories, like how West Side Story is effectively Romeo and Juliet set in the 20th century and High School Musical is very similar to Greece. In the context of the essay The Ecstasy of Influence: A Plagiarism, however, the quote from Meyers is used as a way of making a point about plagiarism and the arts. Lethem takes the quote in a literal sense; in the Simpsons, the quote is used like every other line in the show, to make fun of something or someone, as that cartoon is essentially an animated political cartoon.
By taking the quote and completely reassigning the meaning of it, Lethem makes an interesting point about he use of other`s ideas in literary work: the quotes themselves can be taken and used, but have the whole meaning and reason for usage behind them change with how they are deployed in a piece. Likewise, ideas can be plagiarized without being obvious about it, by changing the conditions the idea is used in or the way it is brought up. It also makes plagiarism seem not very bad, compared to the way we have been taught to view it in school, as many famous authors seem to do it.
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