Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Plagiarism In Melania Trump's RNC Convention Speech & Examples Of #BringItOn #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotesTweets

Edited by Azizi Powell

This is Part I of a two part series that focuses on plagiarism in Melania Trump's Republican National Convention Speech (July 18, 2016) and its comparison to the the 2000 Bring It On cheerleader movie. The plot of that fictional movie revolved around the revelation that the captain of a White suburban high school cheerleading squad (the Toros) had been stealing cheers and routines from an East Compton majority Black cheerleading squad (the Clovers).

Part I provides excerpts from several online articles about Melania Trump's RNC convention speech and a video of her plagiarism of portions of Michelle Obama's 2008 Democratic National Convention speech. This post also provides examples of tweets from #BringItOn #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes, one of twitter's responses to that speech which focuses on the Bring It On movie.

Click http://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2016/07/the-bring-it-on-cheer-off-video.html. for Part II of this post. Part II presents more information about the 2000 Bring It On movie and showcases a video clip of the relevant scene from the 2000 Bring It On movie. Tht post also includes the words of the cheer that was chanted in that scene as well as selected comments from that video's discussion thread. That post will be published ASAP and its link will be added to this post.

The content of this post is presented for sociological, cultural and political, and aesthetic purposes.

All copyrights remains with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post. Thanks also to the publisher of this embedded video on YouTube.

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BACKGROUND INFORMATION ABOUT MELANIA TRUMP'S RNC CONVENTION SPEECH
From http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/twitter-mocks-rnc-speech-famous-melania-trump-quotes
ByALLEGRA KIRKLAND, PublishedJULY 19, 2016
"The Internet never forgets—or lets things go.

Moments after journalist Jarrett Hill observed that portions of Melania Trump’s opening night speech at the Republican National Convention were nearly identical to those spoken by Michelle Obama at the 2008 Democratic National Convention, Twitter users jumped on the apparent plagiarism.

Many posted iconic movie quotes and song lyrics with the hashtag #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes."...

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From http://www.eonline.com/news/780963/famousmelaniatrumpquotes-takes-twitter-by-storm-as-melania-trump-is-accused-of-copying-michelle-obama-s-speech "#FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes Takes Twitter by Storm as Melania Trump Is Accused of Copying Michelle Obama's Speech" by ZACH JOHNSON | Tue, Jul 19, 2016 7:52 AM
"Who knew Melania Trump and Michelle Obama had so much in common?

At the Republican National Convention in Cleveland Monday, Melania, 46, delivered a speech that bore striking similarities to a speech Michelle, 52, gave at the Democratic National Convention in 2008. But, after she arrived in Ohio earlier that day, Melania told NBC News' Matt Lauer, "I read once over it, that's all, because I wrote it...with (as) little help as possible."

Donald Trump's campaign released a statement regarding the speeches' resemblances; it did not address the plagiarism charge. "In writing her beautiful speech, Melania's team of writers took notes on her life's inspirations, and in some instances included fragments that reflected her own thinking," Jason Miller, senior communications adviser, said. "Melania's immigrant experience and love for America shone through in her speech, which made it such a success."

That didn't stop Twitter from mocking Melania, as #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes trended all night. Actor and social justice activist Jesse Williams invented the hashtag, and he jokingly attributed Sojourner Truth's famous "Ain't I A Woman" speech to Melania. Soon, dozens of other celebrities—including Kandi Burruss and Anna Kendrick—were following Jesse's lead."...

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From http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/melania-trump-speech-plagiarized_us_578da752e4b0a0ae97c33675 "Melania Trump Plagiarized Her Convention Speech From Michelle Obama"
Mrs. Trump appears to have lifted two paragraphs almost verbatim from Mrs. Obama. By Christina Wilkie
07/19/2016
"In her first major address before the nation on Monday night, Melania Trump appears to have plagiarized a number of lines from first lady Michelle Obama’s speech at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. The plagiarized passages, in bold below, concerned the importance of hard work and honesty.

“From a young age, my parents impressed on me the values that you work hard for what you want in life; that your word is your bond and you do what you say and keep your promise; that you treat people with respect,” Trump told the thousands of Republican delegates and assembled media on Monday night in Cleveland.

In 2008, Mrs. Obama said, "You work hard for what you want in life; that your word is your bond and you do what you say you’re going to do; that you treat people with dignity and respect, even if you don’t know them, and even if you don’t agree with them.

Trump’s spouse also lifted a line about children from Michelle Obama, saying, “We want our children in this nation to know that the only limit to your achievements is the strength of your dreams and your willingness to work for them.

In 2008, Michelle Obama said, “We want our children — and all children in this nation — to know that the only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work for them.

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SHOWCASE VIDEO: Word for word: ‪‎Melania Trump‬ plagiarizes part of ‪Michelle Obama‬’s 2008 DNC speech



RT, Published on Jul 19, 2016

After Melania Trump’s headline speech at the Republican National Convention, many noticed that what the billionaire's wife said seemed familiar, something they’d heard somewhere in the past. Or had they?
WATCH MORE https://www.facebook.com/RTvids/

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EXAMPLES OF TWEETS FROM #BringItOn #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotesTweetsTHE (The "Bring It On" Movie page of #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes
These tweets are given in relative chronological order with the oldest examples given first. However, the examples may not be in consecutive order. All of these tweets are from July 19, 2016. I've assigned numbers to these tweets for referencing purposes only.

Click https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bring_It_On_(film) for information about the 2000 Bring It On movie.

Click https://twitter.com/search?q=%23famousmelaniatrumpquotes%20bring%20it%20on&src=rela to view the Gifs and videos that are included in some of these tweets.

1. Sarah Gilbert ‏@saregil Lakewood, OH
"C'mon Twitter, where's my Melania/Michelle Bring It On meme? 😂 #Clovers #Taurus #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes #RNCinCLE"
-snip-
#Taurus probably means #Toros- the majority White cheerleading squad

**
2. Cheerdiva2 (Tonya) ‏@Cheerdiva2
#eastcomptonclover #bringiton #famousmelaniatrumpquotes
-snip-
This tweet includes a photo of three Clover [majority Black cheerleading squad] members with the caption "MELANIA...THAT ROUTINE LOOKS FAMILIAR..." "

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3. Cheerdiva2 (Tonya) ‏@Cheerdiva2
#FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes #sparkypolastri #bringiton #sorrynotsorry
-snip-
This tweet includes a poster with the words
"Wanted Sparky Polastri
Crimes: Fraudulent Choreography at the 2000 California Cheerleading regionals
Plagiarism of speech used at the 2016 RNC Convention"
-snip-
The character "Sparky Polastri" is an Anglo-American man who extorted money from several cheerleading squads by teaching those squad the same cheer routines for the regional cheer competition.

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4. Marisa Knox ‏@hard_KNOXlife
"This reminds me of Bring it On when they found out they stole all the cheers from Crenshaw #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes"

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5. SARAH RAMSINGH ‏@SarahRamsingh
"I knew I saw this #MelaniaTrump movie before. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCPO8u0Mhns ... #RNCinCLE #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes #makeamericaworkagain
Bring it on cheer off!
YouTube
-snip-
This video is showcased in Part II of this pancocojams series.

**
6. heidi vasquez ‏@heidi_vasquez
"#FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes this whole thing reminds me of "Bring it on" when the Toros stole the East compton Clovers routine."

**
7. JD King ‏@jdsay
"Try to steal our bit, but you look like $%*@, cuz we're the ones who are down with it." #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes"
-snip-
This tweet quotes a line that the Clovers chanted to the Toros. That tweet is given as it was found on that page and includes a link to another clip of the same YouTube video whose link is found above.

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8. ♛(☆◕‿◕☆)♛ ‏@JustMickeyy
"check out #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes for a good laugh. I'm going to rewatch 'Bring It On' because of it 😂"
-snip-
This tweet includes a Gif of a member of the Toro cheerleading squad saying "This isn't a democracy, it's a cheerocracy".

**
9. Emily Horowitz ‏@EmHorowitz
"Is this the GOP or "Bring It On"? #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes #BeckyWithTheGoodSpeech"
-snip-
This tweet includes a Gif of the Clover captain saying to the Toros squad- “I know you don’t think a white girl made that sh&t* up”.
-snip-
*This word was fully spelled out in this comment.

**
10. Gabs Murillo ‏@timeXisXnothing
Gabs Murillo Retweeted Complex
"I was waiting for someone to do this 😂👏 #BringItOn #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes Gabs Murillo added,
"This is not a democracy—this is plagiarism.""
-snip-
This tweet includes a Gif of the scene from the "Bring It On" cheer off scene with Michelle obama’s face superimposed on the body of the captain of the Clover cheerleading squad and Melania Trump’s face superimposed on the body of the captain of the Toro cheerleading squad.

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11. The Third Hoekage
"‏@hoodopulence
@FLOTUS when she sees @MELANIATRUMP at the next political event"
-snip-
This tweet includes a Gif of the Clover caption who is walking along with an “I’ll get her” smirk on her face.
-snip-
FLOTUS= first lady of the United States, in this case a reference to Michelle Obama

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12. Stephanie Sapol ‏@stephfromwork
"my favorite part of the #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes are the references to Bring It On #BringItOn. #SexyCutePopularToBoot"

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13. Kevin C. Klatt ‏@Nutrevolve Ithaca, NY
"@Nutrevolve @BuzzFeed -last night was just a repeat of the subplot of BringItOn,I think we need a story with memes #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes

**
14. Breannah R Alexander ‏@alexandbre Grand Rapids, MI
Breannah R Alexander Retweeted The Third Hoekage
"When #BringItOn is prophecy. #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes Breannah R Alexander added,
The Third Hoekag"
-snip-
This tweet includes same Gif as noted in the tweet given as #11 above.

**
15. Derek Hartley ‏@wastesyourtime
Derek Hartley Retweeted Julius Ellis
"The last 18 hours have been epic but the zeroing in on Bring It On totally nails it. #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes Derek Hartley added,

Julius Ellis @dirtyyghettokid
Bruuuhhhh!!! I'm done. #FamousMelianaTrumpQuotes"
-snip-
This tweet includes the same Gif as described in #10 above.

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16. Kimberly Hallums ‏@KimmieIs2Real Chillum, MD
"Melania stealing Michelle's speech word for word is basically the plot of "Bring It On."" #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes

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17. Jay Britt ‏@Jaybritt92
"But also... #BeckyWithTheBorrowedSpeech #MelaniaTrump #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes #BringItOn
-snip-
This tweet includes a Gif of two members of the Clover squad saying "tried to steal our bit!".

That line is part of a new verse that the Clovers added to the cheer that the Toros stole. [See #9 in this compilation.]

**
18. AGirl ‏@CBS_xo
"Today I'm going to watch bring it on in honour of #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes"

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19.JC De Vera
‏@j0hnchristian
"The interwebz has no chill with #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes. All these memes and videos have me screaming. The Bring It On video is classic."

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20. Demetrius Greene ‏@digreene3
"I find it funny the white people who can link this to bring it on but still don't get cultural appropriation" 🐸☕ #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes

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This concludes Part I of this pancocojams series.

Thanks for visiting pancocojams.

Visitor comments are welcome.

3 comments:

  1. Here's a link to a dailykos article about twitter's response to Melania Trump's plagiarism of Michelle Obama's 2008 speech:

    http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/07/19/1549895/-Twitter-breaks-Melania-Trump-plagiarism-scandal-hilarity-ensues.

    Here's an excerpt of that article;
    "Following Jarrett Hill's explosive report that Melania Trump plagiarized part of Michelle Obama's 2008 DNC speech, actor/activist/woke bae Jesse Williams launched #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes on Twitter.

    The hashtag uses famous quotes to mock the current Mrs. Trump. We kick off with Williams' original tweet referencing abolitionist and women's rights activist Sojourner Truth:

    jesseWilliams. ✔ @iJesseWilliams
    "Ain't I a woman?" #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes #RNCinCLE
    12:45 AM - 19 Jul 2016

    **
    We get a little Shakespearian:

    Kate Dahlstrand @KateDahls
    To be or not to be, that is the question. #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes
    12:47 AM - 19 Jul 2016

    It’s not a day of the week unless Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr is referenced:

    Kate Dahlstrand @KateDahls
    I have a dream. #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes
    12:48 AM - 19 Jul 2016....

    Maya Angelou joins the party:

    Mwangangi @Mwangangi
    Phenomenally.
    Phenomenal woman,
    That’s me.#FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes
    12:48 AM - 19 Jul 2016 "....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Although the topic of plagiarism and its attempted cover-up is quite serious, it also can be seen in a humourous light- as these #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes demonstrate.

      I think this comment from a July 21, 2016 article about Donald Trump's reaction to what some are calling "the Melania mess" is the funniest #FamousMelaniaTrumpQuotes that I've read thus far:
      "Melania admitted her mistake and posted this very heartfelt apology:

      "I never meant to cause you any sorrow, I never meant to cause you any pain;

      I only wanted one time to see you laughing - I only wanna see you playing in the Purple Rain.""
      -Curtis, https://gma.yahoo.com/donald-trump-calls-uproar-melanias-speech-very-unfair-000105156--abc-news-topstories.html "Donald Trump Calls Uproar About Melania's Speech 'Very Unfair'" By ENJOLI FRANCIS

      Delete
  2. Here's another problematic feature of Melania Trump's RNC Convention speech:

    From http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/797429/did-melania-trump-rickroll-in-speech "Did Melania Trump ‘Rickroll’ in speech?" by Agence France-Presse, July 20th, 2016

    "Did 1980s pop star Rick Astley make an unwitting cameo appearance in Donald Trump’s wife Melania’s speech at the Republican convention?

    It may not be as serious as allegations that her speech plagiarized First Lady Michelle Obama, but a number of people are also seeing in her lines a reference to Astley’s song “Never Gonna Give You Up.”

    The Slovenian-born model said of her billionaire husband on the convention’s opening day Monday: “He will never, ever give you up. And, most importantly, he will never, ever let you down.”...

    The song has had an unlikely comeback in recent years as an online meme known as “Rickrolling” in which unsuspecting internet users receive links to the video for “Never Gonna Give You Up,” with the tidily dressed English singer swaying his hips...

    “My truther theory: Melania’s speechwriter slipped in a Rickroll to let us know they were tanking it on purpose,” New York hip-hop radio host Jay Smooth tweeted.".

    ReplyDelete