Is Harper's Island an Act of Plagiarism?

Anyone who happened by the Castle last summer surely knows that I had a complicated relationship with the show ‘Harper’s Island’. I loved the amazing premise and hated the terrible, terrible execution.

There’s something I neglected to mention during the extensive, some might say comically exhaustive, review of the series, and that’s just which film the series elected to rip off when it was developing the plot.

That film? I Still Know What You Did That Summer.

Don’t believe me? Let’s take a walk through the series…

Avod Friday! The 24th!

Yeah, that really doesn't work as well as the 13th, now does it. Well, irregardless of that fact, there's a new avod that's ready to be downloaded and listened to right here! This week the Divemistress and myself discussed such key issues as the end of Harper's Island, the absurd racism that Transformers had to offer, and the new Harry Potter film!

The Avod - for all your hearing about things needs. We only used to discuss stuff, but now that we've moved into things as well, hopefully there's material enough to interest everyone!

Avod Friday!

Just in time to get ready for the final episodes of Harper's Island, here's theAvod's discussion of Harper's Globe! For our American viewers, anyway. Our Canadian audience will find it woefully out of date. Oh, and American viewers, you might not want to read the post directly below this one until Sunday. Just FYI.

Also, we, along with our producer Mer-Man, take a little time to talk about Knowing and In the Mouth of Madness as well.

You can download the episode right here, through a little of the old right-click-save-as business.

Show Notes!

Dissatisfied with his explanations on the show, Mer-Man sent me an essay with a little more detail about the philosophies behind Knowing - here it is, in its entirety:

Exhibit A: Cage visited the German city of Goerlitz in 2006 just because he was interested in it's connection to the somewhat unconventional, early 17^th century Lutheran mystic Jacob Boehme (AD 1575-1624). Cage's sojourn is briefly mention in this article from the Herald Sun.

This I take as more than sufficient evidence that Cage is quite enamored with Boehme and his particular theology and this would all have been going on little more than a year before “Knowing” went into production.

Exhibit B: Boehme's theology, borrowed partially from the theories of (the also unconventional) Jewish, Kabbalist & Rabi Isaac Luria (AD1534-1572), suggested that God in the beginning was infinite, filling all space and therefore to create anything He first had to make room by contracting himself, thereby providing available space in which to create the universe. By creating “otherness” He (God) attained a greater degree of self-knowledge as he now understood Himself in terms of what He was not. In some interpretations of Boehme's writing, the fall of Adam and Eve is taken as a good or at least necessary thing for all parties involved to achieve self-knowledge. In becoming separated from God, Adam and Eve can comprehend both their own individuality as well as God's status as creator, this part of the process then leads to the next stage, their desire to return to God, an act that completes both God and Mankind. This also figures into Boehme's Christology. Boiling it down to its most simplistic the formula is this: For Father to be Father, the Son must become something separate from the Father, For the Son to be the Son, the Son must know the Father, to find ultimate fulfillment the two must reintegrate. This is clearly the plot of “Knowing.” Cage, estranged from his own father and all out of faith can only return to his Father and regain his faith, when he is able to let go of his own Son.

Exhibit C: Boehme, went against the grain of orthodox Christian theology by denying that man is reconciled to God ultimately through Grace alone but rather through this process of “Knowing.” Cage's sister in “Knowing” is named Grace she is still in contact with their Dad.

Exhibit D: Boehme's theology also dealt greatly with the “wheel within a wheel” passage from the book of Ezekiel. Though, on the one hand, this could be in the movie because it is popular with “ancient astronaut” theorists, I think, given all the evidence I've piled up here, it could also pertain to Cage's interest in Jacob Boehme.

Exhibit E: Boehme also compared God's presence in the world to reflected light, the little girl at the beginning who starts the story is named Lucinda Embry. Lucinda means “Light.”

That's 5, count em, 5 exhibits!

Also, just for the record I'm not finding any of this because I love Boehme's theology, I happen to disagree with much of it. For example the error of Boehme and Luria is the presupposition that spacial dimensionality was co-eternal with the Fundamental Principle of Reality (ie: God), hence their assertion that God would need to contract himself to “make room” before he could create. Anyway my own philosophical mincing about is irrelevant to the issue at hand, that “Knowing” is totally clearly about Boehme. Nobody needs to let this effect their enjoyment or lack there of, of the film, I just feel the need to point this out so I can continue to kid myself into thinking my education up until this point hasn't been a total waste.

Harper's Island Spolier-Rama!

In my as-yet-unpublished review of My Bloody 3D Valentine, I mention that if a filmmaker wants to rip off a Friday the 13th movie, that's fine - people love those things - but if you absolutely have to rip one off, it shouldn't be part five. It should never be part five.

Along the same line of thought, I'd just like to say that if you're going to broaden your horizons a little and rip-off something outside the Friday the 13th franchise, here's a tip: Don't rip off "I Still Know What You Did Last Summer".

But hey, I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's start at the beginning.

Requiem for Harper's Island-

With just half an hour left until the final two episodes begin, I thought this would be a good opportunity to mention my final predictions, if only so my humiliation can be set in concrete for all the virtual world to see.

I'm going to be working under the assumption that the show isn't a complete cheat, and that Wakefield will definitely be working with someone else, giving us a surprise reveal in the last episode. If there isn't, then the show isn't a mystery, and its failure will be complete. If there is, then the show still won't be a good mystery, but at least there will be some kind of a surprise at some point.

Happy Canada Day, Everyone!

While you're relaxing by the lake, drinking your beers and watching the fireworks, why not flip on the stereo and join us (by which I mean the Divemistress and myself) in taking a journey through every Canadian Horror film ever made!

Just right-click here to download it. Or click there to listen to it with a browser applet, or head over to the Avod's blog and stream it, the way a few of the cool kids are doing it!

And here, because we should all watch this at least once a year just to test our threshold for terror, is the video for Thriller. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtyJbIOZjS8

Yeah. They won't let me embed it. Jerks.

FYI, I got to the part with the yellow eyes and reflexively yelped and shut the video off.

edit:

Here's an embedded version, which I'll take down if it goes away in the next couple of days.

Harper's Island: Week 11 non-Recap

There is no reason to continue recapping Harper's island, so I'm not going to.

In the two months since Harper's island began I have been generous to a fault with it. Cutting it every kind of slack imaginable based entirely on my love of mysteries and my naïve faith that the show would in fact be a mystery. I looked for clues I tracked alibis, all based on the assumption that the show's plot would in some way be solvable.

Last week's reveal that John Wakefield, the character that everyone thought was the killer, was, in fact, the killer has made all of that work utterly useless. It doesn't matter who was where when because any murderer a character couldn't have committed could have been committed by the show's "Jason" John Wakefield. And what a fake Jason he is, running around harpooning people, getting into knife fights, emotionally torturing his victims... oh, John Wakefield, if this were a better show I could really appreciate you as a villain.

Harper's Island Recap: Week 10

So, what, Wakefield’s the killer?

All of my careful painstaking note-making will have to be thrown away because Wakefield is the killer? Last week when Maggie was finally eliminated as a suspect I was left baffled, since no character could have committed all of the murders, but at the same time I didn’t really think they’d bring in Wakefield as the killer.

The producers of this show know that’s not a mystery, right?

Harper's Island Recap: Week 9

The thing I love most about Harper’s Island’s move into the siege portion of the stalk/siege slasher film structure is that much less happens in each episode, and it’s therefore far easier to synopsize! So let’s do that!

The episode begins with Black Frat and the remaining Wellingtons hanging around, wondering when Henry will be back with Douchey Frat, Cal & Chloe, and Beth, who still resists any attempts to give her a personality. There’s a knock on the door right away – it’s Douchey Frat and Beth! They headed back right away while Henry and Jimmy carried JD’s corpse to the doctor’s office, and Cal went to treat the Sheriff’s wounds along with Abby and Chloe.

Adventures in Fake Journalism: Harper's Island 108

Bit of a departure this time around, as I'm not looking at a fake news article, but rather a character's fake journal. From Harper's Island, Episode 8, here's John Wakefield's prison diary.

I've left all the punctuation and spelling as is. Words that were unclear to me, forcing me to guess are marked with a (~), while words I full-on couldn't read are replaced with a (?).

Also, in the original broadcast the sheriff flips through the journal backwards, looking at visible page 3&4, then flipping to 1&2. I'm displaying them here in the order they appear in the journal, rather than the order shown in the episode.

Harper's Island Recap: Week 8

As the episode opens everyone is preparing to get the hell off of the island as quickly as possible. Which I really appreciate. There’s just no reason to stick around in this situation. Which means the killer needs to manufacture one. Hence the luring away of Madison at the end of the last episode. While everyone scuttles about loading their luggage onto the courtesy carts Shae scurries everywhere, desperately searching for her daughter.

In a panic, she asks other people to help her look. Despite the brutal murders, Henry is able to convince everyone else to come along with him to scour the island, assuring them that the boat will wait until the arrive at the dock. There’s a nod in here to Fat Frat’s disappearance, when Douchey and Black Frat discuss where he could have gotten to, without ever addressing the bigger question: Why did you leave him alone in the first place?

Harper's Island Recap: Week 7

Another week goes by and Harper’s Island staggers along, slowly gaining strength as it starts to get to a point. The stupidest storyline in the show reaches an unbelievably stupid (kind of) resolution, and then we’re left with another cliffhanger.

We begin as the sheriff arrives at the lodge looking for JD. A group in the lobby mentions how annoying it is that the boat isn’t arriving until that afternoon. Hearing that the rooms are going to be searched makes Fat Frat nervous, and he heads up to his room to hide the money somewhere better than under his bed. Fat Frat’s idea? Move it from the duffel bag it was in into a knapsack! Um… why didn’t you do this a while ago? Anyhow, he’s distracted by a knock on the door – it’s Beth wants to talk more, but he’s busy dropping the duffel bag out of the window! Fat Frat is annoyed at missing his chance to talk to a pretty girl, and heads down to the front yard to grab the bag. After a pointless scare involving an extra with a chainsaw (really? You can’t make the pruning wait until after the guests whose friend has been brutally murdered have left that afternoon?) he retrieves the bag and heads back up into his room.

Very Early Saturday Morning Avod!

It has been brought to my attention that I've been incredibly negligent when it comes to informing people about the existence of a new Avod. Sorry about that.

Since we're talking about it, here's new Avod!

And here's last week's in case you missed it!

My best to you in all your endeavors!

Harper's Island: Week 6 Recap

A surprisingly uneventful week here on the island, despite it being the first time in the show that everyone knows there’s a crazed killer running around.

We pick up exactly where we left off last time, with everyone freaking out about Thomas getting killed by the head spade. Richard covers the head with his jacket, and the the sheriff comes in. He sends everyone back to the inn in a group, and then Abby gets another mysterious phone call with the scratchy record of Ave Maria playing. Here’s the shot where her phone starts ringing:

So none of these characters – Henry, Trish, Richard, Katherine, Maggie, old lady we’ve never seen before, Beth, and the remaining Frats, could possibly be the one making the crank calls. And since, until we find out different, we’re assuming the killer is making the calls, it can’t be one of them. I won’t count this as official alibi evidence, but damn, is it close.

This Week in Genre Movies! (this week being around May 22nd)

Star Trek

Just came back from seeing Star Trek on the big screen, and I’ve got to say, as the DiveMistress predicted in our most recent Avod, I was pleasantly surprised. Clearly written by Star Trek nerds, the references to previous movies and episodes were almost groan-inducing at times, but it moved quickly, everyone was perfectly cast for their parts, and the script showed a great understanding of all the characters. Totally worth seeing, and I’ll be happy to watch the next one in 2011.

That being said, there were some problems – one from the perspective of a ridiculously dedicated Trekkie, some normal plot complaints, and, of course, one really huge thing that was just funny as hell.

Harper's Island: Week 5 Recap

Finally we reach the end of Harper’s Island taking its sweet time to get to the point. Not only does this week’s episode not cover the events of an entire day, but by the end of it, everyone knows that there’s a crazed killer stalking the island, bumping people off, one by one. Things are going to amp up over the next eight episodes! Assuming we ever get to see it, of course. More on that later.

The morning after Richard fake-tried to kill her so that he could race to her rescue, Trish is still upset about the whole incident. Quite justifiably, actually. Henry volunteers to take care of the wedding planning for the day, and sends Trish off for a day with her father.

Adventures in Fake Journalism: Harper's Island 104

Another week, and another set of fake newspapers! Somebody up there likes me!

The first newspaper is a little blurred, so I’ll just type out the legible parts.

---

Saturday Semptember 23 , 2006

CHOPPING DOWN THE PAST

BY JJ WHISPERS
NEWS REPORTER

Last night’s town hall meeting played host to the Island’s most heated debate since Wendell’s Pharmacy started filling orders for Medical Marijuana. At the heart of the (unclear) is the ‘Tree of Woe’, the tree that stands alone on the (unclear) bluff, and was the (unclear) where Wakefield hanged three of his victims.

Harper's Island: Week 4 Recap

This is it folks. I prayed the day wouldn’t come, but many predicted that it was inevitable. It seems that they were right and I was wrong. So here we are. Episode four.

The week that Harper’s Island got inexplicably, inexcusably, and perhaps irredeemably stupid.

Oh, and since the episode doesn’t air until tonight in the States (Global didn’t move it the way CBS did), so don’t read this until tomorrow if you don’t want spoilers.

Adventures in Fake Journalism: Harper's Island 103

There have actually been two episodes of fake newspaper clippings on Harper’s Island so far – but I couldn’t cover the first, the article about her mother’s murder that Abby found in her room the first night, because the camera never got close enough to let us read the text. Last week’s episode was a different matter entirely, as we were offered a lingering close-up of the newspaper article that the Sheriff found in Kelly’s jewelry box. I’ll print the text here, along with a note of where the text started to repeat. The repeating text was actually a huge help this time around, as it allowed me to get the complete text of the fake article, despite the fact that a few corners of it were left off camera.

Avod Wednesday!

There's a new Avod for all y'all to listen to!

It can be found here!

Enjoy some spirited discussions about Harper's Island, Skinwalkers, and the third-best John Carpenter movie, Prince of Darkness!