Shattered Glass Essay

Shattered Glass by Billy Ray Have you ever wondered how it would feel to lose your career? Shattered Glass is a true story of a young journalist who fell from grace when it was found he had fabricated over half of his articles. He was a staff writer at The New Republic for three years who rose to meteoric heights as a young writer in Washington, D.C. Looking for a short cut to fame, Glass combined sources, quotes, and even entire stories. He did everything in his power to make sure that everyone is pleased by him so that they do not figure him out. In the movie Shattered Glass, director Billy Ray adroitly shows how Stephen Glass is willing to lie just to further his career as a journalist. Stephen Glass is a very interesting character who not only has a lot of talent, but also has a lot of flaws too. He is a liar. The staff writers can read between the lines of his stories, but not the lies. Everyone around him seems fascinated about his stories. He also remembers a lot of things about his staff writers which show that he does care about them and does not want to hurt them or the magazine. He simply wants to further his career. As the movie demonstrates details of his life, it shows that he is a very confused, stressed out young writer by the way he is when he is not at work. The movie never showed that he has any family around. It shows that he is lonely in a way. He wants fame and thinks he can achieve it by pleasing everyone. Billy Ray does a fantastic job directing this movie because he has a lot of scenes that cut off and come back which makes it more interesting and mysterious. The film opens with a flashback of Stephen Glass at a convention celebrating Monica Lewinsky memorabilia. Glass’s voice-over criticizes other reports who try to get ahead. He recommends, instead, being humble and holding back. He is then shown in a classroom of his former high school journalist teacher, giving advice to young journalists that look up to him. The film occasionally