Demand of Greatness
In the movie Shattered Glass, a young journalist named Stephen attempts to make it big at
The New Republic by writing stories that are over the top. The motivating ideology that
pushes him is the idea of greatness being demanded of you. This leads Stephen and
another reporter, Adam, to act and write in very different manners and eventually leads
them to a confrontation over a controversial article named “Hack Heaven”.
In order to understand the confrontation, it is essential to compare how both reporters react
to being under extreme stress. This ranges from the stress of publishing on time to the
stress of others looking at their work. This is seen clearly in Stephen’s case when he
explains to Caitlin why he must go to Georgetown Law School. He states that the reason
why he must go to law school is because where he is from if your son or daughter is not a
lawyer or doctor then the parents are seen as lower class citizens in the eyes of the rest of
the community. At first look this comment could just be written off as a sad excuse that
Stephen just came up with off the top of his head, but looking closer we can see that this is
the mentality that he has to justify what he is doing with his life. It is the same as a little
kid saying that he plays a sport because his parents are making him and that all the
neighbors’ comment on how they see him playing all the time. This childlike attitude that
the movie shows is just one of Stephen’s coping mechanisms.
Adam on the other hand is shown in a different light because when he is under stress in the
movie he just powers through the work. This is seen when he is first presented with the
article “Hack Heaven” because he tells his editor flat out that he doesn’t know how he
didn’t get the story. Next he is seen on his computer at work and attempting to search the
name of the so-called major technology firm Junkt Micronics. The work ethic of Adam
was so central to his identity in the movie that he was never once shown outside of the
office. He even walked in on his boss in the restroom to give him an update on the research
from the article. It is almost as if he is acting like Liam Nelson searching for the people
