When I watched “Shattered Glass”, I felt instant sympathy for Stephen, the protagonist. The way the movie set him up made it seem like he was a good guy that perhaps stumbled a little bit and maybe made a few false steps. I wanted to believe that, anyway. I did for most of the movie, up until around the end.
He was a sweet coworker and friend, remembering details his friends had told him about themselves from years in the past. He had a very sweet smile and seemed extremely sincere. The movie did a good job of setting up the viewer to think that he was innocent; from sending him back to his old high school to speak to being a diligent helper and always seeming to do his best.
Ethically, I know that I would never be able to do the things that he did. Knowing that I did that and made up so many quotes, people, facts and websites would eat me alive- the pure guilt involved in what he did I could never get past or forgive myself. I did not realize his true character until the hearing at the end of the movie where the audience realized he is far from innocent and naive and did it to be the center of attention and be admired by his peers. He was not at all as I perceived him to be in the first half of the movie and that in itself was extremely disappointing. Obviously, I knew what would happen as the story itself is nonfiction, but I was hoping somewhere along the line he would turn out to be the sweet guy he seemed to be. If he had taken Comm 409 with Dr. Z, he would not have made the same mistake! He also should have tested it against the ‘mom’ test or any one of the EDM models and discovered that it was not at all the right thing to do- any one of the tens of times he lied on purpose.
At the start, I was instantly drawn to his character and warmth, but that’s how all manipulators and pathological liars make you feel- comfortable, so you think they can be trusted. Glass can’t be trusted, and that’s how I felt at the end.