# 1 Hollywood, baby!

# Not just Superman and Batman...

Superman and Batman are just two superheroes out of many. We could also include Spiderman, Wonder Woman, Robin Hood, James Bond, Zorro, Indiana Jones and a lot more. They're all more or less the same person, in different forms. Some are in the past, others in the present, others in the future.

But why does Hollywood love superheroes? Is it a question of money? Of course; but it's not only money.

People have always loved superheroes.Long before the first Hollywood movie, people loved stories about superheroes. Robin Hood has been a popular hero for over 600 years ... and there were others before him.

The first superheroes were real people. Nevertheless, the stories about them were often invented. Some of the oldest European superheroes were Charlemagne and Roland (Orlando). Mediaeval writers and singers invented exciting stories about these real men, just as Hollywood invents stories about tomorrow's superheroes.

A thousand years ago, people sometimes sat round in dark rooms in the evening, listening to the adventures of brave heroes. Today, we sit in a dark room in the evening, watching the adventures of the brave Batman. The medium is different, the technology has changed .... but the people are really the same.

Hollywood doesn't actually invent many new superheroes. Superman, Judge Dredd, Batman and the others already "existed" before Hollywood discovered them. These three all come from comic magazines.

The first Batman story came out in 1939! So Batman has now been defending the people of Gotham City for over 80 years! There have been several Batman movies, with different stars including Val Kilmer, George Clooney and Christian Bale. How long can it last?

Superman is even older: he dates from about 1932 (the exact year is not certain). Even Judge Dredd is a familiar figure; he first appeared in England in 1977.
Hollywood's biggest superheroes live in the future. That is not really surprising. Hollywood has fallen in love with special effects, and the future allows great spectacular special effects. Besides, people today are frightened about the future. Things do not always look good; perhaps we will need characters like Batman and Judge Dredd in 100 years' time. Perhaps we even need them today!

WORDLIST

Movie | Film | Long before | a long time before
Nevertheless | But, yet | Charlemagne | Carlus Magnus, Charles the Great
mediaeval | from the Middle Ages | medium | means of communication
actually | in fact | last | continue
dates from: | first appeared in | besides | also
look | seem, appear |  |