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The Story of Superman (Advanced Program) · Spotlight English: Advanced

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Welcome to Spotlight Advanced. I'm Alice Irizarry.
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: And I'm Colin Lowther. Spotlight uses a special English method
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: matter where in the world they live.
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  Speaker 1: The boy was born on a dying planet. To protect him,
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  Speaker 1: his father sent him in a small ship across the stars.
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  Speaker 1: Landing on a small farm in Kansas, the boy is
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  Speaker 1: raised by two childless farmers. As he grows, he discovers
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  Speaker 1: that he is different from others. He is stronger, faster,
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  Speaker 1: and can fly through the air. Others might use these
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  Speaker 1: powers for their own advantage. But Clark Kent was raised
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  Speaker 1: to do good. When evil comes, he puts on a
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  Speaker 1: red and blue suit. He becomes Superman, the protector of
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  Speaker 1: the world.
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  Speaker 2: Most of us know this story. It is possibly one
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  Speaker 2: of the most famous comic book stories. But the story
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  Speaker 2: of Superman's creation, who made him and why, is less
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  Speaker 2: well known. On today's Spotlight, we examine the true story
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  Speaker 2: of Superman.
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  Speaker 1: The story of Superman was first published by Jerome Jerry
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  Speaker 1: Siegel and Joseph Joe Schuster in 1938. As the children
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  Speaker 1: of people who had traveled to America for a better life,
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  Speaker 1: Siegel and Schuster grew up during the Great Depression. This
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  Speaker 1: time of economic hardship caused extreme poverty. But it also
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  Speaker 1: led to the creation of comic books.
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  Speaker 2: These books full of pictures often tell the stories of
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  Speaker 2: heroes fighting evil criminals. They cost very little to produce
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  Speaker 2: and were easier for people to read than traditional books.
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  Speaker 2: During the suffering of the Great Depression, these stories of
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  Speaker 2: good and evil gave people something to enjoy.
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  Speaker 1: Siegel and Schuster also loved comic books. They bonded over
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  Speaker 1: their shared love of these stories in school. Schuster was
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  Speaker 1: the artist of the two. He had been drawing since
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  Speaker 1: he was four years old, influenced by artists like Alex Raymond,
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  Speaker 1: and Hal Foster. Siegel was more of a storyteller. He
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  Speaker 1: began writing by copying the style of Edgar Rice Burroughs,
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  Speaker 1: the creator of Tarzan.
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  Speaker 2: But Siegel and Schuster were also drawn together by other factors.
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  Speaker 2: They were both young and Jewish. Both were bad at sports,
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  Speaker 2: thin and bookish. Both were interested in the idea of
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  Speaker 2: a hero with an alter ego, a way of hiding
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  Speaker 2: to fit into normal life. In the August 1983 issue
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  Speaker 2: of Nemo, the Classic Comics Library, Siegel explained, As.
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  Speaker 3: A high school student, I liked several beautiful girls who
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  Speaker 3: either did not know I existed or did not care
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  Speaker 3: if I existed. As a matter of fact, some of
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  Speaker 3: them looked like they hoped I did not exist. I
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  Speaker 3: had the thought, what if I was amazing? What if
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  Speaker 3: I had something special going for me? What if I
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  Speaker 3: could jump over buildings or throw cars or something like that?
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  Speaker 3: Then maybe they would notice me.
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  Speaker 1: This idea of a hidden hero brought Siegel and Schuster together.
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  Speaker 1: As high schoolers, they were already working on comics together.
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  Speaker 1: By 1932, the two had already published their own comics.
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  Speaker 1: By 1935, a magazine called New Fun gave them writing jobs.
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  Speaker 1: As growing artists, the two experimented with early versions of Superman.
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  Speaker 1: like Doctor Occult and Slam Bradley. Superman first appeared in
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  Speaker 1: Action Comics in 1938. The publisher later became known as
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  Speaker 1: DC Comics, a name that came from another comic series
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  Speaker 1: called Detective Comics.
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  Speaker 2: Superman was an immediate success when his first story went public.
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  Speaker 2: The first Superman book sold over 200,000 copies. But Siegel
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  Speaker 2: and Schuster did not see. But Siegel and Schuster did
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  Speaker 2: not see much of its success. For their work on Superman,
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  Speaker 2: DC paid them $ 130. They also signed their rights to
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  Speaker 2: the character away to the company. They would only get
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  Speaker 2: money when they worked on more Superman comics. But DC
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  Speaker 2: could publish Superman without them if it wished.
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  Speaker 1: Because of Superman's popularity, DC continued to work with Siegel
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  Speaker 1: and Schuster. But after a legal argument over a character
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  Speaker 1: named Superboy, DC fired both. It gave Schuster a job
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  Speaker 1: again in 1959, but by that point, Superman was a
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  Speaker 1: changed hero. He could shoot light from his eyes and
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  Speaker 1: fly through space on his own. He was no longer
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  Speaker 1: just a strong man protecting a single city. He had
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  Speaker 1: become the protector of the whole world.
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  Speaker 2: By the 1970s, Superman was a media force. Most people
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  Speaker 2: thought superheroes were for children. But Superman was different. In 1978,
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  Speaker 2: the Warner Brothers Film Studio released the first of many
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  Speaker 2: films based on the character. It was one of the
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  Speaker 2: first successful superhero films ever made. Today, Superman is one
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  Speaker 2: of the most recognizable characters in the world.
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  Speaker 1: For many, Superman has become a symbol of the United
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  Speaker 1: States of America. But others have argued that Superman's story
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  Speaker 1: is also the story of Jewish people in the United States.
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  Speaker 1: After all, Superman's first name was not Clark Kent. It
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  Speaker 1: was Kal-El, a name that means voice of God in Hebrew.
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  Speaker 1: Like many Jewish people coming to America in the 1930s,
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  Speaker 1: Superman changed his name to seem more American. He hid
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  Speaker 1: his powers, his true self, from people in the same
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  Speaker 1: way many Jews did. Miriam Mora is a historian at
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: the University of Michigan. She compares Superman to Moses, one
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  Speaker 1: of the founders of the Jewish faith.
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  Speaker 4: She said, Moses' life is saved when his mother floats
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  Speaker 4: him down the Nile River in a quickly built boat.
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  Speaker 4: Carl L. too is sent away to safety on a
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  Speaker 4: quickly built ship. Both boys are raised by strangers in
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  Speaker 4: a strange land. Both would become heroes to their people.
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  Speaker 2: Like all characters, Superman came from a particular time and place.
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  Speaker 2: Who Superman became was influenced by his creators, but it
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  Speaker 2: is also true that Superman has become more than Siegel
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  Speaker 2: and Schuster could have imagined. At first, Superman was just
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  Speaker 2: another character to fill pages in detective comics. His creators
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  Speaker 2: did not even know where he came from. They added
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  Speaker 2: much of his story later, as Superman grew popular.
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  Speaker 1: Today, through the work of many creators, Superman has become
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  Speaker 1: a symbol for good in the world. Though he may
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  Speaker 1: no longer be the most popular character, people still turn
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  Speaker 1: to him in times of crisis. In difficult times, Superman
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  Speaker 1: is a clear force for good. He does what he
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  Speaker 1: believes is right without compromising who he is. The world
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  Speaker 1: does not always permit this kind of easy choice. It's
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  Speaker 1: not always easy to know what is right and what
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  Speaker 1: is wrong. But Superman shows us that good, above all,
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  Speaker 1: is still possible.
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  Speaker 2: Books are influenced by... by the people who create them,
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  Speaker 2: even if that influence is not obvious. What other stories
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  Speaker 2: can you think of where religion has influenced fiction? Do
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  Speaker 2: you read comic books? Who is your favourite superhero? Why?
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  Speaker 2: You can leave a comment on our website at www.spotlightenglish.com.
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  Speaker 2: You can also find us on YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram
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  Speaker 2: and X. You can also get Spotlight episodes delivered directly
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  Speaker 2: to your Android or Apple device through our free official
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: Spotlight English app.
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  Speaker 1: The writer of this program was Dan Christman. The producer
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  Speaker 1: was Michio Osaki. The voices you heard were from the
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  Speaker 1: United States and the United Kingdom. All quotes were adapted
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  Speaker 1: for this episode and voiced by Spotlight. No AI or
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: artificial intelligence was used in this episode. Spotlight episodes are written, voiced,
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  Speaker 1: and produced by real people for real people. no matter
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  Speaker 1: where in the world they live. This episode is called
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  Speaker 1: The Story of Superman.
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  Speaker 2: We hope you can join us again for the next
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  Speaker 2: Spotlight episode. Goodbye.