REAL:
Wonder Woman,
a.k.a. Diana Prince |
HOLLYWOOD BOULEVARD:
Wonder Woman,
a.k.a. Jennifer Gehrt |
REAL:
Superman, a.k.a.
Clark Kent,
a.k.a.
Kal-El |
HOLLYWOOD
BOULEVARD:
Superman,
a.k.a. Christopher
Dennis |
| Wonder Woman is an
amazonian princess who leaves her
native Paradise Island to live in
the world of men (and other women).
She is said to be as "beautiful as
aphrodite, wise as athena, swifter
than Hermes, and stronger than
Hercules." and she is single. |
Jennifer Gehrt is a
former homecoming queen who left
her native Tennessee to pursue fame
and fortune in la-la land. She is
single - now. She divorced after a
quickie marriage in Las Vegas. "I'm
very hard to deal with," Gehrt
concedes in the documentary. "I'm
very highmaintenance when it comes
to attention." |
Kal-El, born on the
doomed planet of Krypton, is saved
by his parents when they put him in
a rocket and send him on a course
toward Earth. Here, thanks to our
planet's lesser gravitational pull
and yellow sun, he has superpowers.
(Look, that probably made sense in
1938.) Today, he lives in a city
named Metropolis and works, out of
costume, as a mild-mannered
reporter. |
Christopher Dennis is
a reformed drug user who now smokes
cigarettes in private, since heroes
don't light up in public. He got
off drugs after deciding "enough is
enough," he says in Confessions. "I
was watching TV [while on drugs]
and saw a death scene. It was
almost like I was watching my own
death." Dennis is now addicted to
all things Superman. He has crammed
his Los angeles apartment with more
than $90,000 worth of Superman
memorabilia. |
| To fight against the
nazis in World War II. at least,
that was the original purpose when
Wonder Woman moved to the world of
man. Today, she fights somewhat
lesser evils of all kinds. |
To become famous.
"What else is there?" Gehrt asks.
"Sure, a doctor saves lives, but is
he remembered? Is he there for all
times? People are still talking
about Marilyn Monroe. People are
still talking about Elvis Presley.
People in the entertainment
business are forever here." |
To help protect weak
earthlings, especially us american
weak earthlings. Early on, Superman
declared that he stood for "truth,
justice and the american way." Of
late, that's been updated, or maybe
downgraded. In Superman Returns,
the latest bigscreen adaptation of
the character, the slogan has
become, "Truth, justice, and all
that stuff." |
To become famous.
Dennis, as Superman, is now a
semiregular on Jimmy Kimmel Live!,
which is broadcast just across the
street from the Kodak Theater and
Mann's Chinese Theatre, where the
costumed heroes in Confessions do
their work. Those appearances have
helped him land other TV interviews
and magazine profiles. "I like to
think my future holds fame and
fortune," Dennis says in
Confessions. "I like to say I've
got the fame without the fortune
right now." |
|