读杂志：Reader’s Digest, August/ September 2025

I read the article “That Really Happened?” (The true story behind the stories) on “Reader’s Digest” August/September 2025.   Ruth gave me the magazine.

A) (1) Star Trek (1966-1969)
The USS Enterprise was not the first vessel to embark on a five year mission to explore new worlds, seek out new life.  The voyage of the Enterprise and its captain, James Kirk, closely resembles the real-life adventure of Capt. James Cook, the 18th-century British explorer.  Mr. Spock served as an equivalent to Cook’s science officer Joseph Banks, and Kirk’s stated mission closely mirrors Cook’s stated ambition to go “farther than any other man has been before me.”

(2）Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
On Aug.22, 1972, a man named John Wojtowicz , along with two accomplices, tried to rob a Brooklyn branch of the Chase Manhattan Bank.  The robbery was unsuccessful and resulted in a all-day stand  off with law enforcement to negotiate the release of the hostages inside.
The situation quickly deteriorated into somethiog more like a sitcom.  Wojtowicz spoke with reponers throughout the standolf in somewhat successful effort to gain public support. 
When police delivered pizza for the hostages. Wojtowicz insisted that he would pay for it and threw a wad of cash outside the building , a large crowd gathered outside to witness Wojtowicz’s antics and to cheer him on. Even the hostages couldn't help but be amused by what was happening。

(3) The Simpsons (1987-present)
America’s longest-running scripted prime-time TV show might be the closest thing the country has to a national epic. 
The Simpsons and their neighbors are relatable to many Americans. 
Much of the show was modeled after cartoonist Matt Groening's hometown of Portland, Oregon. 
While Groening insists his real family is not as quarrelsome as the tumultuous animated brood, he understands the show's vast appeal. "There's a universal trait in humans to feel misunderstood," he said on Radio Times, "and one of the messages in The Simpsons is 'You are not alone.' Others are as messed up as you, so laugh at it."

(4) Rocky (1976)
On March 24, 1975, a street- taught brawler from New Jersey stepped into the ring with Muhammad Ali, the heavyweight boxing Champion. Ali's opponent, Chuck Wepner, had a recent string of victories to his name. But he was also older than Ali .
Many considered Wepner a joke. But he stepped into that ring to make a statement. "Even if I don't win," he told his wife before the fight, "I just want to prove I belong there."
The fight became a slugfest, with both men throwing haymakers and dirty punches across 15 rounds. Wepner ultimately lost the battle by a technical knockouw, but he earned his place in boxing lore in the fight's ninth round, when he knocked down Ali. It was only the fourth time the champ had ever hit the canvas.
The fight's many twists and turns enthralled its viewers, among them a 28-year-old struggling actor named Sylvester Stallone. 
Stallone finished his screen- play in three and a half days and lobbied tirelessly to star as its main character. Like Wepner, the film overcame the odds, winning three Academy Awards, including best picture.

(5) A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)
Director Wes Craven came to borrowing horror stories from real life. In the 2006 documentary Never Sleep Again: The Making of A Nightmare on Elm Street, Craven revealed that the plot was loosely based on a series of articles that appeared in the Los Angeles Times beginning in the 1970s. The reports covered a"mysterious fatal malady" that killed dozens of otherwise healthy young men and at least one woman. The victims were living in the United States as refugees from Southeast Asia and died "in agony"late at night, apparently while having nightmares.
The strange malady made Craven realize , “I gotta do a movie about that.”

(6) Moby-Dick(1851)
Herman Melville's Moby-Dick , the titular"white whale" in Moby-Dick was based on not one but two real life whales. The first was an albino sperm whale that had encounters with more than 100 ships off the coast of Chile in the early 19th century. According to Smithsonian magazine. this huge whale, nicknamed Mocha Dick, was the primary inspiration for Moby Dick. The whale had white skin and a fierce temper.
Another inspiration for the novel was the sinking of the whaling ship Essex in 1820. After repairing some damage to their vessel, the Essex crew noticed an unusually large sperm whale circling their ship. The huge whale rammed the Essex twice, shattering its timbers. The vessel sank, and its crew members were forced onto three lifeboats roughly 2,000 miles west of South America.
Only eight of the ship's 20-person crew survived what happened next. 

(7) The Count of Monte Cristo (1844)
Alexandre Dumas’s The Count of Monte Cristo is a sweeping epic about a young man who named Edmond Dantes who is betrayed by jealous rivals and imprisoned on the day before his wedding. In prison, Dantes learns of a massive treasure hidden on the Italian island of Monte Cristo. After escaping, he seeks the treasure at Monte Cristo, which he uses to establish several new identities for one purpose: vengeance.
The Count of Monte Cristo also happens to be based on the betrayal that Alexandre Dumas's own father, Thomas- Alexandre Dumas, suffered under Napoleon Bonaparte.
Thomas- Alexandre was a French general who served in Europe during the French Revolutionary Wars and later in Egypt.  He was made a general at age 31 .   Unfortunately, Thomas-Alexandre soon made a powerful enemy in Napoleon.   After the two clashed in 1798 over Napoleon's unsuccessful campaign in Egypt, the future emperor decided to take drastle measures against his critic after Thomas-Alexandre was taken prisoner of war in Naples. 
Napoleon's treachery took a massive toll on Thomas- Alexandre's health and contributed to his death just five years after his release. This left his son, the future author, without a father when he was only 3. He "grew up on his mother's memories of his heroic and betrayed father," writes Grady. The book, and its success, was the revenge the Dumas family deserved. 

(B) I think: Writers create their works based on their own observations, life experiences, and even inspirations from others' works. It is inevitable that there are stories behind the works. For readers, it is also based on their own life experiences to understand and appreciate works.
I think the significance of literary works lies in increasing people's knowledge and enriching their spiritual life. It should not promote some incorrect ideas and rough and boring content!