This Week In Culture: August 24–August 30, 2019

A short preview of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker premiered at Disney's D23 conference. Since red signifies evil in the series, apparently everyone, including C3PO, is now evil. Even if she goes to the Dark Side, can we at least agree that we want to see Rey use that sick folding light saber like chopsticks?

Sony owns the rights to Spider-Man, but Disney owns Marvel Entertainment. The two companies have not made any progress negotiating a deal for Spidey to return to the Marvel universe. Actor Tom Holland is reportedly doing whatever a spider can to help the deal succeed.

A study released this week shows that Latinos are underrepresented in Hollywood, both as actors and on the production side. While Latinos make up 18% of the U.S. population, they starred in only 3% of the top-grossing movies in the past 12 years, directed only 4%, and had a total of just 4.5% of the speaking roles.

A humanoid robot is the newest member of the International Space Station crew. Launched from Russia in an unmanned Soyuz spacecraft, SkybotF850 will spend two weeks on the ISS being monitored by the crew as it performs basic tasks (such as shouting "DANGER, WILL ROBINSON!") before returning to Earth. The word maneuver comes to us from Latin, via French, for the words "hand" and "work".

Cameras at hundreds of popular spots and wearable technology like smart watches now allow surfers to record every wave they ride automatically. The author, a former professional surfer, isn't sure this is a good idea. He's afraid it's changing the way people surf, so that they're doing it for the cameras and not themselves. As more and more spaces and places in our lives become digitally documented, acting as freely as we do when we're alone becomes increasingly difficult.

Timothée Chalamet will star in a film version of Shakespeare's "Henriad" (Henry IV parts 1 & 2, Henry V) that will appear on Netflix this fall. The three plays depict the young Prince Hal's evolution from a misspent youth through his coronation and victory over the French at the Battle of Agincourt. If you're into words, Shakespeare is the greatest writer of all time; he invented hundreds that we still use today.

After being passed over by NBA teams, Jeremy Lin has signed with the Beijing Shougang Ducks. Lin is the first Asian-American to win an NBA title, this year with the Toronto Raptors, but he played only one minute of the six-game finals. He is best known for "Linsanity" (which is not a vocabulary word), the hype that surrounded him leading a season turnaround with the Knicks in 2012. Procedural can also refer to a type of TV show where all the processes that help solve a crime are shown.

Missy Elliott's new EP "Iconology" (which is a cool word too) dropped just before her performance at the Video Music Awards. Coming a couple of months after she was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the single "Throw It Back" makes a point of addressing the length of her career and showing that she's as sharp as ever.

"The Queen" returns to Netflix for its third season, with new actors playing the three of the central characters. Queen Elizabeth II is the oldest and longest-reigning monarch in the world; she has held her title for 67 years. The expression "free rein" (as in horse reins) is often misspelled as "free reign."

Leonardo DiCaprio pledged $5 million to Earth Alliance, the group he co-founded, to help protect the Amazon rainforest from further burning. French President Macron, who hosted the G7 conference, has been critical of Brazilian President Bolsonaro for eliminating environmental protections. Bolsonaro has responded by refusing the G7 money unless Macron apologizes.