IndyArts: Rainn Wilson, Vince Staples and Anna X

The Independent’s entertainment newsletter [View in browser]( [The Independent]( July 10, 2021 [The Independent]( Written by Alexandra Pollard The IndyArts Newsletter Welcome back to the IndyArts newsletter. I'm sure I hardly need to remind you of the hugely important competition that's ramping up to its nail-biting climax. I am talking, of course, about Cannes Film Festival – and Adam White's [done a helpful rundown]( of the most exciting new films being shown there. OK, yes, football may or may not be coming home this weekend too, as England play Italy in the Euro 2020 final. My colleague Louis Chilton [pondered why there's not been a good football song since "Three Lions" 25 years ago](. That song "stands out because, for all its limitations as a piece of artistry, it managed to convey a multifaceted idea with extreme simplicity," he wrote. "It’s coming home. In just three words, the song manages to evoke decades of longing, hope, frustration, arrogance, pride, and pain." Meanwhile, on Sunday, my interview with Rainn Wilson, AKA Dwight Schrute from The US Office, will be out. He talked about growing up in an eccentric family, playing oddballs, and why he believes The Office would be tricky to make today. [Oscars image]( Nbc-Tv/Kobal/Shutterstock Helen Brown [interviewed the author Joanne Limburg about her new book,]( Letters to my Weird Sisters: On Autism and Feminism, an ode to women like her throughout history. I hugely recommend it. “I’ve been told that somebody with a profile like mine ought to have dropped out of university,” she told Helen. “But nobody told me to fail, so I didn’t. Nobody told me I wasn’t supposed to get married. Nobody told me I wasn’t supposed to be somebody’s mother. So I’m afraid I went ahead and did all those things, as if I were – shock horror – an ACTUAL PERSON.” The Saturday Interview – [Vince Staples]( [Oscars image]( Tyree Harris The Californian is a rarity in rap music: a tell-it-how-it-is storyteller who has no interest in the fame game. He talked to Yemi Abiade about revisiting his childhood for his new album, the problem with glamourising gang culture, and how he stays grounded. [Oscars image]( Tyree Harris Read an extract from our Saturday Interview below... Staples blames the environment around 6ix9ine, Melly and others for their desire to project a hardcore image. “This is a business where we monetise people’s struggles, pain, death and murder,” he says. “If you’re a kid from a situation, and you feel the only way that you will get out of the situation where there’s immense poverty or bad home life or low self-esteem is by doing this thing that everyone is selling, you’re going to try to sell that thing. We’ve seen people market and distribute death and destruction within our communities for decades; they do these things because it gets attention. What do we really expect when we give people millions of dollars to say they’re tough? They’re gonna say they’re tough. It’s common sense.” You could argue that there’s increased visibility of these rappers due to social media – which heightens the sensationalism around marketing their toughness, real or imagined, to wider audiences – but Staples thinks there’s too much focus on “bad boy” role models everywhere at the moment. “These people who do the wrong thing are always brought up [by the media], but no one who’s done the right things has been mentioned,” says Staples, drawing on Will Smith’s musician son as an example. “Jaden Smith gives food to the homeless and has a water company – I’ve never heard anyone say his name in an interview.” [Read the full interview here]( What to binge this week [Oscars image]( BBC [The Office UK]( The mockumentary sitcom not only inspired its beloved US counterpart but changed the face of TV comedy. It turned 20 this week, and [we ran this wonderful oral history of the show](, with input from its co-creator Stephen Merchant as well as members of the cast. If you've not seen it – or want to refresh your memory – it's streaming on Now TV. Out and about [Anna X – Harold Pinter Theatre]( Nabhaan Rizwan and The Crown's Emma Corrin star in the third of the three plays that comprise the Pinter's RE:Emerge season. This one is inspired by the real-life story of con artist Anna Delvey. [Get tickets here]( [Wildlife Photographer of the Year – Natural History Museum]( The 56th Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition is the perfect opportunity to spend some time soaking up the diversity of the natural world, with each image selected by a panel of experts. [Get tickets here]( [Matthew Barney: Redoubt – Hayward Gallery]( "Anyone familiar with the provocative artist’s elaborate cultural cross-referencing," wrote our art critic Mark Hudson, "won’t be surprised to learn that Redoubt is a reworking of the classical myth of Diana and Actaeon." [Get tickets here]( Essential reading [Amsterdam tells party tourists to stay home]( [Amsterdam tells party tourists to stay home]( [Netflix India releases music video ‘Namma stories’ as part of their expansion into southern India]( [Netflix India releases music video ‘Namma stories’ as part of their expansion into southern India]( [Ten Entertainment to consult staff and customers over masks]( [Ten Entertainment to consult staff and customers over masks]( If you can spare a minute we’d love your [feedback]( on our newsletters. [The Independent]( Join the conversation or follow us [Facebook]( [Twitter]( Please do not reply directly to this email You are currently registered to receive The Independent's entertainment newsletter. Add us to your safe list of senders. If you do not want to receive The Independent's entertainment newsletter, please [unsubscribe](list_name=IND_Culture_Newsletter_CDP). 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