'Dragon Mama' Sara Porkalob; A Melanated 'X-Files', That 'Moana' Wig; 'Project Hail Mary'; Mahjong Colonizers; and Changes at SXSW
A weekly(ish) digest of arts, media, culture, and nonsense
Thank you for being a subscriber to the DIASPORA newsletter! Help support our work and independent journalism by contributing to our GoFundMe as we build our nonprofit era. If you want to have full, EXCLUSIVE access to articles like this and more thoughtful, fact-driven, non-clout chasing journalism about arts and culture that is not influenced by the corporate pressures of Hollywood, please consider donating. Help us amplify untold stories as we build DIASPORA into the media organization our culture deserves!
Your donations will help fund and develop DIASPORA’s journalism mentorship program, community salons, as well as general operations, initiatives, and events to help bolster trustworthy journalism, community, and underrepresented voices. For more information and to be part of our vision and work, please click here.
‘Dragon Mama’ star Sara Porkalob has thoughts about representation
Sara Porkalob is currently at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles with Dragon Mama, which is part of her Dragon Cycle, a trilogy of one-woman shows that takes us on an intergenerational journey of family drama, ghosts, Filipino gangsters, and tons of ’90s R&B.
I had the chance to talk to Porkalob about representation vs. visibility recently. We waxed poetic and dove deep into what representation means in 2026.
“Here’s the thing, representation is always important,” Porkalob told me. “However, it will not save us. Often, when representation is rolled out on the red carpet, it’s the institution’s way of saying ‘Here’s representation! Doesn’t that make you happy that I’m putting a Band-Aid on racism?” And then oftentimes the work stops there.”
We talked about how Here Lies Love and its divisiveness, but also how it is giving Filipino performers and creatives a paycheck — even though the entire conceit from the musical came from the minds of two white men. “Do I want Filipino Americans forever and always, to only ever be in plays about Filipino Americans written by non-Filipinos?” she explained. “No, that’s a cursed life.”
Porkalob continued, “I think representation is good, but it shouldn’t be the end of the work, and oftentimes it can be problematic. I want people to come to the work that I do and feel encouraged to stand in whatever their identity means to them. I know being Filipino, Filipino-American, or AAPI doesn’t look one way. There are more than 100 different ways to be authentically who we are, and that’s why it’s so important to share our stories, because it’s only when we talk openly about who we are and where we came from that we’re actually able to see even the diversity within our own cultural group.”
Ryan Coogler sets Danielle Deadwyler and Hamish Patel for The X-Files pilot
Ryan Coogler’s The X-Files pilot is blessed and highly melanated.
Danielle Deadwyler and Hamish Patel are ready to find the truth… because they know that it is out there.
In February, Hulu officially greenlit the pilot, and it was announced that Deadwyler would star. Fast forward about a month later, and we find out that Patel will star opposite his Station Eleven castmate.
Coogler is set to write and direct the pilot while his Proximity Media partners, Sev Ohanian and Zinzi Coogler, will serve as EPs. Simone Harris from the Proximity team is a co-executive producer. Jennifer Yale (See, The Copenhagen Test) is set as the showrunner. OG X-Files godfather and creator Chris Carter will be involved as a non-writing executive producer on the series.
I was never really plugged into the X-Files world. Even so, I know the significance of the iconic series that originally starred Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny as FBI Special Agents Dana Scully and Fox Mulder.
The series premiered on Fox in 1993 and broke open a new brand of fandom and storytelling. The X-Files sprouted nine seasons, two feature films, and a two-season revival in 2016. It has remained a pop cultural touchstone.
The new show’s official description: “Two highly decorated but vastly different FBI agents form an unlikely bond when they are assigned to a long-shuttered division devoted to cases involving unexplained phenomena.”
There has been buzz that Anderson may return as Agent Scully. Earlier this week, Anderson made an appearance at Awesome Con, where she said she has had a few conversations with Coogler and has read the script for the pilot.
“He’s such a cool guy, and so talented. And the pilot script is really good,” Anderson said at Awesome Con. “I would say, have an open mind and give it a chance, because it’s gonna be fucking cool. It really is.”
Now all we need is for Mulder to give a thumbs up, and it will complete the circle.
… and I guess I am gonna have to be a diehard X-Files fan now.
That Moana wig though…
As soon as we saw The Rock in that long fall of a wig with a wicked hairline in the new trailer for the live-action Moana (arguably, this version can be considered animated with all the digital effects), the Internet did not hold back.
They roasted the fuck out of that shake and go extravaganza — but are you really surprised? This is a Disney project, and Disney owns Marvel — and have you seen those wigs that Black Widow and company are wearing? The lacefronts are lacefronting.
You’d think that they would find the best in wig tech, but apparently, Disney doesn’t see a problem.
Amazon MGM Studios scores big with their Hail Mary
Project Hail Mary premiered in theaters on March 20 to the tune of $80.5 million at the box office, marking Amazon MGM’s biggest opening, outpacing 2023’s Creed III, which made a $58 million box office debut.
Adapted from Andy Weir’s novel, Project Hail Mary is the perfect starring role for the Mickey Mouse Club alum. Gosling is the only actor who could convince me to emotionally invest in a relationship between a science teacher in space and an alien rock creature.
There has already been Oscar buzz around Project Hail Mary.
To that I say, “Calm the fuck down. We just got done with the Oscars, let’s just take a beat.”
The great colonization of mahjong by white women of the world
In 2021, some white women decided to Lisa Frank-icize mahjong, the Chinese tile game that originated in the 19th century.
The cutesy colonizing wasn’t cute then, and it ain’t cute now.
In a recent New York Times article about decorative game rooms, we are introduced to Megan Jett Trottier, founder and chief executive of Oh My Mahjong (the name of the company itself should be considered a hate crime).
Trottier’s Oh My Mahjong charges up to $500 for a set of tiles. I brought my set from some random store in Chinatown for $60. My set is far more authentic than the Jojo Siwa-ified products at Oh My Mahjong, which include mahjong mats for $100 and they’re tacky.
So what can we do?
Nothing. I mean, we can troll them, but that gets boring fast.
White women like this will always do what they want because the colonizers have been revisiting their roots as of late.
And in other news…changes are afoot at SXSW
PMC, which owns Variety and a majority stake in SXSW, has put Peter Debruge as the director of the TV and Film festival. Debruge was recently a film critic at Variety, but after Claudette Godfrey stepped down from the position. The amazing Godfrey served as director for four years, and before her, the iconic Janet Pierson held the role for 15 years.
After a 20-year tenure at Variety, Debruge steps into the position of director, following Godfrey, who has been a veteran of SXSW for nearly two decades. Debruge is a native of Waco, TX (which is a stone’s throw away from Austin). Both attended the University of Texas. Godfrey is currently (and, I believe, has always been) Austin-based.
It’s clear that PMC, which continues to take over the Hollywood media scene at a passive-aggressive pace (they also have Golden Globes under their thumb, remember?), is extending this power to SXSW. They are keeping it in the family by putting Debruge in this position. I’m sure he is more than capable and has the skills, but I feel like Godfrey was just getting started.
So to be clear: a former critic from a PMC publication is now working as the director of a festival which is largely owned by PMC, that is covered extensively by PMC’s own outlets, including Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, and IndieWire.
There’s nothing wrong with this structure, but it sure as hell doesn’t seem right.
Debruge being appointed to lead SXSW Film & TV is part of the changes that were happening even before Godfrey left her post with little to no explanation. In April 2025, former SXSW President Hugh Forrest “left” his post — or did he?
“Leaving SXSW was definitely not my decision,” said Forrest in a statement. “I put my heart and soul into this event for more than 35 years—and I was looking forward to leading several more editions. To this end, I will be rooting big time for the Austin team going forward. The city, the country, the world needs the positive energy SXSW has traditionally provided, needs it now more than ever.”
In 2021, PMC acquired 50% stake in SXSW. Two years later, they bumped it up to 51% to take a controlling interest. That said, this sort of change was inevitable.
I’ve been going to SXSW on and off for over 20 years. I was born in San Antonio and spent most of my life there. I lived all over Texas, including Austin. I wonder if I had stayed at Deadline, if I would have been able to be the Director of SXSW Film & TV.
Silly me. I think we all know the answer to that.
Nonetheless, SXSW feels like it’s going in a new direction. I don’t know if this is good news, but with the Austin Convention Center out of commission for the next couple of years and the media landscape divided and in disarray, things are changing. Is this a reflection of the consolidation of power? Will it be for the better? We’ll see.
