Reaffirming bourgeois gluttony: The (de)subjectification of hoarders in the context of American consumerism

Abstract

The television series Hoarders pathologizes and stigmatizes the hoarders that are represented in the series discursively and visually. By (de)subjectifying the hoarder, the series removes any kind of identification between the audience of the series and the hoarders. With techniques borrowed from horror films, the series presents the hoarders as grotesque spectacles which are in no way relatable. In doing so, the series stigmatizes the behavior of the hoarder while reaffirming the (consumption)behavior of the audience. Stigmatizing the hoarder affirms the normalcy of bourgeois gluttony and consumption.