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News & ArtsTuesday, December 8, 2009
TV The Return of Hoarders
Posted by David Schmader on Tue, Dec 8, 2009 at 10:06 AM
The upsetting television show I spent a lot of the fall obsessing over has returned: Hoarders, the A&E documentary series devoted to—surprise!—hoarding, and produced right here in Seattle. I hold forth on the basic facts on Hoarders here.
Hoarders Season Two commenced the Monday before last, and is already better/worse than Season One. What more can I say about this alternately life-affirming and puke-inducing show? Nothing, and so I shall relinquish this space the poets, whose blackscreened words best capture the essence of Hoarders.
Thank you, Hoarders poets.
(Also, regarding last week's season opener, devoted entirely to New Orleans hoarder Augustine (another episode starring rancid cat corpses!), yes, it was horrifying, but her son Jason—who as a kid was forced to live with other family due to his mother's unsanitary hoarding, and who is now a guy living in Seattle—is a hero. This is someone whose mother literally chose three dozen piles of rancid garbage over her own son, and the now-grown Jason has clearly done a ton of work to grasp the fact that his mother chose garbage over motherhood due to mental illness. I can't imagine rallying that type of self-possession—for kids, parents are mythical creatures whose every gesture is a comment on your worth—but Jason somehow did it and rules.)
UPDATE/FUN FACT: The aforementioned heroic Jason sent me a sweet email telling me his name is Jason (not Josh, as I'd originally flubbed it). And his band Three Ninjas was name-checked in one of Larry Mizell Jr's recent My Philosophy columns. Small world.
1
Jason IS a mother effin' hero - he is certainly mine. Glad to see him getting the acknowledgement he so clearly deserves:)
4
I like to watch this show while I clean my room or do my laundry. It makes me feel like the most organized, productive person in the world.
5
I think the worst part of the Augustine episode was that farce of insisting Jason return home. I suspect that, if she really does want him to return, it's more out of wanting him to vindicate her: if he comes back, that means she wasn't a terrible mother. But it was just so painful watching him have to put up with it and be nice in exchange.
6
Haha! It's true, I am really good at oral.
amybang, there were apparently six episodes last season, and the second episode of this season just aired last night.
amybang, there were apparently six episodes last season, and the second episode of this season just aired last night.
7
Forget Jason, what about last night's episode, which featured 4000 pounds of shitty adult diapers that ate a freaking hole through the woman's ceramic bathroom tile.
8
keshmeshi: My mother has always said that she had me so that she'd have someone to take care of her when she gets old. I'm sure that's still on her mind. But yeah, she's obviously not overly concerned with what's best for me.
9
@8: "My mother has always said that she had me so that she'd have someone to take care of her when she gets old."
A lot of otherwise more-normal parents say that too.
Or maybe just mine. Maybe it's an Asian thing.
A lot of otherwise more-normal parents say that too.
Or maybe just mine. Maybe it's an Asian thing.
10
I haven't watched the episode with Jason's mom yet (it's queued up and ready to roll), but I am amazed at this disorder. So many of the people featured on the show seem like regular folks you might enjoy as coworkers or having the occasional cup of coffee with. They're mortified by their living conditions yet seem powerless to change. The only time you really notice there's something fundamentally different about them is when people start throwing shit (literally, in some cases) out and the hoarders freak.
It must take an incredible amount of courage to let cameras in to show the horror that is your mental disorder to the world. I feel guilty watching this show, but I'm at least glad that you get a sense of the hoarders' humanity.
It must take an incredible amount of courage to let cameras in to show the horror that is your mental disorder to the world. I feel guilty watching this show, but I'm at least glad that you get a sense of the hoarders' humanity.
11
Yes, Jason, you are indeed some kind of superhero. And it makes sense now that the show is produced in Seattle... everyone either lives in Washington or has connections, and I was starting to wonder if we were somehow the hoarding capital of the US.
Also a superhero is the hoarding specialist on some of the shows.. I can't remember her name, but the bubbly woman with short blonde hair. The psychiatrists are always condescending and worthless, but she actually connects with the hoarders as a non-judgmental friend, get shit done, and somehow turns an embarrassing, horrifying situation into a successful healing experience for all. Is there a Nobel Prize for compassion?
Also a superhero is the hoarding specialist on some of the shows.. I can't remember her name, but the bubbly woman with short blonde hair. The psychiatrists are always condescending and worthless, but she actually connects with the hoarders as a non-judgmental friend, get shit done, and somehow turns an embarrassing, horrifying situation into a successful healing experience for all. Is there a Nobel Prize for compassion?
12
Meggo, you're thinking of Dorothy. She IS a hero. I was skeptical before I met her, but she won me over very quickly. I was amazed at how she earned my mother's trust. Although, I thought our psychiatrist, Dr. Suzanne, was incredible too.
13
Oh Jason, I saw you on your mom's episode. You are such a sweetheart -- I think you are waaay patient, and I think you're exactly right to move far, far away from all that craziness. You can't help some people---all you can do is save yourself. Be sure you keep doing that, and be happy.
14
I've never watched this show...but I know someone who is a hoarder. It is sad.
Does making a TV show out of it in any way glorify it? Since I've never seen the show I don't know in what light they paint it.
But regardless of their pitch, maybe the fact that it even exists might glorify...or excuse it for some.
Hoarding is really sad.
Does making a TV show out of it in any way glorify it? Since I've never seen the show I don't know in what light they paint it.
But regardless of their pitch, maybe the fact that it even exists might glorify...or excuse it for some.
Hoarding is really sad.
15
That's really sad. Just another form of OCD. Some people are excessively neat and minimalist: that form is more socially acceptable.
16
Are they actually offering them real treatment this season, or just 3 days of panicked interaction with a personal organizer before the show abandons them?
17
Jason's sister is also a hero, especially to me. Without her, I probably never would have met Jason, and my life would be tragically less enriched. The important thing here is the link to his music. If you really want to get to know Jason, go listen to his stuff. He's especially phenomenal performing live.
18
Ok, I just watched the episode with Augustine, and I have to admit she is one of the least sympathetic people I've seen on this show. She just does not seem pleasant in any way. Jason, you and your sister are wonders.
19
meggers: Yes, we are provided with a budget for therapy and repairs after the show is filmed.
Thank you wolfbaculum and TVDinner.
Thank you wolfbaculum and TVDinner.
20
The "hoarders" so far this season have seemed a little abnormal, especially the old lady on last night's episode. There are times you can really see the OCD, where they're bitterly resisting even the trashiest of junk being thrown out, and then there are the "hoarders" that seem disinterested and just happy to see someone else taking care of their filth. Then I have to wonder if they are really a "hoarder" in the clinical sense, or if they're just lazy.
#16 I'm wondering that too. It does look like they're offering them 'aftercare' though they don't say how involved it is.
I'd really like to see a "Hoarders: Where are they now?" special episode to see how they've devolved.
#16 I'm wondering that too. It does look like they're offering them 'aftercare' though they don't say how involved it is.
I'd really like to see a "Hoarders: Where are they now?" special episode to see how they've devolved.
21
Between Intervention and Hoarders, A&E is my official "See? I kind of actually DO have my shit together!" channel.
Has anyone else noticed that they only seemed to cast (? - not sure if that's the right word for it) Hoarders from the deep south and Washington state, though? They're all from like Macon Georgia or somewhere around here. Kinda weird. Didn't know we were such a hordey state.
Also, to Jason: you're adorable.
Has anyone else noticed that they only seemed to cast (? - not sure if that's the right word for it) Hoarders from the deep south and Washington state, though? They're all from like Macon Georgia or somewhere around here. Kinda weird. Didn't know we were such a hordey state.
Also, to Jason: you're adorable.
22
crabflex: The company that produces Hoarders is located in Seattle, so that probably explains that. As for the deep South...maybe Seattle is a mecca for people escaping their families :-)
And thank you crabflex!
And thank you crabflex!
23
@20,
I would imagine that severe depression plays a role in that laziness. I've been severely depressed before, and it's really difficult to get the energy just to get dressed in the morning, let alone do chores. So you might be right that they're not suffering from clinical hoarding, but it's still something not quite right.
There was also a woman from last season who was clearly suffering from severe depression and crippling laziness. Her resistance to doing anything seemed to be more a resistance to improving her life than any strong attachment to her stuff.
I would imagine that severe depression plays a role in that laziness. I've been severely depressed before, and it's really difficult to get the energy just to get dressed in the morning, let alone do chores. So you might be right that they're not suffering from clinical hoarding, but it's still something not quite right.
There was also a woman from last season who was clearly suffering from severe depression and crippling laziness. Her resistance to doing anything seemed to be more a resistance to improving her life than any strong attachment to her stuff.
24
So it's been said, many times, etc. -- Jason, you and your sister did an amazing job of taking care of yourselves. Thank you. That's all.
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