Netflix has created a new genre with Marie Kondo's Tidying Up, Queer Eye and Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat

Vulture

"These three shows in particular bear more resemblance to one another than they do to whatever formats they may have aped," says Kathryn VanArendonk. "They’ve coalesced into their own genre — that of the Joyful Expert." What Tidying Up with Marie Kondo, which premiered on New Year's Day, shares in common with Samin Nosrat's Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat and The Fab Five's Queer Eye is that they all allow things to be "exciting, scary, new, unknown, pleasurable, beloved, disliked, anxiety-producing, forgivable, manageable," says VanArendonk. "They are ecstatic," she adds, "in the same way that a 17th-century evangelical account of finding God is ecstatic. Inside Queer Eye, Tidying Up, and Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat there’s an almost Puritan work ethic, the sense that effort and consciousness are good, and that easy things are suspect, especially if they reinforce a damaging status quo. But even though Kondo’s aesthetic is stark enough to mesh with a Puritanical view of the world, the point is not to focus your joy on abstract beliefs like God or service. The point is to cleave away every object and relationship that doesn’t actively delight you, to expend as much energy as you can give in the pursuit of food that pleases you, to examine yourself and your belongings in order to make yourself happier." VanArendonk adds that there is another common element linking all three shows: "None of them are hosted by straight, cis white men," she says. "This seems fundamental to what they are, but it’s tricky to untangle how that plays into their overall view of how the world should be. It’s amazing to see popular, buzzy, successful reality shows where the experts are queer people, women, and people of color. It is good that positions of expertise are held by people who aren’t typically recognized in those roles. It’s especially nice when the host and participants represent a broadly envisioned, inclusive image of the world."

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• Tidying Up isn't really a makeover show: "There’s no sense of competition, and the ostensible makeover at the heart of every episode simply involves regular people becoming happier and more at ease in their own home," says Sarah Archer. "Kondo doesn’t scold, shame, or criticize. Things spark joy or they don’t, and it’s fine either way."
• Tidying Up’s most surprising innovation is diverting the focus from its host to its subject: Other shows emphasize the "the genius of the interloper"
• This seems like Netflix's first real attempt at HGTV-type fare, but Tidying Up isn't as addictive
• Tidying Up is nothing special -- it's dangerously close to being a show where a woman just tells people to tidy up
• Tidying Up sparks dread: The KonMari method can be seen as a means of self-discipline and deprivation
• A psychology professor explains how watching "organization porn" like Tidying Up can serve as a stress reliever
• A novelist complaints about Tidying Up: "I don’t give a sh*te if you throw out your knickers and Tupperware but the woman is very misguided about BOOKS"