El cuerpo gordo como pedagogía moral televisiva: melodrama y regulación cultural en Kilos Mortales México
Journal
Signo y Pensamiento
ISSN
2027-2731
Publisher
Editorial Pontificia Universidad Javeriana
Date Issued
2026
Type
text::journal::journal article
Abstract
Este artículo analiza la serie televisiva Kilos Mortales México como un dispositivo cultural en el que convergen el melodrama, la biopolítica y la regulación afectiva del cuerpo. A partir de un enfoque cualitativo basado en el análisis textual, visual y discursivo de episodios seleccionados, el estudio examina cómo el programa construye la gordura no solo como una condición médica, sino como un problema moral sometido al juicio público. Inscrito en los estudios culturales latinoamericanos y en diálogo con la teoría del melodrama, los estudios críticos de la gordura y la noción foucaultiana de gubernamentalidad, el artículo sostiene que la serie produce una pedagogía moral televisiva en la que la transformación corporal funciona como evidencia de mérito y disciplina. La pérdida de peso se convierte así en un ritual mediático que traduce discursos biomédicos en obligaciones éticas familiarizadas. ©Las autoras © Pontificia Universidad Javeriana © Signo y Pensamiento.
This article examines the television series Kilos mortales México as a cultural dispositive where melodrama and affective regulation of the body converge. Drawing on a qualitative approach based on visual and discourse analysis of the six episodes that comprise the first season, the study explores how the program constructs fatness not only as a medical condition but also as a moral problem subjected to public judgment. Situated within Latin American cultural studies and engaging with theories of melodrama, critical fat studies, and Foucauldian governmentality, the article argues that the series produces a form of televisual moral pedagogy in which bodily transformation functions as visible evidence of merit and discipline. Weight loss thus becomes a mediated ritual that translates biomedical discourses into familiarized ethical obligations, revealing how reality television participates in the cultural regulation of bodies in Latin America.© The authors © Pontificia Universidad Javeriana © Signo y Pensamiento.
This article examines the television series Kilos mortales México as a cultural dispositive where melodrama and affective regulation of the body converge. Drawing on a qualitative approach based on visual and discourse analysis of the six episodes that comprise the first season, the study explores how the program constructs fatness not only as a medical condition but also as a moral problem subjected to public judgment. Situated within Latin American cultural studies and engaging with theories of melodrama, critical fat studies, and Foucauldian governmentality, the article argues that the series produces a form of televisual moral pedagogy in which bodily transformation functions as visible evidence of merit and discipline. Weight loss thus becomes a mediated ritual that translates biomedical discourses into familiarized ethical obligations, revealing how reality television participates in the cultural regulation of bodies in Latin America.© The authors © Pontificia Universidad Javeriana © Signo y Pensamiento.
License
Acceso Abierto
How to cite
Camacho-Gómez, M. del C., Zamorano-Rojas, A. D., & Romero-Delgado, C. I. (2026). El cuerpo gordo como pedagogía moral televisiva: melodrama y regulación cultural en Kilos Mortales México. Signo y Pensamiento, 45. https://doi.org/10.11144/javeriana.syp45.cgpm