SPOILER-FREE REVIEW
A dramatic indictment of the people behind animal trade and exhibition in the United States, with a deft retelling of an intrinsically crazy story that's well worth your time.
Netflix has hit the jackpot. A lot of people who have been stuck at home - bored with the vast catalogue of homogeneous TV shows - have been waiting for something just like this. According to Nielsen, Netflix’s new 8-episode documentary Tiger King has racked up 34 million unique viewers within its first ten days of release, just shy of Stranger Things’ 3’s 36.3 million over a similar timespan. Why is this? Well first, Tiger King presents a crazy world populated with bizarre personalities you almost won’t believe exist in real life, like the Christian evangelicals in Jesus Camp or the Flat Earthers in Behind the Curve - so from that perspective, most of the work has already been done. That said, the producers of the show have only doubled down on it to make it an absolutely irresistible mockumentary exploiting the excesses and shock value of reality TV.
It begins with a statistic: there are more captive tigers within the United States than there are in the world. It presents to us the world of animal breeding and exhibition, and the eccentric people involved in this business. The series focuses on private animal collectors, zookeepers, animal rights activists and the like - who are dangerously motivated, borderline sociopathic, and engage in questionable relationships and business. Joe Exotic, the show’s main face, just might be rarer than the panthera tigris. A gun-wielding gay zoo owner who once ran for President of the United States and was later sentenced to 22 years in prison for his involvement in a murder-for-hire plot; it’s guaranteed that you’ve never seen anyone like him. It’s an intriguing setup, and one that Netflix knows is irresistible.
Other characters featured include the animal rights activist Carole Baskin, big cat conservationist Kevin Antle, drug smuggler Mario Tabraue, professional conman Jeff Lowe, and James Garretson. The genius of the show is that nothing about them is as it seems. As a fan of The Office who revels in the hate Michael Scott has for Toby, I found it very amusing to watch Joe Exotic antagonize Baskin, his mortal enemy whom he believes is hell bent on taking away his zoo. One episode shows Joe recording a video in which he shoots a mannequin with Baskin’s name on it. Unlike The Office, these are terrifying threats. Joe takes things quite far, and the audience follows along almost unconsciously, due to a twisted sense of curiosity
Tiger King isn’t nearly as interested in informing viewers as it is with provoking them. With its mix of calm-but-bizarre interview segments, shocking hidden camera footage, and use of comedic music videos (most of which were created by Joe Exotic himself), the show dials up the insanity to eleven. We spend a frankly disturbing amount of time entertaining the opinions of Carole Baskin’s associates and acquaintances, who think she might have killed her husband. The show is also deliberately fast paced; barely giving you five minutes to process things before dropping another wild story bit or cliffhanger that changes the story. At the very least, it leaves you to reason things for yourself. At times, it rapidly flits back and forth between interviewees - especially Joe and Carole - to reveal ugly, unacknowledged similarities between their beliefs and actions.
It delves deep into the drama, but keeps a healthy distance from it despite a lack of objective voice in the series. It’s quite clear that there are no winners in this cutthroat business and that everyone is at fault in some way. Joe Exotic, Carole Baskin, Doc Antle, and others justify their work by citing their love for the animals. But given their feuds and conflicts with each other, it is clear that their actions benefit them more than the innocent animals in their custody.
If you have half a day to spare, I recommend binge watching Tiger King. Its focus on the players rather than the game gives it high entertainment value, but it is just unbiased enough to make any sane viewer consider how they might be contributing to a broken system - either by owning a pet or visiting zoos, malls or private shelters to pet cubs, especially when it comes to rare animals. As if a deadly virus outbreak wasn’t enough, Tiger King serves a warning to all: leave these poor animals alone.
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