By: Holden Caplan
Photo Manager
Netflix’s new documentary series “Tiger King” is the most thrilling television to binge during quarantine. The show is packed with audacious characters, revenge plots, and tons of tigers.
“Tiger King” directed by Eric Goode has created a cult classic. The series was shot with a low budget set up which leads to a very immersive and entertaining show style. The crazy, unscripted, out of these world stories and people are what makes this series so special and fun to watch.
The documentary series mainly focuses on the tiger king himself aka Joe Exotic aka Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage. The show holds nothing back in revealing the secrets of the domestic large cat Industry. Whether it be the sad realities of maintaining a private zoo, profiting off of the sufferings of caged animals, or revealing the inner workings of the big cat trade this show has it all.
Additionally, one of the show’s main focuses is the long time feud between Joe Exotic and Carole Baskin. Carole Baskin, atone time a large cat zoo owner herself, transitioned her business into a sanctuary for old or dying cats. Carole and Joe were never able to see eye to eye and thus lead to them being arch nemesis.
A key part of the show and the fall of Joe Exottic was due to the cruel treatment of his animals. But as it was explained in the series, after a certain age the tigers would become too dangerous for guests to be around and when that happens in some cases Joe or the other workers at the zoo would kill healthy animals. The show emphasizes the disheartening stories like this from Joe’s zoo but it’s even worse to think that these awful solutions are put into practice everyday by zoos all over the country and the world.
Despite all of the wrongdoings of Joe Exotic he did seem he had a genuine heart who cared for others.The show follows the relationship that was built between Joe Exotic and his first husband, Travis Maldonado. When the cameras were filming Travis was seen messing around with a handgun and fellow zoo employees until suddenly the gun went off accidentally shooting a bullet straight through Travis’s head and killing him. This was a very somber moment of the series and supports the idea that Joe endured a very hard life.
One of the most fascinating parts of the series is how every single person interviewed about the animals always said how in love and mesmerized they were by the creatures. For example, one of the workers at Joe’s zoo had their hand and part of their arm torn off by a tiger. Despite losing a hand and only spending only four short days in the hospital the zookeeper was back at it handling and working with the tigers. All the workers described a feeling that they would have from working with and caring for these 600 pound cats.
“Tiger King” may have been made for pure entertainment, however this series has sparked a lot of conversations about the legalities of the large cat industry. It puzzles me how deregulated private zoos and animal trading is.
Overall this is a great show to watch to pass the long hours of quarantine. Get ready for action, entertainment, and heartbreak. A very unique story brought to light.
“Tiger King” is only available to stream on Netflix. Rotten Tomatoes scored the show with an 86% satisfactory rating.
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