Tigers, lions, bears and murder come to Netflix in the crime thriller documentary series “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness.”
The eye-opening limited series follows big cat aficionados across the United States and gives a close-up look on the nitty-gritty details that come with the wild lifestyle of breeding and selling tigers, lions and other large, exotic animals.
The docuseries arrived on Netflix on March 20, instantly becoming a smash-hit, earning a 97 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and trending on almost all social media platforms.
Directors of the series Rebecca Chaiklin and Eric Goode caught four years of big cat antics and insanity that slowly unraveled into a spiraling case of deceit and distrust.
The series introduces the star of the show pretty early in; not the tigers specifically, but the man responsible for them. Joe Exotic, a country singer, polygamist and big cat enthusiast who doesn’t take anything from anybody. The gun-toting ringleader may not be the most average looking person, but he sure knows how to handle cats as well as people.
After watching the first few episodes of “Tiger King,” viewers begin to see the backstabbing nature of the big cat world and how dangerous some of the people in the business of trading and owning exotic animals can be. So dangerous, in fact, that a federally investigated murder-for-hire case came to be. The film crew had cameras running on Joe Exotic’s operation at all times, capturing the good, the bad, and especially the seriously ugly.
As Exotic’s operation became the target of the group Big Cat Rescue, led by wildlife advocate Carole Baskin, things began to change. Viewers and Joe Exotic’s staff alike watched the downward spiral of their Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park.
Carole Baskin began her own campaign against the keeping of exotic animals like lions and tigers as pets, all while running her own exotic animal rescue which people are allowed in to view the animals.
It all seems very contradictory itself, but once tides turn for Joe Exotic and money becomes the ultimate goal, her opposition becomes more understandable.
Baskin becomes Exotic’s archnemesis as they are locked in an internet-video battle over the controversial disappearance of Baskin’s first husband, and Exotic claims he knows she fed him to her tigers to claim his money. While it is still uncertain whether or not this is true, the evidence the show provides was enough for the missing person case filed under Baskin’s ex-husband’s name to be reopened, which leaves viewers questioning until the very end of the series.
All the events that transpire are best described by the phrase, “over the top,” but while filming all the insanity among the humans in this situation, the film hints at all the looming problems that come with the breeding and keeping of exotic cats.
One of those problems is that after six months, tigers become close to full-grown and cannot safely interact with humans, so many private zoo owners have been accused of euthanizing the cubs that are no longer any use to them for their petting or interactive exhibits.
While it was nice to get wrapped up in the absolute insanity the show brought to light, it is important to remember that these animals are seriously endangered and are not intended for domestication. In fact, these animals cannot be entirely domesticated. The series closes out with its most important message in plain text right before credits roll: “There are more captive tigers in the U.S. than there are in the wild.”
Alex Dube can be contacted at
adube@kscequinox.com
