You have probably heard people talking about the new Netflix documentary, Tiger King. Mullets, big cats, attempted murder, polygamy, it apparently has everything you could possibly want in a documentary.
I love a crazy true story, and this seems like it could be the greatest thing since Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened, or In Plain Sight, so I decided to check it out. I have only watched the first episode so far, and I can already tell that this is going to be a wild ride.
Warning: spoilers for the first episode below.
The documentary tells the story of Joe Exotic, the owner of a private zoo in America which houses a number of wild animals with the main attraction being his big cats, of which he has over 200. We meet his employees, his husband, Bhagavan 'Doc' Antle (another wildlife enthusiastic who runs an animal preserve and trains wild animals for movies), and Joe's nemesis, Carole Baskin, who runs Big Cat Rescue. Carole is a crazy (big) cat lady. Think leopard/tiger print everything; clothes, furniture, accessories. She provides a safe place for big cats to live out the rest of their days after they have retired from the circus, or people have given them up after buying them when they were small.
Side note: how crazy is it that people buy wild animals to have in their homes? I mean, yeah I get it, they're adorable, I'd love to just go out and buy a pack of meerkats, but I wouldn't, because THEY ARE NOT PETS. Get a domestic cat, don't get a fucking tiger. I looked it up and it's legal in eight states to own a tiger as a pet. Damn it America.
Also, I know if my cat cracks the shits and bites me it hurts like a motherfucker, imagine a tiger doing that! No thank you.
So, why has Joe made Carole his nemesis? Well, Carole, like most sensible people, thinks that breeding big cats so that they can live in captivity, and exploiting cubs for profit is wrong, and has tried to prevent this from happening. Joe and his team used to travel around the country to different malls, putting on a show involving the cubs, and magic tricks, because of course. Due to Carole's successful email campaign the malls stopped booking Joe, causing him to lose tens of thousands of dollars and build up a fierce hate for Carole.
At this stage of the series, I'm definitely on Carole's side. While zoos can do great things, raising awareness and money for conservation and rehabilitation of wild animals, we really shouldn't keep wild animals captive purely for our amusement or profit. While I have no doubt that Joe does really love his big cats, he talks about his mental health and how they have helped him through tough times in his life, he does seem to be breeding them for a life in captivity, and is focused on making a profit from them. I say at this stage because who knows what may come out over the course of the series, Carole might also turn out to be the worst. Either way, I think it will open up a discussion about the rights and wrongs of wild animal handling.
Some interesting notes on this episode:
I love a crazy true story, and this seems like it could be the greatest thing since Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened, or In Plain Sight, so I decided to check it out. I have only watched the first episode so far, and I can already tell that this is going to be a wild ride.
Warning: spoilers for the first episode below.
The documentary tells the story of Joe Exotic, the owner of a private zoo in America which houses a number of wild animals with the main attraction being his big cats, of which he has over 200. We meet his employees, his husband, Bhagavan 'Doc' Antle (another wildlife enthusiastic who runs an animal preserve and trains wild animals for movies), and Joe's nemesis, Carole Baskin, who runs Big Cat Rescue. Carole is a crazy (big) cat lady. Think leopard/tiger print everything; clothes, furniture, accessories. She provides a safe place for big cats to live out the rest of their days after they have retired from the circus, or people have given them up after buying them when they were small.
Side note: how crazy is it that people buy wild animals to have in their homes? I mean, yeah I get it, they're adorable, I'd love to just go out and buy a pack of meerkats, but I wouldn't, because THEY ARE NOT PETS. Get a domestic cat, don't get a fucking tiger. I looked it up and it's legal in eight states to own a tiger as a pet. Damn it America.
Also, I know if my cat cracks the shits and bites me it hurts like a motherfucker, imagine a tiger doing that! No thank you.
So, why has Joe made Carole his nemesis? Well, Carole, like most sensible people, thinks that breeding big cats so that they can live in captivity, and exploiting cubs for profit is wrong, and has tried to prevent this from happening. Joe and his team used to travel around the country to different malls, putting on a show involving the cubs, and magic tricks, because of course. Due to Carole's successful email campaign the malls stopped booking Joe, causing him to lose tens of thousands of dollars and build up a fierce hate for Carole.
At this stage of the series, I'm definitely on Carole's side. While zoos can do great things, raising awareness and money for conservation and rehabilitation of wild animals, we really shouldn't keep wild animals captive purely for our amusement or profit. While I have no doubt that Joe does really love his big cats, he talks about his mental health and how they have helped him through tough times in his life, he does seem to be breeding them for a life in captivity, and is focused on making a profit from them. I say at this stage because who knows what may come out over the course of the series, Carole might also turn out to be the worst. Either way, I think it will open up a discussion about the rights and wrongs of wild animal handling.
Some interesting notes on this episode:
- The zoo gift shop. Joe is selling underwear (a kind of leopard print hot pants vibe), sex gel (?), and beauty products, with his face on them because, well, who knows. Everything you would expect from a zoo gift shop.
- How much the big cats eat and where they get all the meat from. They get a few cows each day, but I think it's said that if they were just eating cows they would need 30 PER DAY. Wow. They also get alerted when there is roadkill, and they can go pick it up.
- Doc Antle seems like he has some stories, with his training of wild animals for movies etc, so it will be interesting to see what else we learn about him in the series.
So that's about it for episode one. I'm going to keep watching and see what madness unfolds. I know there's a lot more to it, just from watching the trailer, so I might do a recap of the whole series once I finish, make sure you check back!
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