Now there as been a show going around called “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness”, and if you haven’t seen all of the memes, I have one question; where have you been? So if you haven’t heard of the Netflix Original show, it is about Joe Exotic an exotic animal owner, owned G.B. Zoo in Oklahoma. He had many claim to fame opportunities throughout his life, with his 2016 Presidential Campaign, his album with a music video to match. He ran for governor and was on tv multiple times, along with his own television show on public access. If I am being honest I didn’t really think twice about this documentary until a coworker of mine sung his praises about the show, I decided that I didn’t have anything better to do during this stay at home order, so I gave it a shot.
Let me start off by saying I did not realize what I was getting myself into, nor did I think it would be nearly as crazy as what people and memes said about it. I was expecting to it to be hyped up like for instance, Pitch Perfect, I am not saying that movie wasn’t good, it was just hyped up so much that I was expecting more. I have to admit though Joe Exotic delivered with astonishing colors, now I wish that more details would be put out onto the documentary, but from those seven episodes Netflix surely delivered, and diving into the crazy life of Joe Exotic and company was just what the doctor ordered during this pandemic.
Now to get into the subject of why Joe Exotic is possibly one of the craziest people I have ever had the pleasure of watching a documentary on. I do think there are a lot of questions that have remained unanswered, such as why is everyone on the show complete and utter assholes. There is the matter of Carole Baskin, which in my opinion used sardine oil to do something criminally awful. My own thought after watching it as why is there a complete battle between Carole and Joe besides the obvious, but on an ethical level. They both keep their tigers in a cage, and if you watch it you see that Carole’s cages are smaller, while Joe Exotic’s are way more open. I am not saying that the domestic ownership of exotics are okay. They deserve to live in their own environment, but animal abuse is okay. What the show actually taught me was that exotic animal owners are fucked up and are money grabbing people.
I do think that you need to experience this wild ride for yourself and make your own decisions but I think it is worth the watch. From a documentary loving girl to anyone who wants to smile and laugh through all of the COVID-19 pandemic and take your mind off it. I mean what else do you have to lose, we are stuck inside. It will just kill way more time for you.