'Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness'

I was drawn to watch 'Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness' on Netflix. It was extremely informative, and repulsive. At the end of the seven episodes, I felt sickened. Directors by Eric Goode and Rebecca Chaiklin spent five years in this world among controversial figures (dealers and owners) keeping big cats in cages across America, and one big-cat owner's ego loomed large in the series —Joseph Maldonado-Passage — the notorious Joe Exotic who owned a dodgy roadside zoo in Oklahoma.

The docuseries played up his feud with nemesis Carole Baskin. She owns Big Cat Rescue — a big cat sanctuary owner who is determined to put him out of business. The sanctuary sells tickets to visitors, and has great marketing and branding. Carole and her third and current husband Howard Baskin aren't pleased with how this docuseries has turned out. Her second husband Jack Donald-Lewis has been missing since August 1997 without any leads to his fate. However, the popularity of this docuseries has prompted Hillsborough County's Sheriff's Office to re-open the case. In an interview with the Esquire published on March 21, 2020, the directors shared what inspired them to film the show and some of their thoughts. They said,

What is certain is that while concern for the welfare of animals might inspire Tiger King’s subjects, the people procuring these wild creatures have a complex relationship to their animals. 

“They use these cats as a status symbol, to carve [themselves] out as being special,” says Goode. 

“Their identities were completely tied up in their cats, whether it was being the ‘Mother Teresa of Cats,’ or the ‘Tiger King,’” Chaiklin adds.

Before watching this documentary, I never even knew who Joe Exotic is. He's currently in a federal prison in Texas. He has been sentenced for an attempted murder-for-hire conspiracy and animal cruelty charges, but he's appealing against the conviction. I was curious enough to read more into Joe Exotic's accused crimes, his treatment of animals, and his famous feud with Carole Baskin, and of course, the mysterious disappearance of her second husband. So many juicy assumptions and theories.

I'm not a fan of zoos or circuses with live animals. I was that strange kid who didn't like visiting any zoo or aquariums, and made my objection known, loudly. I was certainly not interested in catching any circuses anywhere. And I most certainly don't hanker for any visits to a Sea World, Ocean World and such. Marine mammals and sea creatures belong in the wild, not in captivity.

I really like small cats and big cats. Cubs and kittens are always cute. But they don't belong in cages. They should remain in the wild, and not be used to satisfy vain humans and their need to dominate. No matter what, they shouldn't 'broken' to do the humans' bidding. Not in this time.

Wired's Kate Knibbs sums it up really well in her essay published on March 31, 2020, ''Tiger King' is Cruel and Appalling—Why Are We All Watching It?' It is a fairly repulsive show, and I watched it. There's this thing about hunting, then there's this thing about trophies and owning live animals. The songs are hilarious and sad at the same time. The docuseries reminded me that America still has a healthy trade in the underbelly of exotic pet ownership. Drugs, meth, suicide, and ego. Guns rule too. I can understand why PETA does what it does in America. Although violence begets violence.

As the documentary progresses, Joe’s story curdles from that of a crude but essentially well-meaning local eccentric into that of someone both dangerous and cruel. The bulk of the narrative is devoted to unpacking Joe’s prolonged feud with a daffy Floridian millionaire named Carole Baskin. Like Joe, Carole keeps big cats and other wild animals in cages and charges visitors to see them while paying her support staff meager wages. Unlike Joe, who openly breeds his cats for money, Carole markets her operation as an animal sanctuary—Big Cat Rescue—and has pledged to rid the country of breeding, growing a devoted online fanbase. Her Instagram’s huge. 

Although the animals they keep have similarly grim living conditions, the rivals do not. Carole is a wealthy faux-hippie; Joe is a cash-strapped raw nerve. Carole accuses Joe of animal abuse; Joe accuses Carole of killing her late husband and feeding him to her tigers (a claim she denies). Carole’s weapon is her fat tiger-print pocketbook, as she can stay in legal battles long enough to ruin Joe financially. Joe’s weapons are more varied and far scarier. Sometimes his plots against Carole are goofy, like when he hires a look-alike to portray her in a homemade music video. But more frequently, they are cause for real alarm, as he fantasizes out loud about killing her again and again. Joe does not succeed in killing Carole. But he does claw his own life into tatters as he pursues her, as well as the lives of the people who are loyal to him and the animals in his care.