Tiger King (2020)

Watchseries; Humans use (and abuse) animals in all sorts of ways, and I don't accept that this is somehow worse when we consider those animals to be magnificent in some ways than when we do not. But there are clearly issues of cruelty involved if you don't keep large animals in appropriate conditions, and as Netflix documentary 'Tiger King' makes clear, many private zoos do not. The documentary also makes one other thing absolutely clear: everyone involved in this business is completely crazy. In fact, one feels a little uneasy watching, for the progamme feels like it has been constructed to have us gawk at all the freaks, and although many appear to be truly awful human beings, you do wonder if anyyone has been treated fairly. In a very meta twist, much of the footage comes from the main protagonist's YouTube channel which was itself created by a TV crew in exchange for the latter being allowed to film a "reality TV" programme about him. At the end of the day, it's hard to know what's real, except for the fact that it seems that if anyone in the United States wants to own one (or a hundred) tigers, all you have to do is put up your money (and much the same thing applies if you want to own one, or a hundred, guns as well). Viewed from a European perspective, sometimes the U.S. seems a very strange place.

Humans use (and abuse) animals in all sorts of ways, and I don't accept that this is somehow worse when we consider those animals to be magnificent in some ways than when we do not. But there are clearly issues of cruelty involved if you don't keep large animals in appropriate conditions, and as Netflix documentary 'Tiger King' makes clear, many private zoos do not. The documentary also makes one other thing absolutely clear: everyone involved in this business is completely crazy. In fact, one feels a little uneasy watching, for the progamme feels like it has been constructed to have us gawk at all the freaks, and although many appear to be truly awful human beings, you do wonder if anyyone has been treated fairly. In a very meta twist, much of the footage comes from the main protagonist's YouTube channel which was itself created by a TV crew in exchange for the latter being allowed to film a "reality TV" programme about him. At the end of the day, it's hard to know what's real, except for the fact that it seems that if anyone in the United States wants to own one (or a hundred) tigers, all you have to do is put up your money (and much the same thing applies if you want to own one, or a hundred, guns as well). Viewed from a European perspective, sometimes the U.S. seems a very strange place.

Tiger King watchseries. STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning

The true life story of Joe Exotic, an eccentric, larger than life big cat owner and country and western singer in Oklahoma, who ruled the roost in this field, treating visitors to his zoo to a colourful, eye opening spectacle, while using nefarious means to keep on top of things. However, this put him on a collision course with animal rights activists, chiefly Carol Baskin, the owner of a big cat sanctuary nearby, which plunged the pair of them in to a nasty feud, which resulted in Joe being sent down for her attempted murder.

Netflix would certainly be a strong contender for the most popular online streaming service (certainly one of the most heavily publicised) and so it would stand to reason that the content they put on there would have to be what subscribers want to see. And so it's encouraging that they make so many documentaries, which seek to be informative, meaning people want to educate themselves (at least in part.) But, as we all find ourselves enclosed in our homes whilst a pandemic rages on, it's even greater that this one has come along and proved the most popular show at present, a fact is stranger than fiction tale that a Hollywood writer would have struggled to imagine.

Whilst the events of the show are outrageous and outlandish enough in themselves, it's the central protagonist himself who is the driving force behind it all, an obnoxious, foul mouthed redneck who is meant to have enough appeal about him to keep us hooked on his true life exploits for the duration of another typically lengthy Netflix series. There are those who have a constant need for attention and to have control over everything, and often their narcissism and dominance can lead to drastic consequences, as is the case here.

I only caught this by chance in my recommendations, among tonnes of other NF documentaries, although the resultant publicity its popularity generated might have made me more inclined to watch it of my own accord. It's a real 'you couldn't make it up' piece, and a little more entertaining than something that was, in a very guilty, car crash sort of way. ***

"Stranger than fiction." That cliché is well-worn, and probably lost much of its thrust for those parts of life that defy logic or the ordinary course of human lives. Case in point: Netflix's documentary miniseries Tiger King about the owner of a private zoo, Joe Exotic, that includes scores of tigers, with whom he has a most congenial relationship.

Joe is a good old boy with a flair for the dramatic and a natural talent for promotion. Although the animals, mostly brought up from pups, are well behaved, the real drama is Joe and his endless struggle with Carole Baskin, owner of Big Cat Rescue in Florida, who is in a constant campaign for the rights of animals like Joe's. While at opposite ends of tiger preservation, the two are locked in a hilarious dance that is good for business and viewing.

With his six-gun at this side and his bleached mullet on top, this gay redneck is a character that customers come to see as much, if not more than, the beautiful animals he nurtures and displays at the G.W. Zoo in Oklahoma. To add interest to this virtual circus, Joe's fight with Carole reaches epic proportions as her husband suddenly disappears, and Joe is accused of hiring a hitman to kill her while he accuses Carole of offing her husband.

On a less fabulous note, Joe loses a court battle with Carole over copyright infringement, leaving him to pay her $1 million. Meanwhile, he has taken funds from the zoo to help finance his failed bid for governor of Oklahoma. This stuff is the real deal, unbelievable as it seems

If you were new to Tiger King and cut into it at any point, you would probably think it a docudrama because the players are so authentic acting, so good at making their cases that you'd swear they were actors. Much of the footage comes from Joe's consistent documentation, and many of these videos appear on YouTube.

This series has the virtue of letting each character fully vent about other characters so that few are left with unstabbed backs. At over 5 hours and seven episodes, each one almost good enough to stand alone, it is eminently bingeable, especially when you're homebound by a virus more terrible than the crimes of miscreants and eccentrics in Tiger King.

I don't think I've ever seen a show with more despicable people than "Tiger King." By episode four I was having a cathartic moment like, "What am I doing watching this?" I didn't like any of the people and I especially didn't like Carole Baskin the Mary Sue. She was no better than the rest of the slime balls in the big cat industry, she only spun her obsession a different way. It's not like she was releasing cats into the wild. All she was doing was taking them from other owners and putting them into her "sanctuary."

As the deplorable people piled up like Joe Exotic's Walmart meat I found that I had to press forward and finish the show. Why? Because I suffered from FOMO: fear of missing out. I was seeing so many internet articles, memes, and text messages about the show I could no longer be the guy who didn't know who or what Tiger King was. Now that I've watched I find myself red neckier for it and almost ashamed that I gave so much of my valuable quarantine time to such a show. I'm not impressed with "Tiger King" at all. The whole ordeal is one of the wackiest things you'll ever witness; it is truly a case of fact being stranger than fiction, but it's also too close to reality T.V. and I HATE reality T.V.

This show is just wild from the start to the finish. Home zoo owners from across the country are interviewed about their stories, and it's just indescribable the weirdness they get up too. The show itself has a lot of material since Joe Exotic films every aspect of his life. The first few episodes are crazy, and good, and then the show tries to get serious and it losses some charm. With Joe's conviction, the interviews are haphazard and there's no coverage of the trial, making the last episodes feel amateurish.

Joe Exotic runs the GW Zoo in Oklahoma. The zoo's claim to fame is its massive collection of big cats, including tigers and lions. An eccentric, larger-than-life, unscrupulous character, Joe Exotic's management of the animals leads him into confrontation with animal welfare advocates and another zoo owner, Carole Baskin. The feud between them leads him down a very dangerous path.

A reasonably interesting documentary. The old "fact is stranger than fiction" saying certainly applies to this: you couldn't script something this bizarre. A tale littered with oddball, repulsive characters and off-the-wall goings on.

The characters, while providing colour to the proceedings, are also a drawback: there is absolutely nobody to support. On the one hand you have the insane rednecks, on the other the greedy, superficial, possibly-husband-murdering, power-hungry busybody. Even the minor characters are all quite loathsome and seem to have an agenda. The seediness of it all becomes a bit irritating after a while.

Overall: overhyped but watchable. Just don't expect any pitiable characters or even to come away feeling educated: nobody in the series deserves 15 seconds of fame, let alone a 5-hour documentary series made of them.