CNN review: ‘Tiger King’ is the weird docu-series distraction we can use right now
Wow, this is a pretty wild story involving a bunch of, shall we say, very passionate exotic cat aficionados. The thread running though the story that hit me hardest is the fact that there are more privately-owned tigers in the USA than survive in the wild…and many of them are the result of what are essentially “cub mills” that trade on their value as cute tourist attractions.
We are two episodes in - it is wild , especially the guy whose name means “Lord” in (Indian?) and who makes his tiger interns into his wives. Definitely a great watch for a Friday night quarantine & booze binge !
Fans of the series may appreciate Roar:
Nice recap here : ‘Roar’ a movie with 150 untrained lions, what could go wrong?
we have a local tiger rescue place. Most interesting fact, you have to stay back at least 8 feet from the fence or you can get pissed on. I saw myself how far they can spray.
Saw first 3 episodes last night and it’s very good.
I’ve been wanting to watch this but I’m pretty squeamish about animal cruelty.
Should I stay away?
mmm
I saw this thread title yesterday and saw the show pop up when I was browsing Netflix last night; is it about Joe Exotic?
It is essential that you dig out Louis Theroux’s documentary “America’s Most Dangerous Pets” before seeing this show.
Louis met the guy years ago when he was profiling people with odd pets. He seemed full-blown nuts back then, no shock he is…well, terrible. I don’t see the whole doc online, but you have to dig it out if you can.
Yep, Joe is the main…um, antagonist.
Depends on your definition of cruelty, I guess. Most of the animals are pretty well taken care of, but keep in mind, these big cats are born to live and die in captivity. There are a couple of scenes that will probably bother you (like the Zanesville incident), but overall the story focuses on the infighting amongst the human characters.
Ah, okay. I remember when that whole thing unfolded a few years back; it was pretty fucked up.
the story had another part in January , not sure if that is included as well.
Aye; I saw it reported. I’m still gonna watch the doc tho; it sounds like a ripping good one.
OK, I watched the first two episodes. It is indeed gripping and I’ve not yet been traumatized.
Looking forward to the rest.
mmm
A core theme [which i don’t think is a spoiler] is the argument between factions [?] in the big cat community about whether breeding tigers in captivity and then keeping them in close confines is inherently cruel or an acceptable counter to their being endangered in the wild.* I suspect that where you sit on this question will determine whether what you see on the screen [tigers in close confines] presses your cruelty-alert buttons. Also scenes of carnivorous animals being fed partial carcasses. I know that upsets some as well.
I agree with previous posters who’ve said this is a mesmerising train-wreck of a human drama. Its what Netflix can do really well done extremely well.
article about the show has a few spoilers
I’ve only seen the first episode last night, so take my comments in that context if anything changes, but…
I was stunningly disappointedly with the woman who is the “Big Cat Rescue” owner. She started off as a seeming to be a bit of an eccentric, doing this noble project to protect big cats. Then you find out she’s a basically a competitor to him!?!
My opinion of her changed completely when they showed her doing he exact same thing as he does with the exception of taking the animals on the road to malls. All I could think of was what an f-ing hypocritical douchebag!! If it’s wrong to charge admission to see the cats, it’s wrong. F-you.
That said though, she’s is a very clever douchebag. Her ability to cloak herself in virtue and to undermine her competitors by creating fake websites that look independent was brilliant.
Of course, this doesn’t alter the fact that Joe is a complete whack job with obvious mental issues, but I was so disappointed in her. If he had his crap together he would have hired a PR agency that way she did to counter-attack.
they also show another nutty guy with many big cats who is in Myrtle Beach.
I agree with your assessment of her. Another difference is that she doesn’t breed the animals (at least not to the point in the series that I’ve gotten).
Not surprising: Slate article reveals songs that are presented as Joe Exotic’s … aren’t.
It’s interesting that the hypocrisy there is never really explored. I suppose there’s only room in the show for one eventual villain, but the fact she is doing exactly what she’s criticizing other people for is… quite something. The only real difference is she doesn’t let people pet the tigers, which of course is a reliable way to significantly reduce the likelihood someone will have their head bitten off, but she’s just putting tigers in cages and making money from it so how is she really any different? Her tigers didn’t look any happier, and the conditions didn’t appear any better.
Tigers in the wild essentially never live together; they range over exclusive territories that are literally miles wide. But maybe they’re happy in a reasonably large enclosure, I don’t know; the Siberian tigers at the Toronto zoo are a pair that have a place about fifty metres across, and like most cats they seem delighted to lie in the sun all the time so maybe they’re content as hell, and the fact that captive breeding is a way to keep these species alive is a compelling case. What I do know, though, is that keeping a lot of them together in one place is probably bad for them, and Big Cat lady didn’t seem to have any nicer a place than Joe Exotic.
And she damn well killed her first husband. I don’t need to see the last episode to know that (if they ever resolve that.)