TIGER KING: AN ALL AMERICAN DEBACLE

The hype did nothing for me. In fact, it really makes me ponder and cringe about humanity’s direction sometimes. Wild animals are wild animals and I find it wildly hilarious humans attempt to monetize, conserve, and parade a sort of vanity to establish some kind of status in our very diverse society. I don’t get it, because animals are still going extinct and yet here we are still partaking in the absurdity and erroneous perception that its making a difference. Perhaps, I'm a cynic and I suppose I’m aiding in such discourse but that’s out my love for those of you, who wanted me to blog about this spectacle. As a cinephile, I’m deeply bruised but I’ll get over it.

I suppose it’s semi-interesting learning about all of these characters’ sex lives giving us a personal glimpse into their wayward mentalities? But, again why do we need to know about Bhagavan Antle’s wives? Or why Joe Exotic married two guys at the same time or why everyone believes Carole Baskin fed her former husband to the tigers? In fact, I’m starting to see a theme here. Big personalities elicit irrational relationships. Which is funny to me when Carole says how exotic animals are used to seduce people into relationships. In some bizarre fashion it makes sense because these leaders need the help to maintain the 80-200 tigers they’ve collected, saved, and bred over the years giving people the sense their doing good in the world when really it’s the dirty work. But hey Carole Baskin’s has volunteers who work for free so no need to drink the culty-kool-aid there. In fact, this whole documentary’s heart is centered in cultism and unfortunately tigers are the set dressing for inconspicuous behavior; hoarding exotic creatures for one’s own benefit. C’est la vie the American dream, ah... the downfall of a free country. People will pursue as they wish until laws and regulations say otherwise. Also did anyone else notice how many times Carole rolls her eyes? I feel like that’s some kind of tell or maybe it’s just a nervous tick. She's hiding something. Ultimately, Carole’s threatening defense is the power of her money, and it derails Joe Exotic, drives him to the edge of insanity by hiring a hit man to take her down. Obviously this doesn’t come to fruition, and Joe ends up in prison. The weirdest thing is this symbiotic relationship they share in sensationalizing themselves in the ongoing circus to elevate their popularity in ratings, and pursuit in exposing the truth of one another. It's exhausting. Who has the stamina for all this?

Congratulations, Netflix. You’re a hero. Your content is king as you glorify a mullet-wearing, gun-toting, inmate who’s over the moon he’s getting more attention than ever. Yep it’s tough being king especially this day and age because power is everything. Its addictive qualities make people do crazy things and if anything breeds more moronic behavior. Is this the thing that kills compassion and corruption like a cancer destroys everything in it's path?

If anything, animal welfare is the highlight of this seemingly endless Americanized pit of self-admiration, and tawdry sense of boosterism that transcends a delusional perception of false reality. To say this will go down in those futuristic history tablets as a reflection of how far we’ve advanced in 2020, well that’s kind of embarrassing. But also will give future generations a glimpse of how humans ruled the world once attempting to preserve a sacred species based on their own flawed proclivities. Seriously does the tiger in the picture below look like it's happy?

TIGER KING: MURDER, MAYHEM, AND MADNESS in many veins will probably be the docu series that defines this generation’s incessant need of praise, and vanity while developing a “humanitarian” appreciation for tigers. I really feel awful for the tigers’ sake in all of this nonsensical drama, I really do. We got two characters who love filming themselves for the sake of great TV. I get its purpose is to distract us from own isolation, but really it’s giving us the opportunity to feel empathy for the tigers who are held hostage in this whole debacle. A taste of our own medicine in some regards or maybe it’s mother nature’s way of fighting back. She’s taken a fierce beating for eons, and its time for us all to take pause to understand and recognize such as it is. And why we’re at it, let’s all take stock of how we’ve all been treating each other, lately hmmm. Which leads me to this little word known as "accountability". What gall, does Joe have to drag his parents into bankruptcy? That's heartbreaking and as an act of desperation, he breeds more cats and can't afford to feed them. What kind of life is this? Pathetic nonsense. The jig is up. There has to come a point in time when someone says enough is enough, but no someone else comes in for the win and "save". Jeff Lowe, which just sets more craziness into action and it's exhausting, man. The rabbit hole just deepens. Don't get me started on tigers in Vegas. Rolling tiger cubs up in Louis Vuitton bags to your penthouse! Isn't this a form of animal abuse? God, there are no redeeming qualities to any of these crazed loons.

I know I’m in the minority here in not praising this fiery slow-motion blimp crash, ( no offense to the Hindenburg) and I can’t say I truly binged this because my mental capacity could only stand it in small quantities. It took me about 3-4 days to work through this. I'm in therapy now, thanks guys! Silliness aside, this will be hailed a cult classic years from now, as it's already seen its fair share of gifs, memes, and has been joyously coddled into our zeitgeist. It's fun and games for now and yet I'm still mostly concerned for the tigers, bobcats, lions, and other big bred cats caught in the crosshairs. For instance, taking baby cubs from their mothers when their only 4-6 weeks old to be passed around in shopping malls for photo opportunities for a major sum of cash, that’s an unnerving problem. And how many of those cubs actually survived? According to PETA, cubs need to be by their mothers’ side up to two years and what’s happening in the documentary destroys all of that nurturing time, while creating psychologically and physiologically distress. How many cubs did you see neglected in baby play pins in Joe Exotic’s trashy house? Lots. Does this still make you want to take a selfie with them or does it feel like your heart’s been carved out with an ice cream scooper? Also there are less than 4000 tigers left in the world and at the disgrace of humanity your great grandchildren well view this documentary and understand why. Now, how does that really make you feel?