Why You Should Watch Tiger King!

For those in self isolation right now and being told to stay at home, this gives the perfect opportunity to binge watch some Netflix. A personal and worldwide favourite right now is Tiger King. This show is something else. Tiger King has crazy twists that grasps viewers’ attention from the very beginning and keeps the viewer wondering just what in the hell is going to happen next. This is my third time watching the series and I am still fascinated by it. I have persuaded nearly every friend and family member to watch Tiger King and every one of them could not turn away. So, if you have not watched it yet, here are my reasons to watch Tiger King without spoiling too much.

I will start off with just a sprinkle of what this show has to offer. This includes; a bitten off hand, three husbands, drugs, an eyebrow ring that is barely hanging on, drama, secrets, a lot of cat print, politics, a disappearance and potential set up and murder. What is not to love? The memes online of Tiger King are ten out of ten as well, just in case you needed a little extra persuasion.

Tiger King follows an American zoo, although it is more about the unhinged people running the zoo than the actual animals. The show exposes what life is like at the zoo and in the big cat trade. A man finely named Joe Exotic begins the zoo and names it after his brother who sadly passed away. Joe Exotic is a gay, polyamorous, cowboy hat wearing, zookeeper with a mullet. He refers to himself as the Tiger King and has life on the zoo filmed every day for his reality TV show. Joe wants to be the face of the zoo and is self-obsessed, oddly lovable and has some great outfit changes. I should also mention the cool country music he has produced, surprisingly very good.

A big cat activist, named Carole (Carole Fucking Baskin as Joe likes to call her) owns Big Cat Rescue-which is exactly what it sounds like- and tries to pass the Big Cat Public Safety Act which stops the breeding and exploitation of big cats. Something about Carole is fishy and Joe repeatedly tries to expose her as the murderer he believes she is. Joe hates Carole Baskin and this kicks off a whole wild chain of events which I do not want to spoil. If this is not enough, more reasons to watch Tiger King are that the show provides; law suits, sketchy business men, a fat FBI informant, some missing teeth, a badass jet ski scene and a couple of dodgy haircuts.

One of my favourite quotes from the show has to be: ‘I’ve had some kinky sex, I have tried drugs…I am broke as shit’. Poetic, truly poetic Joe. If this does not pique your interest, I am not sure what will.

This show is a roller coaster. I have laughed, gotten angry and I swear I was in tears at one point. This show managed to keep me on the edge of my seat for every episode. Joe Exotics charm, charisma and confidence in himself is what makes the show so entertaining. Joe is damn right crazy, he is by no means a hero, but his personality and story is just so endearing. Another notable person in this show is Bhagavan ‘Doc’ Antle. He runs Myrtle Beach safari and is rumoured to have several wives. He constantly speaks like he is at a pep rally, but I cannot help but love him.

People featured on this documentary have said that things on the show are not factual and that Netflix edited many parts of the series for entertainment purposes, meaning the reliability of the series is unknown. However, the shear twists and craziness of the show encapsulates you into the story to the point that you no longer care if It is reality or fantasy.

I have by no means included half the show never mind everything, but I hope this gave some insight on to what you are missing out on. So, if you are bored and want something different to watch I promise, Tiger King will not disappoint you.