FOR ACADEMIC PURPOSE – NOT FOR PUBLICATION

My King, The Tiger King

An easy way to pass the time during the stay-at-home order is in order is to start up a new series
from the many available stream sites. HBO has Game of Thrones, Showtime has Shameless,
Hulu has Hand Maid’s Tale, and Disney+ has Mandalorian. Netflix, known for creating and
offering variety of their own docuseries and films, recently released a seven-part documentary
grabbing the attention of millions.

The king himself

Tiger King depicts the rise and fall of an Oklahoma zoo entrepreneur and big cat owner and Joe
“Exotic” Schreibvogel and his feud with Carol Baskin, owner of Florida’s Big Cat Rescue and
animal rights advocate. The feud between Exotic and Baskin stems from Exotic’s hands-on
experiences offered from his private zoo in Wynnewood, Oklahoma. These experiences include
tiger-cub petting sessions, which ultimately funded the zoo’s animal care budget for the winter
season when zoo admissions slow down.

Baskin makes it her mission to end private breeding of wild cats and specifically targets Exotic’s
zoo in multiple lawsuits, social media slams and creating websites naming Exotic and wanted
man for animal abuse.

The untold story

The series features other aspects of Joe Exotic’s life and his zoo such as a zoo staffer losing an
arm from a tiger attack, Exotic marrying both Travis Maldonado and John Finlay, a 2015 arson
on zoo property killing Exotic’s alligators and destroying film for his reality show, Exotic
running for 2016 presidency and then Oklahoma governor, and the murder for hire on Baskin.

The Netflix true crime docuseries says it all in the title. It features murder, mystery and madness.
Other private zoo owners are featured throughout such as Bhagavan “Doc” Antle of The Institute
of Greatly Endangered and Rare Species (T.I.G.E.R.S.), and Tim Stark of Wildlife in Need. All
share views on exotic animal ownership rights, on Joe Exotic himself and what they believe
happened to Carol Baskin’s late husband.

A wild hit

This Netflix true crime was one of the easiest series to binge-watch. It is a captivating story
shedding light on a controversial topic of animal rights and how the victims throughout the film,
the animals, are being treated in Joe Exotic and Carol Baskin’s feud.

Following a bunch of odd-ball animal lovers is a dangerously obsessive film leaving the
audience asking more questions like what the hell happened to Carol Baskin’s husband?