INSIGHT Magazine Special Home Edition April 2020 | Page 43

Fiction” to the test. The series takes you into the world of the Shady Sub-Culture world of Exotic Animals, roadside zoos and the breeding and selling of these Big Cats. The cast of real life eccentric characters has to begin with the Tiger King himself ~ Joe Exotic ~ the flamboyant owner of Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park in rural Oklahoma. The series follows Joe, his bitter rival, Carole Baskin, Bhagavan “Doc” Antle and a former drug lord Mario Tabraue – just to name a few! So why should you watch Tiger King? First off: In my honest opinion there has never been anything quite like Tiger King. It is so “out there” it almost has the feel of a Mockumentary. It makes you think “is this really real?” It is the real deal. The cameras follow Joe Exotic an openly gay, pistol totting, mullet wearing, magician, county music singer, tiger breeding, private zoo keeper who has two husbands, loves to blow stuff up with dynamite, runs a daily online TV show and currently resides in Jail (no Spoilers). Joe owns over 200 Big Cats. People from all over the world visit his zoo and take pictures with his baby tiger cubs. So far so good, right? Tiger King is not just about the life of one polygamist. It dives into the dark side of Americas’ big cat underworld; we meet an elephant-riding zookeeper who basically runs a cult. Every woman who joins ends up marrying him, he controls their every move and call him “Lord”. There is Maria Tabraue, a former drug kingpin who it is said Al Pacino’s character Tony Montana in Scarface was 44 based, also a large collector of exotic animals. Multiply wives, multiple husbands, suicide, drug use, illegal exotic animal sales are all intertwined in this “Mayhem and Madness” but then enters the Murder…the sub plot of an intense feud between Carol Baskin and Joe Exotic. Carol is a self proclaimed animal rights activist. All the big cat keepers, it’s safe to say, hate Carole Baskin and Joe absolutely despises her on an obsessive level. Their feud is the main focus of the series. Baskin claims she wants to free the cats from a life of cruelty, but when she takes the cats from other keepers she basically just puts them in her own zoo under the umbrella of being an animal rights activist. She does not even pay her employees – they volunteer. So, in its own right, just another cult (which makes 3 so far…keeping up?) Carol has the upper hand in these fights due to the almighty dollar…which she has plenty of due to the mysterious, unsolved death of her multi millionaire late husband. This has been another big discussion from Tiger King…Did Carol kill her husband? There is motive and she does not do the best job of convincing you otherwise. This leads to Joe’s obsession with bringing her down into next level bizarre world. Making country music videos of a Carol look alike supposedly feeding her late husband to a Tiger. Yes, you read that correctly. Before, I get too far into this…I have just one thing to say. If you are looking for a binge watch while at home during our social distancing…WATCH TIGER KING! ✽ https://youtu.be/acTdxsoa428 April 2020 – Special Home Edition INSIGHT