Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness
Directors: Eric Goode & Rebecca Chaiklin
With most of the world in isolation and working from home (most likely periodically sneaking in TV episodes between video conference calls) its no wonder Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness hit as hard as it has. Memes appeared in every conceivable format and there is no avoiding the name Carol Baskin in every Facebook comment section, no matter the subject. If you were not an early adopter of the series (which I, unfortunately, was not) you would have had no idea what was happening on social media (myself included) after March 20th. Tiger King Exploded in popularity almost overnight, and Netflix managed to score one of it’s biggest hits in recent years. All of this for a documentary about some guy living in bum-fuck-nowhere Oklahoma that owned a zoo full of big cats and styled himself as The Tiger King.
At first glance, you may think the documentary is focused solely on Joe Exotic (the Tiger King himself) and his treatment of the big cats in his care. This mistake becomes easier to make since Netflix omits the Murder, Mayhem and Madness subtitle when viewing the documentaries thumbnail on its platforms. Tiger King is not about animal abuse; the story may begin with that point in mind, but it very quickly spirals completely out of control turning into a quasi true-crime documentary. Filmed over the span of 5 years director Eric Goode investigates the world of Big Cat collectors and conservationists. The world he discovers is absolute insanity, at every turn, a new ‘character’ appears with another new insane story, either about themselves or someone we have already met during the story. Because of this, Tiger King can feel relentless, never slowing down the series brings a new plot twist every episode and a new personality almost at the same rate. This does become a bit of a detriment to the story being told, I found myself at times struggling to recall names and events mentioned in previous episodes. Even with the relentless pace, the absolute insanity of the stories being told throughout would not lend themselves to a slower format. With the sheer quantity of events that take place during filming, and past events that are discussed throughout, there is barely any room to slow down and take a more analytical approach. Instead, the documentary makers dive headfirst into this world and glide alongside it with very few stops along the way only to look back into the past of a few of the more central personalities.
Would Tiger King have been as big of a hit if not for the current international climate due to COVID-19? I think it would, maybe not as overnight as it was, but the ridiculousness and binge-ability of the story is almost unparalleled. Word of mouth would have travelled no matter the circumstances. If you’ve seen Tiger King, it’s hard not to recommend it to anyone you speak to. I’ve called the documentary insane too many times throughout this review but there is almost no other way to describe it. It is unique. Unique is exactly what Tiger King is. Like Joe Exotic himself, you cannot and will not ever find anything else like it.
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