Fair Grove Students Review Tiger King

Recently, Netflix released a documentary series, Tiger King, that uncovers the mysteries of the big cat breeding world. According to Forbes.com, 34 million people watched this show within the first 10 days of its release. 

Tiger King covers three major big cat breeders that live across the country: Joe Maldonado-Passage (Joe Exotic), who owns G.W. Zoo (Oklahoma), Carole Baskin who owns Big Cat Rescue (Florida), and Bhagavan (Doc) Antle the owner of Myrtle Beach Safari (South Carolina).

Arguably, the fight between Joe and Carole is the main focus of the entire series. They have ongoing disagreements due to one another’s beliefs. Carole runs a tiger sanctuary and believes that making profit off of big cats is wrong; however, Joe takes to social media, YouTube, and the press to show his true hatred for Carole Baskin. He goes as far as making accusations about how Carole killed her husband, and fed him to one of her tigers. The battles between Carole and Joe are endless, but entertaining.

Throughout the documentary series, Doc is interviewed about his different opinions on the two other cat breeders, even though he has plenty of issues of his own. One of his former zookeepers speaks out against him, making his place sound more like a cult than a zoo.

Anna Johnston, a senior at Fair Grove High School, decided to watch Tiger King after a family friend suggested it. “My favorite part of the show was how crazy everyone is,” Johnston stated, “The hard part is remembering that this is all actually real, and this is actually happening.” She believes that watching this series is a good past time for anyone who’s looking for a little entertainment during this quarantine. 

Kaylee Gerling, a senior, also took part in watching this popular show during her time off from school. She decided to watch Tiger King after seeing multiple memes and posts that discussed the series on social media. “I enjoy watching the ongoing rivalry between Joe and Carole. It’s amusing,” Gerling commented. She believed that each episode of the Tiger King was equally surprising, and left her wanting to watch one more. “I would recommend this show to literally anyone. It’s weird no doubt, but it has a way of pulling you in and interesting you,” Gerling informed.

Currently, Tiger King has eight episodes available on Netflix. Rumors of a possible additional season have spread, but Netflix has yet to confirm anything.