Even during the Covid-19 pandemic, Netflix released a documentary miniseries so polarizing that it has both taken the meme-world by storm and stayed at the top of the streaming giant’s top ten since its release.
It has even reopened a disappearance case.
Yes, that’s right. We’re talking about “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness,” a seven — soon to be eight — episode documentary about Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage, more commonly known as Joe Exotic.
More specifically, it follows the eccentric, gay, mulleted, Oklahoman and former Presidential candidate Exotic and his controversial Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park. Moreso, it follows the events — and drug- and tiger-fueled romances — leading up to and surrounding the alleged murder-for-hire plot against Big Cat Rescue CEO Carole Baskin for which Exotic is currently incarcerated for.
Brought up during the miniseries is the mysterious disappearance of Baskin’s first husband who has been missing since 1997 and was pronounced legally deceased in 2002. Included in this coverage of the events is the agreed-upon suspicion by many in the big cat community that Baskin murdered and fed him to her tigers. While unsubstantiated, the miniseries’ popularity has prompted the Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister to ask for new leads in the still-open case.
Also brought up in the miniseries is the recorded incident in which one of Exotic’s tigers grabs him by the boots and he’s forced to fire a warning shot with a pistol. In response to this event, Baskin, rather specifically, said, “If someone wanted to have a cat eat you they’d pour sardine oil on you I don’t know.” Oddly specific, it has launched its own set of memes and adds to the speculation.
However, while the miniseries has virally taken over popular culture — even generating meme pages dedicated to it — “Tiger King” has its share of issues.
Firstly, the miniseries fails to acknowledge bisexuality. During the seven episodes, we learn about Exotic’s many husbands — even unofficially marrying two at one time.
The show frames these men as essentially straight, aside from being coerced by Exotic for drugs and tiger access. The qualifier for their “straightness:” having sex with women who worked at the animal park and the insinuation that they only married Exotic for his resources. In framing the men as such, the series erased any notion that these men could have been bisexual — as if sexuality is some sort of zero-sum game instead of a spectrum.
Another deeply disappointing issue with the miniseries is its transphobia, whether intentional or not. Most viewers may not notice it. It’s not on the nose, but it’s blatantly egregious when pointed out.
On March 23, Robert Moor — an author and podcast creator about Joe Exotic prior to Netflix’s series — continued with his deep-dive Twitter thread highlighting his takeaways from his reporting.
In an exciting but saddening part of the series in which an employee gets their arm taken off by a tiger, we learn of Saff, a transgender man.
However, as Moor pointed out, that’s not how Saff was presented. Instead, they used Saff’s pre-transition, or dead, name and presented him as a butch lesbian. Not only did the miniseries misgender someone but it essentially annihilated a person’s identity.
So, while it’s a polarizing documentary miniseries — and aptly suited for all this time in our homes — “Tiger King” is rife full of issues. But, frankly, don’t let these issues stop from viewing it. Time will only tell how this story evolves and with a new, surprisingly added episode coming this week. It’s a shot in the dark as to what’ll happen. Almost guaranteed is a feature with Baskin following her husband’s latest personal message disputing much of what is in the miniseries.
