Unless you’ve been on a social media hiatus, you’ve witnessed the frenzy over the new Netflix documentary series, Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness.  I was turned onto it a few days before the media frenzy began, by my pals Billy and Jeffrey, who recommended it as being right up my alley; and, as they know me better than most, I started watching, and ended up binging all seven episodes that evening.  But I had to ask myself, what makes Tiger King so watchable? 

Well, to start off, it’s train-wreck TV, the sort of thing you’d get if you crossed Dateline and 48 Hours with The Jerry Springer Show and Cops.  Very few of the individuals profiled and interviewed offer much in the way of redeeming qualities; and, what’s more, each of the main characters lives in a moral quagmire of his or her own making.  Sure, even if Netflix had released Tiger King before the 2019 holiday season, there would’ve been more than a little schadenfreude, at play; but now—combined with the unrest, anxiety, and fear resulting from the medical/political shit-show brought on by the coronavirus—in the midst of self-isolation, you can glean a curious and often troubling sense of relief that comes from realizing that no matter how terrible things may be, there’s always someone who’s got it worse.  And if they happen not to be particularly good people, who got there by their own despicable actions, so much the better.

Then there’s the cast of real-life crazies, that absolutely boggles the imagination.  That whole truth being stranger than fiction thing is really the crux of the series.  If this were just the story of some redneck putting a hit out on his competitor, it would’ve been a one-off episode of Hard Copy (or maybe The Maury Povich Show); but fortunately (for viewers, anyhow), this story is so much more; and that because of the following folks.

You’ve got Mario Tabruae, the former Miami drug kingpin believed to have been Oliver Stone’s inspiration behind the Tony Montana character when he was writing the screenplay to Brian de Palma’s 1983 cinematic tour-de-force, Scarface (down to the custom monogrammed throne).  I wish we’d seen more of him.

Lauren and Jeff Lowe are the grifters/swingers who doped-up tiger cubs and stuffed them in suitcases, in order to smuggle them into suites at various Las Vegas casinos, where they would use the cubs to entice potential sex partners.  The Lowes own the former G.W. Zoo (now the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park) where they live with the woman they’ve dubbed “Hot Nanny” and (one presumes) their child.

There’s Mahamayavi Bhagavan Antle aka Kevin Antle aka Doc Antle, the zookeeper-cum-cult leader whose chosen middle name is the Sanskrit epithet for a deity.  Antle claims he was nicknamed ‘Doc” in the late ‘70s by friends in China after he received a doctorate in natural sciences from the Chinese Science Foundation (an organization that seems never to have existed).*  At other times, his devotees refer to his degree in “mystical sciences,” which I guess implies that he studied with the Ancient One to become the Sorcerer Supreme.  Either way, I’m not buying it. 

Then there are Antle’s acolytes, China York, Moksha Bybee, and Rajani Ferrante (whose respective names were originally Michelle, Meredith, and Renee).  And let’s not forget Antle’s loincloth-wearing social media influencer son, Kody, a self-described “real-life Tarzan” with 2 million followers on Instagram and another 11 million on TikTok.

One of the only sympathetic characters in the story, Kelsi “Saff” Saffery is the trans man whose forearm was amputated after being mauled by a tiger at Exotic’s G.W. Zoo.

Rick Kirkham is the documentary producer tasked with creating content for JoeExoticTV.com; and who, prior to that, while a reporter for Inside Edition, had such a massive drug habit that, in one instance, he was high on crack while interviewing President George H.W. Bush for a segment about drug abuse.  (Don’t you love irony?)

Meanwhile, Carol Baskin is the big cat advocate who one would think was the victim of all of the Tiger King brouhaha (as it was she on whom Exotic took out the hit); but in the aftermath is widely thought to have murdered her second husband.  She’s also the subject of Exotic’s music video “Here Kitty Kitty.”

And all of them play second (and third, and fourth) fiddles to the 57-year-old “gun-toting gay redneck” at the center of all the fracas, Joe “Exotic” Maldonado-Passage (né Joseph Allen Schribvogel).  Beyond the numerous captive bead rings (or CPRs) piercing his ears and right eyebrow, the dyed mullet and handlebar mustache, the sequined shirts, the Prince Albert, and the guns; this guy was married to five men—1-Brian Rhyne, 2-JC Hartpence, 3-John Finlay, 4-Travis Maldonado, and 5-Dillon Passage—though most identified as heterosexual (2, 3, and 4) or bisexual (5), most were doing copious amounts of meth (2, 3, and 4), a couple tried to cause him grievous harm (2 and 3), one is a convicted child molester serving a life sentence for first-degree felony murder (2), one died of a self-inflicted gunshot to the head (4), two were part of a throuple with Exotic (3 and 4), and sadly, only two seemed to be in love with him (1 and 5).

What I found truly fascinating was that this true-crime documentary was helmed by Eric Goode, the nightlife/hospitality impresario (think: Area, MK, Bowery Bar, Waverly Inn, The Maritime Hotel, etc.) and conservationist (the Turtle Conservancy).

Finally, I’d like to note that, after nearly seven consecutive hours of binging Tiger King, my sympathies lied with the animals that, viewed as commodities, had been bred, traded, penned, abused, and often killed, all to make a buck.  And while I was thoroughly entertained by the virtual artillery fire of batshit craziness with which I was bombarded throughout the whole series; afterward, I just wanted to hug my dogs.

Tiger King: Murder, Madness and Mayhem
Netflix
Click HERE for info

Get into it!
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[Editor’s Note: Do not confuse the so-called Chinese Science Foundation with the National Natural Science Foundation of China, that was established in 1986, many years after Antle had returned to the United States.]