In a way it almost sounds as though Jeremy Dick of MovieWeb might have joined the ranks of the delusional bunch that for one reason or another want to see Joe Exotic pardoned by President Donald Trump. If this makes you laugh just reading it or if you don’t even know who the hell Joe Exotic is then trust me, you’re a big step ahead of the game at the moment. The Netflix documentary that was pushed through is about the only reason anyone might have some ground to call Joe a ‘pop culture icon’ since otherwise he’s the kind of figure that most people would sleep well at night after ridiculing and be up and ready to do it again the next day. If nothing else the documentary showed why he needs to stay in prison for the entirety of his sentence and why Carole Baskin and Doc Antle need to join him eventually. So yes, in Doc’s case it’s more or less because he has a definite messiah complex, but there’s definitely something shady about the guy all the same. As far as Carole Baskin, Joe’s nemesis goes, she’s every bit as shady but tries to come off as the Mother Teresa of big cats. At this point even thinking of pardoning Joe would be one of the worst things the president could do, but some are taking hope that it might actually happen and the proclaimed Tiger King could be out of jail and ready to start his life over.
Even famous names such as Cardi B are petitioning for a chance to see him released as she’s started talks of a GoFundMe to help support him. The only thing about that, and it’s kind of funny since it kind of stopped CB in her tracks, is that GoFundMe won’t allow it to happen. Any inmate convicted of a violent crime, which murder for hire apparently falls under (who knew?) cannot have a GoFundMe account raised for their defense, which effectively puts any and all attempts to fund Joe and his bid for getting released on ice. Why anyone in their right mind would want to defend anyone from the show, apart from the few that sound just hopeless anyway, is kind of hard to figure, but Cardi B and many others have obviously been bamboozled into thinking that Joe is a saint that’s been wronged somehow by so many. They must have missed the part when it was said that Joe shot his own tigers, or when he would poke them with his cane, or perhaps when he kept one of his partners addicted to meth instead of getting him help. Yeah, that’s saint-like, right?
The hope is that Trump won’t give Joe another thought since the whole idea of his saying “I’ll look into it” could possibly be a dodge to get past the question since really and truly the best thing he could do is let Joe try defending himself against a jury since that appears to be the way things are leaning. Funny enough the documentary does want people to feel sorry for Joe it would appear, especially when it comes to bringing his folks into the mess, which was by his doing no less. Carole is definitely vicious, there’s no doubt about it, but Joe’s decision to bring his parents into the fight was his, and no one else’s. His parents might well have offered to help and if that’s the case then it’s on them as well. They would have joined a fight that Joe couldn’t let go since his ego and his pride were just too much to walk away from. Having an ego and maintaining pride in yourself is all well and good, but when a fight is going south and there’s no sign of light at the end of the tunnel and a dozen other cliches are popping up, it might be time to keep what pride you have left and just roll with it as best as you can. Joe unfortunately tried stopping the roll and ended up paying a huge price for it. Now he’s crying foul and isn’t having it since he believes everyone’s out to get him. Mishal Ali Zafar of the CheatSheet has more to say on the topic.
Joe Exotic, Jeff Lowe, Doc Antle, Carole Baskin, and several others that were showcased on The Tiger King are unbelievably shady, as many people would agree, but should the president of the United States ever think to pardon Joe Exotic then there’s a good chance that he might end up losing more than a little faith from those that are still following him. The man is in prison for a reason, not because of some concocted excuse to get him out of the way. Joe couldn’t check himself before it was too late and as a result, he’s right where he needs to be. His tigers did well in cages according to him after all, so why can’t he?
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