Let’s be fair and say it this way: documentaries are unfortunately not always as in-depth as they’re said to be, and provide more entertainment value than reality. In the case of Joe Exotic, aka The Tiger King, everyone is trying to write their own narrative at this point since what was revealed on Netflix has people in an uproar and from Carole Baskin to Joe Exotic to Doc Antle, everyone wants to rewrite the story to make them look as favorable as possible. That’s to be expected, right? Very few people ever want to be made out to be the villain in their own story, and as a result we get conflicting narratives such as the documentary above. Joe will do and say whatever he has to in order to make himself look better, as will anyone and everyone that’s been featured in the Netflix show, but if anyone watching has functioning sense of morals they’ll realize that just about every person mentioned was more than a little shady at some point and likely remains that way today. Antle and Joe are undoubtedly the biggest talkers and unfortunately for them, those with the most to say usually end up being those with the most to hide. Just about every major character in The Tiger King appeared less than trustworthy, but again it could have been because of the manner in which the show was filmed and not much else. Still, something definitely feels off with the lot of them.
Maybe it’s the idea that big cats need more room to roam, or shouldn’t be held in captivity to begin with, or for all that they’re being cared for are still wild animals and shouldn’t really be paraded around other people. It’s been said in the show that cat people are nuts, and that theory still holds out today. In a way, Antle speaking out against the show, as well as trying to remind people that it was supposed to be about the feud between Joe and Carole, kind of feels like a bit of a smoke screen to get folks from digging to deeply into his business. Of course that could be paranoia talking, but there’s a hook there that won’t go away and it has more to do with the idea that Antle doesn’t want people seeing everything than any idea that he might be completely innocent. Lia Lewine of Women’s Health has more to say on this topic. There have been plenty of people looking into the matter when it comes to deciding whether or not Joe Exotic really deserves to be in prison, if he was every bit as bad as he’s been made out to be, and if Carole and her current husband really are the saints they want people to think they are. In truth Carole keeps her big cats in enclosures that aren’t much better than Joe’s, but apparently she knows how to keep the authorities off her back without aggravating the wrong people. Joe, for all that he’s done and all he’s been accused of, right or wrong, just didn’t know when to shut his mouth and let things be. If you watch this video above and The Tiger King you’ll get a feeling that says had he just shut his mouth once in a while the whole thing might have blown over and Carole might have actually looked the part of the villain for going after him so often. But obviously Joe’s mouth is like a 7-11, open 24/7.
People are going to have to make up their own minds about Joe and the rest of them since to be fair, this story is saddening when one thinks of the animals that can’t do much more than what they’re made to do. Petrana Radulovic of Polygon has her own opinion on this matter. The fact that Antle, Baskin, and Exotic all believe they have a special connection to these animals and have a gift that others just don’t understand may or may not be true, but what they also have is a very huge issue with vanity that not a one of them is bound to relinquish any time soon. Maybe it comes with being a cat person, or maybe it comes with thinking you can get away with anything so long as there are other people to point the finger at. In any case this show opened a can of worms that is bound to keep people entertained for a while but won’t typically delve into the deeper, darker facts unless it’s bound to be worth enough to the right buyer. We’re already seeing clip after clip of conjecture and ‘hard-hitting’ news in the wake of the Netflix show, but with reality TV being what it is right now it’s hard to say just what’s real and what’s been doctored for the general public. All I can say from a personal standpoint is that any person needing a big cat as a pet to feel complete in their life has massive issues that many therapists would just love to unearth.
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