Who is Joe Exotic? The true story of the "Tiger King" told in the latest Netflix docu-series
Oxygenated hair, mullet, piercings, a poisonous tongue, country-kitsch outfits that look stolen from Lil Nas X's wardrobe and a disproportionate amount of synthetic drugs and firearms. This is in short the appearance of Joe Exotic, owner of one of America's most famous and controversial private zoos, and protagonist of the latest Netflix docu-series Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness – a series that has made the world discover a trash icon that until a few days ago it was famous only on the pages of American tabloids. And Joe Exotic's has been a life full of scandals, absurdities and extreme situations. A journey that ended in 2018, when Tiger King was found guilty of two attempted murders, eight counts of illegal sale of endangered animals, and nine counts of abuse of endangered species. All crimes for which the 57-year-old is serving 22 years in prison. Not everyone thinks he's guilty: the most recent supporter he's earned is Cardi B, who even launched a GoFundMe to help him get out of jail.
The first two tigers were purchased in 2000, to feed them Joe took down the horses given to him by local breeders and left the carcasses all whole inside the cages. The following year, Joe's first husband died of AIDS. Starting with the death of his first love, a ten-year relationship, Joe Exotic's character as we know him began to take shape. His first husband was followed by four others: J.C. Hartpence John Finlay, Travis Maldonado and Dillon Passage. Things ended badly between him and 24-year-old Hartpence, amid death threats and pointed guns. The two separated and a few years later Hartpence ended up in prison for life for murder. Finlay and Maldonado were married to Joe in the same ceremony, in a bizarre three-way wedding in which all the newlyweds wore cowboy outfits with pink shirts. Meanwhile, the zoo housed over a thousand animals, including ninety large felines, in horrible hygienic conditions. And that's when the story starts to get really surreal.
Joe became famous, receiving visits and sponsorships from a star like Shaquille O'Neal and organizing magic shows in large American malls that included tiger cubs and other animals. A business on the edge of legality crowned by a completely bizarre episode: missing a tiger for a show, Joe decided to paint a sheep of orange and black and make it pass as a tiger in front of the audience. Of course no one believed him. Meanwhile, Joe had drawn the ire of activist Carol Baskin, owner of one of America's leading animal sanctuaries, who launched a campaign of sabotage against Joe. In revenge, he organized other shows by pretending to work for Baskin and infringing his copyright. The lawsuit led Joe to fork out a million dollars in damages, declare bankruptcy, and sell the zoo to Jeff Lowe, another offender, who allowed him to continue his work. In 2015, Joe tried to run for president of the United States, obviously failing, and in 2018 he always ran unsuccessfully for Governor of Oklahoma. In the same year, Joe tried to recruit a hitman to kill the enemy who was ruining his business, but unknowingly contacted an undercover FBI agent who arrested him.
These are just a few episodes of a character's life beyond any rule, of which the Netlfix docu-series makes a surreal and disturbing picture. It must be said, however, that Tiger King is not the only villain in the story: all the characters interviewed by Eric Goode during the eight episodes of the docu-series, from the manipulator Bhagavan "Doc" Antle to the possible uxoricide Carol Baskin, are greedy and ruthless creatures, exploiters from the first to the last of both animals and people, and it is immediately clear that they are the true predators, more brutal than any lion. It is impossible, however, not to feel pity for the real victims of the whole affair: the animals trapped in those cages, exhibited as expensive toys, treated in the same way as things and in some cases even killed with a merciless bullet in the middle of the Eyes.
