If anything’s going to distract you from the coronavirus pandemic, it’s the documentary Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness. I don’t really know how to describe it other than it’s all kinds of fucked up, but people are deeply obsessed with it and it’s showing on social media.
I’m going to try and give a brief synopsis of the series, but watch me utterly fail. In short, Tiger King focuses on the former owner of The Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park, Joe Maldonado-Passage, popularly known as Joe Exotic. The – and I don’t know if I can describe this man in one word – character is currently serving a 22-year sentence in prison for attempting to hire someone to kill his longtime critic / rival Carole Baskin of the Big Cat Rescue sanctuary in Tampa, Florida. Um, polygamy, cult leaders, guns, drugs, and a meat grinder are also featured.
Now if I had to summarise the whole experience in one tweet, it’d be the below.
Me: “Tiger King cant be that weird”
Me half way through episode two: “What in the merry fuck is happening in this acid trip of a Louis theroux style nightmare”
— TechnicallyRon (@TechnicallyRon) March 29, 2020
This was the general gist on Twitter as viewers tried to grapple with just what on earth they were watching. Even the Blue Ticks shared their thoughts, feelings, and opinions.
Gonna start this off with the only reaction that matters.
What ya think bout TigerKing? I’m on the second episode and I’m alittle lost cause I started fucking 😩😒.
— Cardi B (@iamcardib) March 27, 2020
Closely followed by this one.
Just two incredible texts from my landlord pic.twitter.com/JbwoTHvZvw
— GG (@goldisacks) March 29, 2020
https://twitter.com/Jessica_Ann711/status/1241488927510405121
the least surprising information I’ve ever been presented with #TigerKing pic.twitter.com/aJsCXYTzFD
— lauren (@laurenhebert) March 24, 2020
Quarantine Day 7:
(Probably) me on these zoom conference calls with the office #TigerKing pic.twitter.com/BgbUUBFuYo
— Frank Mansfield (@MNfrankie) March 26, 2020
Me: Wow, I’m so sick of crazy cat lady stereotypes.
Carole Baskin: Fasten your seatbelt bitch..#TigerKing pic.twitter.com/UYOhepDS8E
— 𝕭𝖆𝖈𝖔𝖓 𖤐 (@WhoaOhLaney) March 25, 2020
let’s talk about RANGE #TigerKing pic.twitter.com/mNyDe7pTfo
— kelly (@pleasekellme) March 25, 2020
Me as I join all my Zoom calls: #TigerKing pic.twitter.com/8yHOHzB9jq
— ALEXI HATCH (@alexihatch) March 26, 2020
https://twitter.com/daxshepard/status/1243006453272563712
https://twitter.com/jonnysun/status/1244358551981584384
https://twitter.com/lexvng/status/1242557882383527937
the thing about tiger king is that the murder plot is like, barely as interesting as everything else
— melissa lozada-oliva 🍴 (@ellomelissa) March 26, 2020
𝐌𝐞: I can’t stop thinking about, talking about, or reading about the coronavirus.
𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐱: Let me introduce you to Joe Exotic and Carole Baskin.#TigerKing pic.twitter.com/q1dxq5NgdJ
— 𝗇𝖺𝗍𝖺𝗅𝗂𝖾 (Taylor’s Version) 🧣 (@NatalieMcKendry) March 29, 2020
https://twitter.com/nickusen/status/1242817102534369281
lisa kudrow’s entire career has been one long audition for the role of carole baskin
— wife of the mind (@andrealongchu) March 26, 2020
i’m sorry this is the funniest fucking thing i have ever seen#TigerKing pic.twitter.com/zcpiCizXY3
— darian (@poolmood) March 29, 2020
https://twitter.com/DpInfosec/status/1243241527171854339
DONT👏🏻CLAIM 👏🏻TO 👏🏻KNOW COUNTRY 👏🏻MUSIC 👏🏻IF 👏🏻YOU DONT 👏🏻KNOW 👏🏻WHO 👏🏻THIS 👏🏻IS #TigerKing pic.twitter.com/bW51dF1IA0
— Madi 👀 (@Maffy_260) March 29, 2020
joe exotic writing a song & making a music video about how his enemy killed her husband & fed him to the tigers is the level of petty i aspire to be #TigerKing #JoeExotic #CaroleKilledHerHusband #CaroleBaskin #HereKittyKitty 🐯🦁 pic.twitter.com/2HX5WhsY3K
— Larissa Vickery (@LMV314) March 26, 2020
Joe exotic, Carole Baskin & Doc Antle trying to figure out who’s exploiting big cats #TigerKing pic.twitter.com/Hm8mycshrV
— Darcey Weatherill (@darceyweather1) March 25, 2020
I forgot this happened.
https://twitter.com/cuffsterr/status/1244355994303500294
https://twitter.com/njp1989/status/1244392819357126657
This actually happened. After Saff’s hand was mauled, Exotic walked into the gift shop and told everyone “an employee stuck their arm through the cage and a tiger tore his arm off”. And then he offered refunds and told visitors to come back another day. This was all in the opening minutes of episode two.
Five days after he had his left hand amputated, Saff went back to work.
https://twitter.com/danniK80/status/1244023116189351936
Me: Aw I have a tickly throat. 14 days quarantine for poorly baby.
Saff in #TigerKing: I was back in work five days after my amputation pic.twitter.com/zNYbaT0CGO
— Owen Lloyd Richards (@OwenRichards91) March 28, 2020
“Joe Exotic locks tigers in cages. That’s inhumane. Here at Big Cat Rescue, we rescue the tigers and keep them in cages until they die.”
~ Carole Baskin.
#TigerKing pic.twitter.com/RAkUB0abiG
— Stephanie Mulholland (@TheLDNGal) March 29, 2020
Would have loved to see Joe Exotic’s response to Coronavirus if he had indeed been elected president
— rone’s gamblin corner (@rone) March 22, 2020
#tigerking is a cinematic masterpiece pic.twitter.com/Ub3eH1yuMZ
— katpat (@TheRealKatPat) March 24, 2020
Carole Baskin: “I didn’t feed my husband to the tigers”
Also Carole Baskin: #TigerKing pic.twitter.com/xZ7SkHkhNN
— Darth Ramious (@darthramious) March 29, 2020
Carole Baskin is the only person in #TigerKing not wrastlin around with the tigers, but that’s because she probably saw what they did to her husband’s corpse.
— Whisman (@WhismanSucks) March 29, 2020
“Yeah and her husband’s disappearance”
Documentary crew: wait her what pic.twitter.com/LKGwYlrVcl
— Adonis Kain (@TaintedAdonis) March 21, 2020
https://twitter.com/hannahsmithfay/status/1243298511682076672
The boys and I getting out of isolation with fresh cuts #TigerKing pic.twitter.com/FxNQKXe2zz
— The Chooches (@mrandmrschooch) March 24, 2020
Carole Baskin: “People like Joe Exotic are terrible for keeping tigers in pens”
Also Carole Baskin: “I have to rescue big cats and keep them in cages until they die to keep them safe” pic.twitter.com/NWNUQfUxYX
— Vitamin J (@vitamin_j) March 25, 2020
In conclusion:
my thoughts on #TigerKing, for posterity:
– Carole Baskin killed her ex, Don Lewis
– Jeff Lowe is a complete chauvinist
– he and Alan framed Joe
– Doc Antle is a cult leader
– the normal people were: Saff (amputee), Joshua Dial (Joe’s campaign manager), and Reinke— Dan J. Berger (@danberger) March 22, 2020
Haha, just kidding. Here’s one more.
every time I think I’ve finally adjusted to Tiger King’s chaos it punches me in the face pic.twitter.com/bxDKlKsFnl
— JP (@jpbrammer) March 25, 2020
Bye!
