Hey, all you cool cats and kittens! (If you know Tiger King, you know.)
This is not a core post, but a recommendation I am writing out
of pure love for the documentary series that saved me in this time of quarantine.
So I will not go too deeply into breaking down the episodic structure and mastery
of story-telling in Tiger King, and I
can’t give away too much for your viewing pleasure; but please, please, everyone, you must watch this Netflix original
documentary series.
I always thought that with the increasing self-awareness of
reality television, the narrative formula of reality TV will be revamped or
renewed by streaming platforms in some manner. Netflix, however, came in out of
nowhere and thwarted all of my expectations, bravely blurring the line between
dramatically produced reality TV and true crime documentary in Tiger King. Tiger King divides its story into seven episodes in a way that plays
with and preys on the audience’s expectations, much like your typical reality
TV format, but at the same time never lets you forget that this is a true crime
documentary you are watching—next thing you know, you’ve binged all seven episodes, left
emotionally drained. One episode left my chest physically hurting. I audibly
gasped and clutched my invisible pearls multiple times while watching Tiger King, and true story, this was
only 5, 10 minutes into the first episode of the series.
In the mid-2000s, in my hometown of Enid, Oklahoma, the local Oakwood Mall hosted an exotic animal exhibition, and while attending, I pet my first tiger cub. I was terrified. In recent days, I've been assured by friends and family that the animals were owned by Joe Exotic and his troupe. For reference, Enid to Wynnewood is about a 2.5 hour drive, though I have never been. I echo your endorsement of the show, especially for anyone who was a lover of Making a Murderer.
ReplyDeleteSorry about the 'unknown' username - this is from Skyler.
ReplyDeleteI started watching Tiger King last night with my parents and the first episode was wild indeed. What it made me (and my dad) wonder though, was is this series so successful because of its release during an almost worldwide quarantine? Would the reception be the same if it was released, say three months ago, when people weren't more attached to their screens than ever? Or is it just a great show unrelated to its release date.
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