Very few things are as good as advertised. Hype, especially in today’s overdriven media cycle, can drain the joy out of experiencing something on its own terms. Even if it’s good, you’re left wondering what all the fuss was about. But when something keeps every promise made on its behalf, like 2019 Nelson Cruz or “Flagpole Sitta” by Harvey Danger, the satisfaction is a shivering, tangible thing.Which brings us to Tiger King.

 

The 7-part Netflix documentary is the thing the internet has decided will distract us from the slow-motion horror of the current moment. The internet, which is almost never right, is completely right about this.

 

(Fox Sports tanning bed mishap Colin Cowherd called the show overrated. I can probably rest my case right here, but I have a word count.)

 

I first came across the story of Joe Exotic in a Texas Monthly article last year that I forwarded to as many people as I figured had the time to read a very long, very strange piece about an Oklahoma polygamist who ran a shady wildlife park near the Texas border with side hustles in country music, YouTube celebrity, running for public office, and attempted murder. Every paragraph built on the last one in a “wait, no wait, this could not have happened” cascade of disbelief. But, well, it all did.

 

Now, if you need further motivation to watch this DESPITE EVERYTHING YOU JUST READ, I will argue that Joe Exotic is one of the more sympathetic individuals in the story, allowing that he’s not at all a very good person (again: attempted murder). As more people get introduced, from Carole Baskin to the impossibly named Bhagavan “Doc” Antle, you will see that I’m right about this.

 

As we look towards the long weeks ahead, you need something to marvel at, something to enjoy unreservedly and talk about in Zoom meetings with absent friends and co-workers. This is that thing, cats and kittens.

 

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“On the morning of September 7, 2018, 81 days after Joe had left the zoo, he went to a local hospital to apply for a third job. It was a sunny Florida day—there was dew on the grass; the temperature was just right. Joe parked near the hospital and stepped down from his blue Ford F-150 with his résumé in hand...”

 

 

He wanted to start a career in health care! Just think, if not for those meddling kids, Joe could be helping fight the coronavirus right now...