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Tiger Kingdom: Coronavirus, Conspiracy, and US Popular Culture

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Tiger Kingdom: Coronavirus, Conspiracy, and US Popular Culture DOI: 10.17605/OSF.IO/Z3WMY Tiger Kingdom: Coronavirus, Conspiracy, and US Popular Culture Kyle A. Hammonds, University of Oklahoma Humans have invented all sorts of Murder, Mayhem, and Madness. The series techniques for coping with uncertainty. As was released in March 2020, just as many the United States becomes more institutions began closing in response to the postmodern, perspectival, and COVID-19 pandemic. These closures were individualistic, the need for psychological unprecedented to many people and came to structures to process uncertainty increases. represent a frightening source of uncertainty. One of the most prevalent coping Tiger King – conspiratorial without posing mechanisms for uncertainty in the United immediate danger and chalked full of States right now is conspiracy theory. characters that folks could love to hate – was Indulging conspiracy theories both enables just the escapism people wanted during the ways of explaining otherwise mysterious onset of coronavirus. This essay will note a events and maintains a sense of cynicism few of themes from the show which may toward others that is typical of postmodern have contributed to its overall popularity, society. In other words, conspiracy theories putting Tiger King in context of the present grasp at certainty without letting go of the historical moment and its relationship to characteristic distrust of others that is so narrative strands in broader US popular popular in the present time. Conspiratorial culture. modes of thinking have become pervasive in US popular culture. It is no coincidence that Coronavirus and Popular Culture spy movies, [neo]noir, and horror have seen a resurgence since the array of cultural shifts The questions of how and why Tiger in the ‘60s and ‘70s. Characterizations of King has taken such a hold in the US have villains have been increasingly elusive in been at the forefront of recent popular movies, television, and so forth since 9/11 consciousness. Google searches in exacerbated US cynicism and anomie. Most preparation for this editorial revealed that recently, cults and shadow governments the words “Why is…” produced a suggested have come to the forefront of cinematic result of “Tiger King so popular” before any villainy. While some popular texts cling to other result, including more obvious straightforward action plot structures, many outcomes such as “the sky blue.” Hosts of movies and tv shows come equipped with articles have been written to explain the some degree of conspiracy for the show’s massive resonance. Some prevalent protagonist to unravel. Perhaps the most responses to the widespread consumption of successful show in recent history to leverage the show will be addressed in this section. A such plot devices is Netflix’ Tiger King: personal favorite answer comes from an interview in the show itself, in which Conspiracy and Popular Culture reporter Sylvia Corkill likened the protagonist’s, Joe Exotic, journey to a train Tiger King’s major plot conflict is the wreck: something that is simultaneously feud between Oklahoma private zoo owner horrible and difficult to ignore. This Joe Exotic and big cat rescue advocate particular train wreck was clearly binge- Carole Baskin. Each party accused the other worthy at a historical moment when many of exploiting big cats for personal profit and people had high uncertainty and additional initiated a number of antagonistic behaviors unstructured time due to widespread shelter- against the other. Exotic is presently serving in-place orders related to the COVID-19 out a prison sentence for conspiring to pandemic. The show offered drama and murder Baskin. The internet seems to have excitement without being directly related to greater interest in a more ambiguous the daunting crisis of the coronavirus. conspiracy about Baskin than Exotic’s plot Viewers could enjoy the bizarre tale of Joe to kill her, though. A number of popular Exotic from a safe distance. Tiger King texts, including memes and a Tiger King therefore undoubtedly offered a convenient themed TikTok parody of Megan Thee and exciting mode of escapism. It felt almost Stallion’s “Savage,” have honed in on the tailor-made for the coronavirus pandemic, question of whether Baskin actually providing an outlandish but true narrative – murdered her partner, Jack Lewis. The not unlike much of the news about COVID- popular folk theory on the subject posits that 19. Further, this odd story is absent of Baskin conspired to kill Lewis, feed him to heroes, permitting the audience to channel her tigers to remove evidence, and create a any feelings of negativity into complaints set of false evidence to mislead police into about the unusual ensemble in the “Tiger believing that Lewis had simply Kingdom.” Perhaps watching people who do disappeared. Tiger King puts together awful things grants some folks a sense of “clues” about Lewis’ mysterious personal comfort. There’s a strange feeling disappearance like a game; but the game’s of security that comes with knowing that conclusion was pre-set. Clues invariably one can be imperfect and handle some lead to the conclusion that Baskin killed situations badly without ever being the I- Lewis. This game positions the audience as bought-a-private-tiger-zoo-and-hired-an- amateur detectives and, as Scot Safon assassin brand of bad. The characters of the commented in an interview with CNN, the Tiger Kingdom might make us feel a bit show concludes by leaving “lots of room for better about ourselves. Bad behavior from speculation.” Such space for speculation the characters also directly ties into one of enables and indulges conspiratorial thinking. the most resonant features of the program: Part of the show’s fun is supposedly conspiracy. unraveling the mystery of Jack Lewis and uncovering Baskin’s conspiracy to cover up murder. Evidence outside of the show is The Phoenix Papers, Vol. 4, No. 2, October 2020 147 irrelevant: in the Tiger Kingdom, Baskin is a “jokes” might have, in fact, functioned as villain well suited for the audience’s ire. dog whistles given that viewers of his internet show harassed Baskin with antics Conspiracy and Politics…and Tiger King such as leaving snakes in her mailbox. He labeled anyone who opposed him as a Conspiratorial thinking is not just “terrorist,” asserting the sort of all or enabled by the producers, but also nothing morality that is typical of cultic commonly communicated among the groups. characters of the Tiger Kingdom. Perhaps On the other hand, Joe Exotic has proven this gives figures like Joe Exotic a sort of to be a fairly popular figure in the right relatability with some viewers. He is blunt corners of the internet and the very things and expresses his own ideas regardless of which make him appear as a villain in a what other people tell him or his cautionary tale to some are the same things expectations of what other people will think. that make him laudable to others. St. Félix In this way, Exotic exudes qualities which reflected on this phenomenon by saying: have been commonly associated with Donald Trump (especially among his voter The only observation that feels base). As such, Exotic’s role as the true is that Tiger King is what we protagonist of the program has created watched two weeks into our debate among viewers. Some critics have isolation. Comfort television wasn’t written about the show in terms similar to working; we needed something the morality tale genre, choosing to view uglier. For the past four years, we Tiger King as a cautionary story about have trained ourselves not to laugh at Right-Wing conspiratorial thinking. Doreen the antics of bad men; our collective St. Félix (2020) from The New Yoker embrace of Tiger King speaks of a identified Exotic as a “cult leader” and renewed craving for the crass, the described the most optimistic interpretation politically incorrect, the culturally of his story as “a takedown of the libertarian insensitive—an outlet for the id now ethos, a dispatch from the last frontier of that the ego is under siege. white colonialism, a Trumpian fable.” There is certainly evidence from the content of the Indeed, the “craving for crass” can be easily show which may support this interpretation. satisfied for viewers of Tiger King, even if Exotic was deeply embedded in gun culture, the reasons for indulging may vary from acutely paranoid, and far more concerned person to person. with the preservation of private business than of human (or animal) life. He explicitly Conclusion discussed his beliefs about the Waco Branch Davidian siege as a warrant for buying up a In a rare time when many people seemed massive number of firearms while regularly to have more time than ever, Netflix sprang joking about killing other people. Exotic’s an unusual documentary series that was just The Phoenix Papers, Vol. 4, No. 2, October 2020 148 too weird for us to look away. It seemed to https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2 have something for everyone. From the 020/04/13/the-crass-pleasures-of-tiger- critics to the fans, just about everyone has king. something to say about Tiger King. A few Willingham, A.J. (2020, Apr. 5). Tiger King: themes of the show which may account for The not-so-secret formula behind its its popularity have been reviewed in this popularity. CNN. essay; however, there may be elements of https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/05/us/tige the show that are even more mundane and r-king-documentary-why-popular- speak to the “American experience” which trnd/index.html. have also influenced the show’s popularity. The conspiracy and crass of Tiger King may Address correspondence to Kyle A. occasionally distract from another important Hammonds, 610 Elm Ave., Burton Hall, ideological thread of the narrative: capitalist Dept.
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