[Lee Jong-gil's Film Reading] A Regressive Zoo... The Menagerie of the 'Tiger King'

Netflix Documentary 'Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness'

"I tell the hunters to put down their guns. That tiger needs love. Let it run through the jungle. Let it roam its own land. Step back and watch with eyes of awe. See what a beautiful king it is."

This is the song "I Saw a Tiger" that closes the Netflix documentary Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness. The singer is Joe Exotic. Contrary to the lyrics, he runs a zoo in Oklahoma, USA. He claims to be an animal lover, but in reality, he is the opposite. He is obsessed with making money using big cats. He buys ammunition with his profits. He brags about recklessly firing guns at a quiet lake. He enjoys a debauched lifestyle with his gay husbands and drug use.

After Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness was released, Exotic became famous enough to gain followers. He fearlessly rampages inside cages full of big cats. He handles tigers like pets. Outside the cages, he busies himself portraying himself as a superhuman. He struggles to gain popularity and authority by exploiting wild animals.

Ancient Egyptian queen Hatshepsut (1508 BCE?1458 BCE) displayed her majesty in a similar way. She built enclosures and raised leopards, giraffes, bears, and other animals. She actively showed these to foreign envoys or officials who threatened her authority. She used rare animals as symbols that only the "children of the sun" could possess. This became a means to instantly convey how great her authority was. In fact, during her reign, Egypt experienced no major disturbances.

Propaganda using animals also peaked in 17th-century Europe, when the divine right of kings was at its height. Louis XIV (1638?1715), known as the "Sun King" and the most powerful French monarch, actively gathered exotic animals. This was to demonstrate that his power reached all corners of the earth.

He established and operated private menageries in the Paris suburbs of Vincennes and the Palace of Versailles. The former was a place where animals were made to fight. It was only opened to foster harmony with his courtiers or when foreign envoys visited. The latter was more like a zoo for nobles. Animals that could live together were selected and placed in hexagonal cages, with a central pavilion tower built to view them.

Exotic was also a king in his own zoo. No one stopped him even when he acted violently. At this time, animal rights activist Carole Baskin criticized Exotic’s sensational money-making and dangerous breeding practices, calling for legal reforms. Exotic regarded this as an invasion. He showed hostility in bizarre ways, such as shooting a mannequin with Baskin’s photo plastered on it with a machine gun.

The heated clash of emotions created tension rarely seen even in soap operas. There were multiple twists and turns. A prime example is that Baskin herself turned out to be as hypocritical as Exotic. She ran her animal sanctuary poorly. She confined big cats in cramped cages and employed only volunteers to pocket high profits. There are also suspicions that she murdered her millionaire husband and embezzled his inheritance. Even now, with Exotic arrested on charges of contract killing, the disputes and revelations continue.

The biggest victims in this fight are the animals. Most were killed or illegally traded. The remaining beasts are effectively neglected. Zoos are spaces to deeply study animals and share the knowledge gained with the public. The first place this concept was realized was The Zoological Garden of London in England. Londoners shortened it to "Zoo," which is how the modern term for zoos originated.

The zoos run by Exotic and Baskin are closer to menageries than to "zoos." They are merely "animal collections" for personal advancement and profit. Therefore, this fight cannot have a winner. The animals remain trapped in cages.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.