Stir-crazy times demand a weirdo celebrity to match the mood and right on cue an eccentric anti-hero has popped out of the woodwork, or the penitentiary to be exact, courtesy of Netflix’s docu-series Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness.
Joe Exotic, a self-described “redneck” queer who once owned 200 tigers, is currently serving a 22-year prison sentence for 17 counts of animal cruelty and for conspiring to murder a big-cat activist Carole Baskin, who had won a million-dollar lawsuit against him. He dabbled on the fringes of politics, yearned for reality TV stardom and has been married four times, to a total of five men – a 2014 marriage was polyamorous to two men, one of whom subsequently accidentally shot himself in the head.
He born 5 March 1963, into a Kansas farming family, is Republican-voting, believes in unregulated gun rights – and meth, a popular gay recreational drug. He says he fell in love with tigers while recovering from a suicide attempt he linked to his parents’ homophobia.
He’s a Sun Pisces in a controlling opposition to Pluto in Virgo, with his Sun also conjunct an expansive confident Jupiter. His Venus in gregarious Aquarius is in a passionate, though none-too-sensitive opposition to Mars in flashy Leo; with Saturn conjunct Mercury in loves-to-shock Aquarius. He’s probably also got a dreamy, detached-from-reality Water Grand Trine of Sun Jupiter trine Neptune trine a Cancer Moon.
His nemesis Carole Baskin, 6 June 1961, hasn’t had a straightforward life either, running away from home at 15 with a boyfriend and living rough, got married to another, had a child at 17, got divorced and married again. She set up a big cat rescue sanctuary with her middle husband Don Lewis who suffered from ‘sex addiction’ and disappeared in 1997 when visiting Costa Rica supposedly for a cure. He was presumed dead in 2002 and she married a third time. The police say they have no evidence he was murdered.
She’s a Sun Gemini with a volatile Mars Uranus in Leo. Her Mars is exactly opposition Joe exotic’s Saturn for a mighty clash; which transcribes onto the relationship chart, not surprisingly, as a marked-dislike composite Mars opposition Saturn (also the assassination signature in traditional astrology) with the Mars in a ruthless sextile to Pluto and an ego-clashing square to Neptune.
Don Lewis, her second husband, 30 April 1938, is/was a maverick Sun Uranus in Taurus with passionate Venus Mars in Gemini and a pushy Jupiter inconjunct Pluto. His Uranus clashed with Carole’s Mars, so it would be argumentative at times. His and Carole’s relationship chart has an emotionally intense and indulgent composite Pluto opposition Jupiter square Venus, which would lead at times to one-upmanship struggles for the last word. There’s also a fairly explosive composite Mars Uranus conjunction trine Saturn so it would veer towards the unkind at times. Tr Pluto was opposition the composite Mercury when he disappeared; with tr Jupiter opposing the composite Pluto.
Middle America in all its glory. But it’s keeping a home-bound audience riveted.
Regarding their obsession with big cats I find it slightly uncanny that both Carol and Joe have Mars in Leo.
I hated the animal abuse aspect of this show, but it really showed how “cultish” these people are, and both Joe’s and Carol’s charts really makes sense for cult leaders, don’t they? It’s also interesting how their cults are structures – Joe The Piscean gathered broken misfits and promised them a place, Carol The Gemini has an operation based on social validation, akin to multilevel marketing (interestingly, most people involved in MLMs I know have heavy Gemini or/and Virgo), involvement will get you to the next level. Also, personality disorders are, most likely, involved.
I also think HBO’s “McMillions” might be more representative of “Middle America” than this show.
That show was complete cringe! It was pretty upsetting how everyone used the animals for profit while accusing each other of animal abuse. The people belonged in a circus.