Why We Don’t Need More Tiger King

I stopped watching Tiger King midway through the 2nd episode, I’m not about to tune in to the new episode. While I understand the need for distraction and entertainment, especially in these times, Tiger King should not be on your list.

Tiger King is just the latest iteration of our seemingly endless fascination with the lowest common, or uncommon, denominators of our society.

Tiger King is the evolution, or mutation, of the Kardashians, Jersey Shore, The Anna Nicole Show, Honey Boo Boo, Surviving Nugent and ultimately Trump. Yes, even Trump. It is an American obsession with the outrageous, weird, often stupid, and mean behavior of the fringes of our culture.

Let’s face it, Trump became famous on The Apprentice for humiliating people, being mean and divisive to them, and ultimately firing people with not a hint of empathy. And we are surprised he runs our country the same way??

The problem is that through mass media, which I am guilty of being a part of, the fringes are now becoming too often the accepted center and norm. “Wish fulfillment”, “voyeuristic”, “aspirational” are some of the buzz words we use to help create these celebrations of, at…