“I Mean…What?!?” – Abe Gurko

The hysteria around the Netflix show “Tiger King” has been very eyeopening/disappointing. What is it about this low-rent animal abuser that has Jared Leto, Cardi B, and other celebrities peacocking their obsessions with his unforgivable shenanigans on Instagram? Not long into Episode 1 of “Tiger King” did I start getting the willies, reminiscent of when the Kardashian Klan phenomena swept through the nation like the tidal wave in Phuket that destroyed everything in its wake years ago. Topped off with the tragic development that culminated when Anna Winter made the grave mistake of putting Kim and Kanye on the cover of “Vogue”. A seminal moment that shifted the cultural dynamic forever. From that moment on, the sleeping giants of pretension and superficiality reared its ugly head and the aspirational society took hold. The desperation of everyday nobodies convincing themselves that they are somebodies became their one opportunity to SEEM relevant. The advent of social media created countless social media climbers enabling the insecurities of millions to seek solace in vague accomplishments, flaunting opulence as a badge of honor, even though in many cases those badges were nothing more than a designer purse.

Even though America is not a monarch, it’s as though we’ve been suffering from Monarch-Envy since not long after we got rid of King George III and declared our Independence Day on July 4, 1776. Over the centuries we’ve put people in positions of power who have abused their positions in this fragile “republic…if we can keep it”. We have come a long way from when JFK & Jackie were crowned as our American Royalty. In a world where perception is reality, people with money, the GOP, those who act for cameras (Joe Exotic, Real Housewives), those born with silver spoons in their butts, and assorted social media climbers have convinced themselves that they deserve to act entitled and holier than thou. Case in point the President of the United States (silver-spooned butt) and his kids. The Trump presidency is the culmination of all this hideosity. As far as I’m concerned, Joe Exotic is a tragically down-market version of Trump and my fear is now that Anna Wintour, who has become so eyeball-driven, has me wondering if we can expect to see the likes of Joe Exotic and his pretty-boy husband, Dillon Passage on the cover of the next September issue? If there even is one. Sound farfetched? Well, we just had YouTube Influencer (cringe), Emma Chamberlain grace the cover of Cosmopolitan, so I’m not that far off. If only the rule of law would be imposed so that we could somehow safely social distance from social media climbers during this teaching moment of “Love in the Time of Corona“. Alas…maybe there is hope yet after we’re allowed to emerge and return to a simpler, classier time.