Tiger King and Body Language:

Erik Cowie – Head Zoo Keeper, G.W Zoo

Erik shows great sadness and guilt when talking about putting the big cats down. His eyes are downcast and he has a slight frown. He does not seem affected by the fame and is saying what he thinks. There is no suggestion he thinks he is better than the others. I also don’t see pride. This is supported by the fact he hasn’t watched the series yet.

He maintains eye contact throughout, suggesting he is being truthful in his responses. Erik seems to genuinely prefer Jeff to Joe. His face shows happiness and his eyes light up when he compares the two. Erik does get uncomfortable when talking about the nanny which we see when he shifts in his chair. When asked whether Joe should be released, he states “Not just no, but f**k no”. Not only is he repeating for emphasis, but he is also using strong language which he doesn’t throughout the rest of the interview. He obviously feels strongly about this topic.  At the end he talks about not doing meth and having a previous drinking problem. These comments seem genuine. You can see there is a cut in the video so it is hard to gauge the exact signals as they don’t flow as expected.

Jeff and Lauren Lowe – Current Owners, G.W. Zoo

Jeff smirks a lot throughout this segment. He starts when Joel asks about the nanny. He shows pride in the way he tightens his lips and smiles, but he also licks his lips which is an overtly sexual move. Unfortunately, they cut away to a photo at this point so we don’t see Lauren’s full reaction. She doesn’t seem uncomfortable talking about the nanny in this way.  

Jeff doesn’t maintain a lot of eye contact throughout. I get the impression though, that this is his baseline rather than being a signal of deception or uncomfortableness. He does look directly at the camera when talking about his villainy being sensationalised. Lauren lifts her upper lip when talking about backstabbing. This sneer suggests contempt or disgust at those she perceives to be backstabbers. When talking about whether they have watched the show, Lauren brings her hand to her chin when admitting they watched it as soon as possible. This movement suggests that she is embarrassed to admit this.  The reaction to the “bug” being discovered is instant and most likely truthful in that they believe it was “a crock of sh*t”.

I get the impression towards the end of this interview that the couple have been asked these questions many times. Their responses have become “honed” and they are almost bored with going over it again. Overall, I believe they are being honest in their answers, but they certainly feel they are superior to the others in the series.

John Reinke – Former Manager, G.W. Zoo

John.R doesn’t give much away in his facial expressions. He comes across as genuine, but not overly affected by what is being discussed. He shrugs a few times when talking about Joe, which can show an unwillingness to get involved. John shows disappointment in the amount of attention he is getting from the public. When he discusses it, he shakes his head several times, suggesting he doesn’t like the spotlight. Throughout the segment John rarely moves his hands, but when discussing the fact that Joe can’t shut up, he holds his hands up with his palms facing upwards. This is a good indication that he strongly believes this!

Kelci “Saff” Saffery – Former Animal Keeper, G.W. Zoo

Saff also doesn’t give away much with his expressions; however, we do see multiple eyebrow flashes throughout the discussions. This is a good indication that he agrees with what Joel is discussing. He shakes his head when discussing the tiger taking his arm signalling conflict. This disagreement seems to be aimed more towards the idea that there would be a fight for the arm, rather than the arm being lost. While not my focus during this analysis, I wasn’t surprised to see Joel bite his lower lip, suggesting embarrassment, after poorly imitating Joe saying “no f**king way” (was that an Australian accent??).

Joshua Dial – Campaign Manager

Josh seems subdued in his face, movements and speech compared to what we saw during the series. This makes it hard to get a read on his expressions; however, there are a couple of occasions where he shows a burst of energy.

There are occasions when we see a tight-lipped smile, suggesting tension. One example is after he states “the truth hurts”, when talking about Jeff’s reaction to how the show was put together. He shrugs his shoulder when talking about knowing he was going to be working for someone who was batsh*t crazy. This backs up his comments that he didn’t care. His slight smile and tilted head shows pride when discussing what he achieved during his time with Joe. His baseline is to tilt his head down, but when discussing this he raises his chin. When asked whether Joe ever tried anything romantically with him, Josh shakes his head no, which matches with his comments that he did not.

When asked about when Travis killed himself, there are no signs of sadness. It may be because he turns his answer to be about the lack of counselling he received, or because it has been asked so many times. This question does not cause any visible signs of grief.

His lack of eye contact when denying his use of drugs suggests that he is uncomfortable being vulnerable rather than being deceptive. When discussing the federal government, he shows a burst of energy which suggests this is something he feels strongly about.

John Finlay – Joe Exotic’s Ex-husband

One thing worth noting when attempting to read John.F is he has new teeth. His appears to be still getting used to having them so his speech and mouth movements are impacted by this. This needs to be considered when establishing his baseline. After speaking confidently for some time, John.F has a definite change in behaviour when Joel asks him about watching the show. He makes himself smaller and seems to be looking up at the camera. This suggests that he feels vulnerable about this and he was not the person in the position of power when the filming occurred.

Rick Kirkham – Producer of Joe Exotic TV

Rick seems to be proud of what he has achieved through the show. Pride can be seen in his happy smile, with his head tilted slightly back. When he talks about the Craigslist ad that Joe put out, he uses his hand to underline (and therefore emphasise) the word “outrageous” when describing the ad. When relaying his reaction to the horse story, his eyebrows shoot up at the end. This signals his astonishment at Joe’s actions There are several eyebrow movements throughout this segment. These suggest disbelief and disapproval in what occurred throughout the series.