Mike Tyson Review - Deeply Confusing ... And That's Before Trump Appears

The strangest thing - which some say is genuinely irresponsible - is Mike Tyson, the boxing superstar, going from hallucinogens and sobbing to a bad facial tattoo, through a short clip from the new quadripartite Netflix documentary about the U.S. president. Mike Tyson is one of the strangest sports documentaries released recently. The streamer has a shape to its sports hagiographies - stories told at a suspicious distance from their subjects, and

Netflix's new four-parter about Mike Tyson is one of the weirdest sports documentaries it's ever released, or maybe just one of its weirdest documentaries ever. Streamer has a form in sports hagiographies—stories told with a suspicious distance from their subjects and all the objectivity of the Cold War. Tyson, however, is different: not only crooked, but deeply confusing. And that's before Donald Trump steps in to defend the issue — a great draw for the showrunners but a thoroughly confusing scene that makes you wish he'd continued to meddle in geopolitics and golf.

It—spoiler alert—has the former boxing champion taking the hallucinogenic drug DMT (or, as he calls it, "the toad," after the animal that produces it), as he cries and invites the show's director to join him. Its episodes are quirky, sometimes compelling, and—as many viewers will surely feel—really irresponsible.

It begins without controversy enough, recounting the extreme poverty and insecurity of Tyson's upbringing as he robs other kids for their wallets and chains. Now, when he returns to Brownsville, Brooklyn, he is mobbed by adoring fans. As a youth, Tyson had a knack for knocking people out, which later piqued the interest of trainer Bobby Stewart, whom he met during a stint in a juvenile detention center. At the age of 13, Stewart pitted Tyson against legendary manager and promoter Cass D'Amato, who told him he would become heavyweight champion. "[Tyson] ran at me and took my head off!" says Lennox Lewis, an early sparring partner. Despite many tragedies, a stunning professional career followed - most notably the loss of D'Amato, who died in 1985. But Tyson was on the verge of big titles and big fame. As she says, "It was great to be young and have all this attention."

But documentary filmmaker Tyson isn't content to be a professional legend. It also delves into the man's past in a way that feels spiteful and careless. Much has been made of his short-lived marriage to actor Robin Givens, whose mother told journalist Wallace Matthews that Tyson was beating her daughter (Givens declined an interview request from the show's producers). Matthews says Tyson didn't deny attacking him but said he didn't hurt him and "we had a fight." (Here, Tyson says: "I know people say he can't fight you, you're Mike Tyson - but we fought.")

Givens later denied beating her husband. "It's a bunch of bullshit," Tyson said of the rumors of assault and rape on his wife after she denied it. There is footage from the Tyson archive of Tyson telling Barbara Walters that he holds his wife but never beats her, while Givens tells her that the union is "pure hell" and "torture". Now, Tyson calls Givens "a fucking bitch." Headlines appear on the screen, including: "Iron Mike dreams of love, but all he gets is a pack of brawls". The episode ends with a disclaimer and a mention of a website with resources for survivors of sexual violence.

Part of his rape conviction is no better, with Tyson - who has denied sexually assaulting then-18-year-old contestant Desiree Washington - laughing at his reputation for being easy-going. There are a few voices that do not completely discredit Washington, but many others express doubt that Tyson could be guilty of the crime for which he was convicted and spent three years in prison.

“[Tyson] is very honest, and I think the truth hurt him in this case,” says Trump — a man with at least some experience in this field. He adds that the media treated Mike harshly, but made Mike tougher. They are rough with me and I am the president!

The interviewees talk about Tyson not as an athlete with a troubled past, but as someone similar to Nelson Mandela. "You can knock him down, you can talk bad about him, you can take his freedom away from him," says friend and former boxer Tom Petty, "but guess what?" [He] is still here.” The same warning is played at the end of that episode.

Sure, there's plenty about drugs and alcohol and ill-advised facial tattoos, and even a son (Miguel, now 24) who calls his father "sick." Tyson calls himself "a badass" for his behavior in the ring, when he bit Evander Holyfield's ear not once, but twice. And there is a profound and horrific tragedy in the form of the death of Tyson's young daughter, Exodus, who was killed in an accident. But documenting Tyson, four years old, is an exercise in irresponsibility and deflection. Tyson ends by talking about how "special" he is. It certainly takes a unique figure to play a program this gross.