Who is now the strangest person in the US?

[AskNott]

Now that you-know-who is out of the running, who is now the strangest person in America (or North America, if you want to expand it)?

He set the standard for strangeness, and perhaps the new SPiA won't be that odd. This is America, though, and I'm sure that some successor will be stranger yet.

[Freudian Slit]

The other people who get way too much plastic surgery are pretty weird looking. Joyce Wildenstein and the lizard guy and the one who wants to be a tiger. I'm not sure how strange they act, though.

[wolfman]

Well to be truly and efectively strange, you have to slowly slide into, along a long public career.

stage 0 "He seems like a nice guy"
1 "hmm interesting"
2 "Well he must be under a lot of stress"
3 "No I'm sure you heard that wrong"
4. "What the hell was that about?"
5. "He's totally lost it" ----> point at which oddity is main factor for being known
6. "Holy shit, what a nut"
7. "Is that....Ethyl, get the kids in the van now!"
8. "Cut off his nuts and waited for the Martians you say"

Tom Cruise is at least at 6. Gary Busey is a solid 7 right now, but I think Tom has more potential to go for the Gold.

[Diogenes the Cynic]

Britney Spears has shown some promise.

[Freudian Slit]

What's weird about Gary Busey? I know he's meant to be odd, and he seems strange--I'm just curious about what he does that's weird. I don't know much about him.

[Gala Matrix Fire]

Joaquin Phoenix might be gunning for it.

[straggler]

Other contenders:

Marilyn Manson, Crispin Glover, Ozzie Osbourne, Joaquin Phoenix, Joseph Jackson(!), Mike Tyson.. I would throw Angelina Jolie in there, too.

EDIT: Denis Rodman.

[Hippy Hollow]

I think Mike Tyson is probably closest.

I suspect M. Manson is playing a role and is fairly normal.
C. Glover isn't famous enough to have a lifestyle that supports full-on weirdness.
J. Phoenix - again, playing a role.
J. Jackson - not strange, just a jerk.
T. Cruise - definitely strange but knows enough to keep it under wraps, or at least has learned that lesson.

Tyson has money, or at least fame or a notoriety that allows him to be strange. He has been accused of crimes, and convicted of at least one, and spent time in prison. He went to reform school and clearly has mental problems. He even has the facial tattoo as well!

Add in one formerly famous wife (Robin Givens), and a politically connected one (his second wife is the GOP chairman Michael Steele's sister), the ear-biting incident, blowing $300 million in earnings... I think he's your guy.

Let me put it this way: if I was in a public place with Mike Tyson, I'd be careful not to piss him off, because I have no idea what he would do.

Dennis Rodman, IMO, is a not-too-bright, chronically shy guy who had a moment. But again, he doesn't have the notoriety nor means to support his strangeness.

I do think you have to have a little money to be "strange" because if you don't, you simply look for the nearest drug dealer and get high til you die.

[Freudian Slit]

Marilyn Manson seems relatively normal and well-adjusted when he's interviewed. He seems to be the opposite of Michael Jackson in that he knows when he's playing a role and when he's just him. And how to milk that role for publicity without letting it get out of hand or letting it consume him.

[AskNott]

I have the impression that Dennis Rodman is mellowing out. He's the guy who hyped his upcoming wedding, then showed up as the bride. Dated Madonna, but she wasn't kinky enough. For a while, he was a close runner-up to One-Glove. Lately, though, he's not seeking the weird-magnet element of the press. Maybe he's bored with all that.

[HeyHomie]

Can someone explain Crispin Glover's alleged weirdness to me? All wikipedia has to say is a recap of a Letterman appearance that was apparently all an act.

[uglybeech]

Glenn Beck. I mean just - Glenn Beck. And he's got a following.

First runner up: Tom Cruise Can only pass for normal when he keeps his mouth closed. And it's so alarming that he's *trying* so hard to seem normal too. And he can't do it.

Runner up is Joaquin Phoenix at least until a final diagnosis comes in. Drugs? Mental illness? Fake? I'm just so curious.

[Freudian Slit]

He's in prison now, so I'm not sure if he still counts, but then again, he's still in the US. What about Phil Spector? Though he's been deprived of the guns and odd hairpieces he so loved.

[MPB in Salt Lake]

Maybe not in the same leauge as some of the others mentioned, but from what I have read (mostly on this board) Andy Dick is in the running for class A jackass---not exactly in the same wierdo "outward physical appearance" ways as Rodman or Manson are known for, but as far as criminal, anti-social behavior (actually bragging about getting high with two people who suicided shortly after partying with him) Dick is quite a piece of work................

[uglybeech]

Originally Posted by Freudian Slit

He's in prison now, so I'm not sure if he still counts, but then again, he's still in the US. What about Phil Spector? Though he's been deprived of the guns and odd hairpieces he so loved.

Oh yeah...you're right it's Phil Spector.

[Duke]

Originally Posted by Hippy Hollow

I think Mike Tyson is probably closest.

Considering that Bill Simmons was able to write an entire column on "The Tyson Zone" (i.e., the area a celebrity gets to when you can say anything about them and people will believe it), I think you've got it.

[salinqmind]

Lindsay Lohan continues to run amok in her own quiet way. A delusional appearance on Ellen here, a flashing of her warty labia there, peddling fake tan and leggings with built in kneepads, vacationing in Dubai, getting paid by Las Vegas $70,000 just to show up at her own birthday party...I guess since she isn't tweeting and driving or whatever, she's keeping her skanky face out of the news. But even though she's old news, we can always hope.

[mariposalabrown]

Lohan is tweeting up a crazystorm, the girl is nuts. That's the only celebrity twitter I watch. It's just that no one cares about her.

[Jragon]

Originally Posted by mariposalabrown

Lohan is tweeting up a crazystorm, the girl is nuts. That's the only celebrity twitter I watch. It's just that no one cares about her.

Yeah, but doesn't this like, single-handedly redeem her? No? Okay...

[Baal Houtham]

Fred Phelps is pretty fuckin' weird. He's famous for picketing the funerals of veterans. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Phelps

He runs not only the semi-well-known "godhatesfags" website, but also "godhatessweden" and "godhatesireland."

He believes "Homosexuals and Jews dominated Nazi Germany... just as they now dominate this doomed U.S.A."

From Wikipedia:
That day, a photo of John Paul II also appeared on Westboro Baptist Church's godhatesfags.com website. It was altered to depict the pope with horns emanating from his forehead. A caption read:
“Deal with it, you idolatrous morons! The pope is in Hell. Westboro Baptist Church members are competent expert witnesses, having picketed hundreds of Catholic churches in all fifty states over the past fourteen years. We will bear witness on Judgment Day: Catholics are the meanest, most violent people on Earth, and their churches are filled with filthy fag priests.


And...

In 2003 ... Phelps wrote Hussein a letter praising his regime for being, in his opinion, "the only Muslim state that allows the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ to be freely and openly preached on the streets."[68] Furthermore, he stated that he would like to send a delegation to Baghdad to "preach the Gospel" for one week. Hussein granted permission, and a group of WBC congregants traveled to Iraq to protest against the U.S. The WBC members stood on the streets of Baghdad holding signs condemning both Bill and Hillary Clinton, as well as anal sex.

[Kozmik]

Ozzy.

[luv2draw]

Sarah Palin

[Malleus, Incus, Stapes!]

Originally Posted by Baal Houtham

Fred Phelps is pretty fuckin' weird.

If we're including residents of the Fundie Funny Farm, may I suggest Jack Chick instead? Both are completely bonkers, but ask yourself, which is better entertainment: "God hates fags" or "HAW HAW HAW"? I rest my case.

[hotflungwok]

Prince. Just ask Kevin Smith.

[The Punkyova]

Little Richard.

[Jragon]

Originally Posted by Malleus, Incus, Stapes!

If we're including residents of the Fundie Funny Farm, may I suggest Jack Chick instead? Both are completely bonkers, but ask yourself, which is better entertainment: "God hates fags" or "HAW HAW HAW"? I rest my case.

I've heard (about third or fourth hand, mind you) that Chick isn't quite as crazy as his site seems to make him out to be. Of course, there could be any number of explanations for this, from putting on a face to make him more "reasonable" looking to his opponents to pure miscommunication between the channels the stories I heard went through, but either way if I had to choose between a guy who puts up (admittedly deplorable) fundamentalist comics on his site and a guy who has picketed funerals to the point of being kicked out of countries... I'll go with the latter in terms of sheer lunacy.

[ashman165]

I think Ann Coulter is one batshit crazy person. Is she the strangest? I'm not sure, but she's up there.

[Sigmagirl]

Where's the Mickey Rourke love?

[Wargamer]

Tyson. Hands down.

[cornflakes]

Originally Posted by HeyHomie

Can someone explain Crispin Glover's alleged weirdness to me? All wikipedia has to say is a recap of a Letterman appearance that was apparently all an act.

I could be completely wrong, but my impression is that Crispin Glover is a character actor's character actor--In other words, he plays characters who are really out there. Also, he has no fear of really getting into his characters, on screen or while promoting the movies.

In The River's Edge, he played the psychotic leader of a group of high school kids. He was banned from Late Night after he went on the show to promote the movie and kicked over David Letterman's head. If I recall correctly, Glover later came back on Late Night and claimed that it was really a lookalike. Of course, all of it was total BS.

[Simplicio]

Originally Posted by salinqmind

Lindsay Lohan continues to run amok in her own quiet way. A delusional appearance on Ellen here, a flashing of her warty labia there, peddling fake tan and leggings with built in kneepads, vacationing in Dubai, getting paid by Las Vegas $70,000 just to show up at her own birthday party...I guess since she isn't tweeting and driving or whatever, she's keeping her skanky face out of the news. But even though she's old news, we can always hope.

Eh, any sizable town in the US probably has several dozen semi-out of control girls in their late-teens early twenties with rich parents and more or less the same issues as Lohan. Her antics are more in the public eye, but her kind of crazy is pretty standard issue, and as such I don't think qualifies as particularly strange.

[Mullinator]

I think it all goes back to Bill Simmon's Tyson Zone mentioned earlier. To be considered the strangest, any scenario has to believably be considered for that person.

Examples:
1. __________ is now an adherent of a diet consisting solely of protein shakes, marshmallows, and bathing in room temperature lamb's blood because it keeps the body young and joints loose.
2. __________ is renouncing all worldly possessions and entering a monastery in Zaire to reach the enlightened state of Nirvana.
3. __________ was arrested yesterday for going double the speed limit in a souped up riding lawnmower on the freeway while wearing nothing but a diaper and a headdress made of avocados.
4. _________ has decided to run for the Governor of Washington because "They have some really tasty apples up there."
5. __________ lost a footrace to an emu.

For all of these statements and many more, I can absolutely picture Mike Tyson as the main subject. I can't think of another person in that class.

[NurseCarmen]

Originally Posted by Jragon

Yeah, but doesn't this like, single-handedly redeem her? No? Okay...

Damn. Now I kinda dig her.

[MrSquishy]

Originally Posted by HeyHomie

Can someone explain Crispin Glover's alleged weirdness to me? All wikipedia has to say is a recap of a Letterman appearance that was apparently all an act.

Why don't you check out his web site for some clues? I met him once, and have seen his slide show and some short films he made. I don't think his weirdness is an act.

[Malleus, Incus, Stapes!]

Maybe we should put our nominees into catagories: Celebrities, Politicians, Fundies, Artists, Random Wackjobs With YouTube Accounts, etc. Although looking for Weirdest American On The Internet is shooting fish in a barrel.

[palindromemordnilap]

[quote=wolfman;11312368]Well to be truly and efectively strange, you have to slowly slide into, along a long public career.

stage 0 "He seems like a nice guy"
1 "hmm interesting"
2 "Well he must be under a lot of stress"
3 "No I'm sure you heard that wrong"
4. "What the hell was that about?"
5. "He's totally lost it" ----> point at which oddity is main factor for being known
6. "Holy shit, what a nut"
7. "Is that....Ethyl, get the kids in the van now!"
8. "Cut off his nuts and waited for the Martians you say"
QUOTE]

If this is the method of determining SPiA (and I think it is) then Britney Spears is one chimpanzee shy of Neverland.

[salinqmind]

That's probably quite true about poor Short Bus, but since Daddy Spears took over, cleaned her up, told her to start wearing panties, making her take her meds, poses her for pictures as if she's actually aware of where she is and what she's doing there, trotting in her kids to pose with her for photos, and tarting up the poor cow and pushing her onstage to wave her arms and grunt amidst the dozens of singers and dancers swirling around her - she's now actually quite low down on that list now!

[Kalhoun]

Most everyone on this list has had their moment in the rubber room, but for the most part have gone normal on us.

Nicholas Cage WAS weird.

Joaquim Phoenix is and on-and-off strange guy, but I think a lot of it is staged.

Phil Spector WAS holding his own, but I have a feeling incarceration is going to take all the Whack-job out of him.

I'm not seeing any real stand-outs in the wingnut crowd right now. I think you need consistent longevity to take the crown in this field.

[Jenaroph]

Originally Posted by Mullinator

I think it all goes back to Bill Simmon's Tyson Zone mentioned earlier. To be considered the strangest, any scenario has to believably be considered for that person.

Examples:
1. __________ is now an adherent of a diet consisting solely of protein shakes, marshmallows, and bathing in room temperature lamb's blood because it keeps the body young and joints loose.
2. __________ is renouncing all worldly possessions and entering a monastery in Zaire to reach the enlightened state of Nirvana.
3. __________ was arrested yesterday for going double the speed limit in a souped up riding lawnmower on the freeway while wearing nothing but a diaper and a headdress made of avocados.
4. _________ has decided to run for the Governor of Washington because "They have some really tasty apples up there."
5. __________ lost a footrace to an emu.

For all of these statements and many more, I can absolutely picture Mike Tyson as the main subject. I can't think of another person in that class.

Sarah Palin?

[kunilou]

Madonna, but I always did think most of it was an act.

[Freudian Slit]

Originally Posted by kunilou

Madonna, but I always did think most of it was an act.

I think of Madonna as less strange and more annoying, though. Kind of like that girl in high school or college who'd be on some new trend every other week and be seriously telling you about how great vegetarianism or veganism or the occult is. And she's not really all that strange or out there but she really wants you to think she is. And then she spends a month abroad and comes back with a faux accent.

[Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor]

5 years along--Paris Hilton.

[straggler]

Lady GaGa must have read this thread, and decided she wants in.

[Sir T-Cups]

Originally Posted by Duke

Considering that Bill Simmons was able to write an entire column on "The Tyson Zone" (i.e., the area a celebrity gets to when you can say anything about them and people will believe it), I think you've got it.

This sentence was the exact one I came into this thread to write.


Way to go Duke.

Shout out to Mullinator as well