"I am an American as you can see from my shirt."

November 3, 2009 3:59 PM

Ya'll remember Johnathan "The Impaler" Sharkey, Minnesota gubernatorial candidate for the Vampires, Witches, and Pagans Party? Of course you do. But have you seen Impaler, the documentary about him? hulu
posted by Pope Guilty (10 comments total)

Do you want some rye blood? 'Course ya do!

Here's to us! Who's like us? Damned few, and they're aaaaalllll dead (with a stake in the heart).
posted by filthy light thief at 4:03 PM on November 3, 2009 [1 favorite]

This was one of those docs that started out hilarious and then got weirder and sadder as it went on. (Tip to filmmakers: if you want your crazy subject to stay amusing? don't interview his kids).
posted by moxiedoll at 5:33 PM on November 3, 2009

I was telling a co-worker about this guy just now, and the inevitable question came up: Why are politics in Minnesota so strange? Not just this, but the whole Jesse Ventura thing, the proliferation and relative success of third parties, etc. Not that I neccesarily see that as a bad thing, but it seems very different from the rest of the US.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 5:54 PM on November 3, 2009

"Why are politics in Minnesota so strange?"

It's not just Minnesota. Every election has it's crazy candidates. Some do it for the attention. Others do it because they want to split another candidates vote. Others just do it because they're criminally insane. Point is, they're everwhere.

Hell, I bet even Iranian elections have the crazy guy who wants democracy, religious freedom and equal rights for women. No one is going to vote for that nutcase, of course, but at least he adds a bit of mirth to the proceedings.
posted by Effigy2000 at 6:04 PM on November 3, 2009

Ya'll remember...

Hi, Defender and Upholder of Correct Southern Vernacular flapjax at midnite here, with a message for Pope Guilty: as a contraction of "you all", the apostrophe goes after the Y.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:37 PM on November 3, 2009

Lost interest in this idiot after 10 minutes (think: balloon boys father) and ended up watching the uber fantastic Flaming Lips documentary The Fearless Freaks.
posted by stbalbach at 7:35 PM on November 3, 2009

It's not just Minnesota. Every election has it's crazy candidates.

OK. I live in South Carolina, I know crazy. I see crazy on a daily basis. I've never seen anything half as awesome, crazy and funny as this on my ballot, ever.

Also, there's a FFP on the Edgertonites in there somewhere that I'd love to see.
posted by 1f2frfbf at 6:57 AM on November 4, 2009

(Proud Minnesotan-by-birth here.)

Today BoingBoing has a pictue of the ballot for MPLS mayor, featuring Joey Lombard of the "is Aweseom" party:
http://www.boingboing.net/2009/11/03/fun-with-the-minneap.html

Man, Rhode Island politics, with their uninterrupted corruption, venality, and one-party-ness, are so boring by comparison!
posted by wenestvedt at 7:26 AM on November 4, 2009

Thank you for posting this, the documentary started out uncomfortable and then got weirder and weirder until it was mind-blowing. I might rewatch it again, knowing the stuff they reveal later. Even if it had been fiction it would have been chilling, I think.

if you want your crazy subject to stay amusing? don't interview his kids

I don't think the documentary meant to portray it as amusing, nor would a good documentary have meant to. The reality of it, though sometimes uncomfortably funny, was bizarre and extremely sad, and that's what the documentary shows. If they had purposely slanted it to be "amusing" when this is a real guy with real children and others who suffer for his influence in their life, it would have been inappropriate.
posted by Nattie at 4:26 PM on November 4, 2009

You know, that documentary really made me count my blessings.

I have a few old friends (that I pretty much never see anymore) who could charitably be described as "Uniquely spiritual," or "creatively attuned," and maybe, less charitably, as "delusional." Vampires, otherkin-- you know, that whole bit. One old pal has some things in common with Sharkey-- the political aspirations, the stated desire to see enemies publicly executed, and, um, maybe some other stuff too.

But at least MY non-human-identified friends are funny. They're basically responsible, they're articulate, they have useful skills, and they're smart-- freaky smart.

Occasionally my parents (who are lawyers) run across a truly heartbreaking case at the courthouse and they call me out of the blue to thank me for not being a wet-brained, child-neglecting, insurance-scammer or something. I'm kind of feeling a similar impulse right now-- dear old fantastical beings of my youth, thank you so much for being who you are and not the colossal screw-ups that some of your bretheren seem bent on being. In the future, I promise you near-unlimited beer, and I will never, ever ask you pointed questions about the timing of your stint in the Dragonborn psi-ops corps again.
posted by palmcorder_yajna at 9:08 PM on November 4, 2009