Marilyn Manson has made a career out of, to quote every mom in 1997, “shocking decisions,” some of which have paid off better than others: the name change, from Brian Hugh Warner to one-half Marilyn Monroe, one-half Charles Manson; the ability to turn a gothic-metal cover of a song from 1983 into an MTV hit; the looking like he does and still managing to sleep with Rose McGowan and Dita Von Teese; the Mansinthe, which is, yes, Marilyn Manson absinthe; the joining the cast of ABC’s cheapie fairy tale fantasy Once Upon a Time. But it wasn’t until yesterday that he pulled off his greatest bizarre feat: pissing nerdy nerd spokesperson Chris Hardwick off.
I’m not a Hardwick fan, but he does seem like a nice enough guy, someone who’s able to mock his own image (as he did so memorably on Comedy Bang! Bang!) with genuine self-effacement. But on last night’s The Talking Dead, the completely unnecessary Walking Dead talk show, Hardwick seemed flummoxed and increasingly frustrated by the occasionally wise, mostly nonsensical garbage that spewed out of Manon’s grilled mouth. Such as.
Marilyn Manson: No, but I think the recklessness of it. [Carol] was just making decisions on her own emotions. She’s mad about all the things in her life. Maybe, she hasn’t gotten laid in awhile. She’s like menstruating. Who knows what’s going on?
Chris Hardwick: I’m not sure if I support those last two theories.
Marilyn Manson: I think she’s trying to be judge and jury, while Rick is trying to be civil. And he’s more let’s all decide, but he fell apart. And so you’ve got someone like her, and she’s burning those bodies. She’s suddenly like a feminist Sufragette City burning bras. I don’t think it was personal.
Chris Hardwick: I don’t know if burning bras is the same as burning human beings alive.
Marilyn Manson: It’s strange, because I love that it’s a zombie show. It’s essentially about morality, and you’ve got Grimes who for the most part tried to do what he thought was right. But in a zombie-type situation, where there’s no rules, morality, it goes right back to basics. It’s almost biblical, where you have to react. And Rick’s made the mistake of trying to save other people’s children, and it affected him losing his wife. Then, you have Shane, who I like to call criminally ear-y, because his ear looks criminal. There’s an old study about the shape of people’s ears makes them criminal or not.
Marilyn Manson: I think it’s Carol’s daughter.
Chris Hardwick: No, no, Sophia? I don’t think so. I think they wrapped that one up.
Marilyn Manson: The Governor had strict rules, whether they were good or not. You know, it’s our opinion, morally or just questionably. Just Rick didn’t have any hardcore rules, until now he’s started with those three questions. So Rick is kind of realizing politics need to be involved. It’s almost starting a new world. It’s like when people came to America and killed all the Indians. It’s the zombies.
Marilyn Manson: I thought it was a reverse of Training Day with Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke. And he had to school him in the car with the PCP and what not. And he just sort of came through at the end. [Tyreese] was actually Ethan Hawke. They just flipped the script.
Chris Hardwick: I think everyone’s thinking that. Gale, is that why?
Gale Anne Hurd: You know what, absolutely. We watched Training Day right before we wrote the episode.
Walking Dead fans were so confused by what Manson was saying, they didn’t stop and appreciate his prediction that Michonne and Daryl will scissor one another. Except for this lady:
I have never been more turned on my life. Thanks, MM!
(via Getty Image, via Comicbook.com)
