It’s easy for us to think that in a vast country like the United States, we have seen everything. Cities that never sleep. Highways that wind endlessly through forests and deserts. Under the surface of America’s everyday life, there is something more bizarre, colourful and honest. It is a landscape of people, not geography.
It’s called Crazy Land, not because the people who live there are crazy, but because they misunderstand it. This is a place where people who live by their own rules dare to exist. Sumo wrestlers from Texas. Vigilante superheroes in Seattle. Appalachian militias with guns. Venice Beach bodybuilders. Desert-bound artists. UFO believers and snake-handling preachers. Drag racers are a mix of doomsday preppers, backyard inventors and radical monks.
This is a portrait – the strange, stirring tribes who thrive at the fringes of American identity. Their lives may seem eccentric or even crazy. If you look closer, however, you will see that they are deeply human.
The Pull of the Fringe: The Crazy Land
Every society has a mainstream. Every society has a mainstream. But each mainstream also has its margins. These are the places where the real stories reside.
Subcultures in America have existed for a long time, from the Beatniks in the 1950s through to the Cyberpunks of 1990. Subcultures today are more urgent, expressive and visible than ever. They do not thrive in silence, but rather in defiance. This is fueled by social media and an increasing desire to be seen in one’s way.
These fringe lifestyles can be a form of rebellion for some. Others find refuge in these fringe lifestyles. For all, however, they are a statement: We exist. We matter.
What happens if you enter Crazy Land, not to mock but to listen, and step inside?
Sumo in Georgia: The Grapplers
Two men, wearing only mawashi belts (the traditional loincloth for sumo wrestling), are circling one another on a patch of dusty earth behind a Georgia gasoline station.
Meet Big Jim “The Wall” Hawkins – a 400-pound former trucker, who fell in love with sumo after watching a late-night documentary on NHK World. What began as a friendly joke has now become a passion. Jim and 12 others meet every week to sweat and smash each other in an athletic ritual that is also deeply spiritual.
Jim, who was catching his breath in between bouts, said: “People think that sumo is only about being fat.” But it’s all about power, balance and respect. It’s a meditation with an impact.
It’s not just the dedication to an ancient Japanese sport that is remarkable, but how it has been reinterpreted by Southern identity. Above the ring, American flags are displayed. After matches, grits are served. Sumo is American, yes, but also unmistakably so.
Superheroes of Seattle
You might see men and women dressed in masks, capes and vests on the streets of Seattle after midnight. Not cosplayers. Not actors. Real-life superheroes.
The most well-known of them all is Phoenix Jones, an MMA fighter during the day and a self-proclaimed vigilante at night. What is his costume? His costume? Full black armour with gold trim. What is his mission? His mission?
Phoenix: “I’m here to fill in the gaps, the places that the system can’t reach.” Phoenix says, “I’m not here to fight the police. I’m here filling in the gaps where the system cannot reach.”
The movement has grown. The movement has grown.
They were hailed as heroes. They have been called reckless. One thing is certain: they are committed to their cause. They’re living the comic book fantasy in real life, day after day.
Muscle Beach in Venice: Biceps and Belief
You’ll see street performers, tarot-readers, skateboarders and spiritual healers on Venice Beach, California. In the middle of all this is Muscle Beach – the open-air gym where legends such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lou Ferrigno and others were born.
Muscles are not just a vanity; they are a language. A culture of discipline, dedication, and transformation.
Tanya Reyes is a single mother of 43 years who comes here to train every morning before she opens her vegan food truck. She says, “Lifting has saved my life,” flexing an oblique that could crack walnuts. “I used to weigh 200 pounds more. One day, I picked up the dumbbell and never put it down.
Muscle Beach is an underground community that’s strange for outsiders but sacred to those who live there. The backbone of this identity is a combination of gladiator and artist. It’s based on rituals such as training, nutrition, posing and support.
Private Militias – Power, Paranoia and Patriotism
Some subcultures can be serious. Some subcultures are very serious.
Private militaries have been on the rise in the rugged hills of Montana, West Virginia and other states. These groups, which are often dismissed as radicals or extremists, see themselves as defenders of constitutional rights. These groups drill regularly, store food and ammunition and adhere to strict codes of conduct.
We talk with Captain “Red” Holloway. He is the leader of 37 members of a militia near Bozeman. His message is very clear: “We are not anti-government. We’re anti-tyranny. “If the government forgets its purpose, we will remind them.”
Outsiders find the image terrifying. It includes camouflage and assault rifles. To Red and his crew, it is preparation. They are preparing for a possible collapse, whether it’s economic, social or cyber.
For them, it’s not just a dream. They live it every day.
Why we watch, why we judge, and why do relate
These groups appear to be from different planets at first glance. When you scratch the surface of the group, the same themes appear:
- The desire to control an uncontrollable universe.
- In a fragmented culture, there is a need for identity.
- In an increasingly isolated society, a sense of community is essential.
The message is the same, whether it’s superheroes fighting crime or bodybuilders sculpting themselves into human statues: We’re Here. We’re real. We are real.
In an age where people are increasingly feeling invisible, these fringe lifestyles can be seen as a form of protest – a way for them to live loudly, passionately and without apology.
The Beautiful Logic of the Bizarre
It’s not dangerous to be different. It’s revealing.
Each subculture reflects the true nature of the nation: divided, curious and brave.
They may not vote in the same way. The two men may not even live in the same town. Both are creating something different. Both are building something of their own.
Maybe, just maybe, this is the most American thing you can do.
Crazy Or Just Free?
It’s not a place that you can find on a globe. It’s a patchwork made up of people who live in the margins, not because they must but because they choose to.
They write their scripts instead of using pre-written ones. They’re all asking the same question, whether they’re doing weights at the beach, wearing masks in the City, or preparing for a fight they may never see. What does it mean to truly be alive in America?
Perhaps we do not need to understand. Perhaps we only need to see them.
If we are honest, maybe we will realise that they are not as different from us as we thought. Their strangeness contains a certain courage. A certain freedom.
In that freedom, we can find a bit of ourselves.
Final Thoughts – A Country of Characters
The United States of America was never intended to be uniform. It has always been a country of characters – rebels, visionaries, iconoclasts. While the dominant culture may change, subcultures persist.
Wildflowers grow in cracks on the pavement. Signal static. The unanticipated note in the National Anthem.
Here’s to you, sumo wrestler from Georgia. Seattle’s superhero. The gym rat from Venice. The militia leader from Montana.
The brilliantly bold and the quietly radical.
Crazy Land, may it exist forever, just beyond the horizon, just outside of the lines.