Aristasia in the Media

Aristasia in the Media

"Miss Millard just hated me, and so she said all the nicest things. Later on she keeps talking about my 'silvery laugh'. Isn't that delightful? I don't know if I've a silvery laugh, but I should love to think so. The thing about bongos like Miss Millard is that we are so diametrically opposed we cannot insult one another. If I wrote about her I should say that she was vulgar, brash and unladylike, but she would not be insulted because that is just what she wants to be. When she writes about me she says that I have perfect vowels and a silvery laugh and that I am an "elitist". And that is exactly what I want to be.”

Miss Martindale, Aristasian figurehead, speaking about her interview with a reporter (Rosie Millard) for The Independent.

This page curates what we will, rather facetiously, refer to as “outlander” takes on Aristasia: recent media and journalistic responses. During my time in Aristasia, we described those outside of the movement as “outlanders.” Sometimes, this felt like a cute little joke, referring to the random people (often men avatars dressed in suits and tophats) wandering into our spaces in Second Life.

Aristasia, though, was far more than just Second Life, existed well before it, as did this notion of outsiders as, well… outlanders, and use of terms like “bongo” to refer to them. So, in some ways, this was part of the typical insider-outside doctrines you see in some sketchy groups.

This was particularly true when it was paired with rhetoric about how “deracinated” (and therefore just terrible) the outsiders supposedly were. We see that in (guess who?) Miss Martindale’s weird comments in her article with Rosie Millard, where she insists that the poor reporter who (seems to have) complimented her laugh and voice was actually insulting her. The snippet was archived from an Aristasian page in the early 2000s, the interview occurred in the 1990s, and is typical of a passive-aggressive approach to the press back then, as you'll soon see...

"Whenever I have a maid, she receives corporal punishment. have always beaten my maids and I always will." Assault, then? “It doesn’t make any difference what you in bongo bongo land call it, Miss Millard. You're so obvious. You make me very sick. Goodbye.”

Miss Martindale, Aristasian figurehead, speaking about her interview with a reporter (Rosie Millard) for The Independent.

To see interactive timelines, visit this page.

Next, I'll focus on more recent press coverage of Aristasia. In most of the following stories, you will not see any reaction from Aristasia itself about the coverage (no Miss Martindale complaining that her laugh got a compliment, for example) - these were largely written and published after the movement had vanished. Towards the end, there’s a couple that are (slightly) older, and referenced/interfaced with Aristasian communities in Second Life.

I've likely missed many recent articles and media coverage of Aristasia. If you want to share any I didn't, do feel free to send me a note and I'll (likely) add it. I may, ultimately, include links to forum discussions about the movement on here, but I'm vacillating on whether that's really wise or going to court problems. If you yourself are some kind of "media person" or podcaster or whoever who wants to deep dive this or do some kind of feature on Aristasia, I'm open to contact, too, in most cases, but cannot really provide more information than what is already on (or planned for) this site.