The Aesthetic Realists'
hysterical reaction to New York Magazine
May 2009 - February 2010
In 1976 Alan Rich of New York magazine reviewed a
theater performance starring one of the Aesthetic
Realists. The actor's bio in the playbill included the
obligatory plug for Aesthetic Realism, and in the review
Rich referred to AR as "a cult of messianic nothingness that
hangs out somewhere in the Village". The AR people then
unloaded a torrent of angry mail upon New York
magazine's offices, a whopping 173 separate letters,
weighing several pounds, not counting envelopes, enclosures,
or copies of other letters to other parties that they sent
along because they wanted NY Magazine to see them. Mr. Rich
recently supplied me with the whole file. It took me three
hours just to skim this mess and another four hours to
organize it all. It's going to take me months to extract all
the good bits for the website, but below is my first stab at
it. Here are the takeaway points:
- Aesthetic Realists are hypocrites. AR people
says that AR shows people how to be kind. That doesn't
square with the deluge of hate mail they sent to New York
magazine and Alan Rich, crammed to the brim with
vitriolic insults.
- Aesthetic Realists are liars. When Alan Rich
said publicly that the AR people were sending him hate
mail, the AR people denied that it was hateful. The
evidence below suggests that yet again, they were lying
their asses off.
- Aesthetic Realists don't tolerate criticism.
On AR's "Countering
the Lies" website, one of the things they say I'm
supposedly lying about is that they don't tolerate
criticism. According to them, they just love
criticism. So why then, when a reviewer makes a
four-word slight against them, do they respond
with a veritable deluge of hate mail, and a
campaign to get the magazine's advertisers to cancel
their accounts?
- AR people have delusions of grandeur.
Aesthetic Realists believe that one day everyone in the
world will study AR and revere their founder Eli Siegel
as the greatest person who ever lived. This comes through
strong and clear in the letters. One of them says,
"Because this letter is of historical importance I am
keeping the original and sending you a copy." (!)
- Aesthetic Realists have paranoid feelings of
persecution. AR people believe there's a conspiracy
in the press to not report about the wonders of Aesthetic
Realism. As such, every single letter writer puts "Victim
of the Press" under his or her name. Many of the letters
make outrageous claims of persecution; for example, one
AR child suggests her mother is on drugs because NY
Magazine won't cover Aesthetic Realism favorably.
- Aesthetic Realists pimp their children. The AR
people got their children, some as young as 2-1/2,
to write letters to NY Magazine. (When a kid was too
young to write, the parents wrote out what the child
said.) This is one of the cases in which the term
"brainwashed" comes to mind: It's obvious to everyone else how
ludicrous this is, but the Aesthetic Realists actually
thought it was a good idea. Amazing.
- You can't trust an Aesthetic Realist. This
collection of letters exemplifies one of the five
reasons you can't trust what an Aesthetic Realist
says: Most of them eventually snap out of it and
recant what they said. Most of the people who wrote these
angry letters to NY Magazine praising Aesthetic Realism
in 1976 sure wouldn't say so today! So it's kind of hard
to place much faith in the words of those who
haven't snapped out of it yet.
It's going to take me months to extract the good bits
from these letters for this website, but here are some to
get the ball rolling. In keeping with my practice, I
omit the names of people who have left the group since they
presumably no longer wish to be associated with it, or with
the comments they made back when they were brainwashed.
Letters from the children
Dear Alan Rich,
I am a student of Aesthetic Realism I think your Article
in new york was awful is not bigotted or religious cult it
is based on truth and it teaches people to like the world
and themselves. I am 11-1/2 years old and I think you should
study it, it would do you a lot of good. I have seen
something for myself even though I am so young this article
was a liie, I think you should apologize in print cause
you've hurt peoples lives, you have hurt mine
[name]
Victim of the Press
Note: This person has since left
the group.
Dear Mr. Rich,
I am 14 years of age, and you probably never heard of me,
but I think it's about time you did.... The way you
described Aesthetic Realism as "that cult of messianic
nothingness that hangs out somewhere in the village" is
about as contemptuous as a person can get.
What gives you the right to talk that way about something
you haven't bothered to study or see what it is about?! You
are a victim of the press and you are not only hurting
yourself, but many other people in the world who are looking
for the kind criticism of Eli Siegel and Aessthetic
Realism.
I came to New York to visit but I stayed to study
Aesthetic Realism. The reason I stayed is because in
Aesthetic Realism Consultations I am learning how to like
things and people more and to make sense of my life.
It is your duty as a journalist to make a solemn apology
to William Atherton and Aesthetic Realism. You will respect
yourself....
[name]
Victim of the Press
Note: This person has since left
the group. Below is his follow-up letter.
Dear Mr. Glaser, [of New York Magazine]
On March 5th, 1976, I wrote a letter to Mr. Alan Rich
about his slur on Aesthetic Realism. A few weeks later I
called him up. I wass very affected by our conversation. The
way he was so smooth about Eli Siegel and Aesthetic Realism
really ticked me off. Since that day I have been angry and
sick, off and on for the last two weeks. Because of Mr.
Rich, Mr. Sulsburger and all the other people of the press I
have been miserable.
How do you think I should feel? Aesthetic Realism has
changed my life Mr. Glaser, but because the press does'nt
write about that, I can't even talk to my school
friends about it. Ethics isn't a hot subject at Robert
Wagner Jr. High. It's news, Mr. Glaser, and unfair reporters
like Mr. Rich have hurt the lives of millions of people.
Because of the press boycott my father, my stepmother and
my half sister are all having a hard time placing my coming
up to N. Y. to study a thought. Why are you so unfair? What
you want most is to study Aesthetic Realism. Something
should be done about a retraction of Mr. Rich's slur. Out of
all the 400 letters he has gotten he should know by now that
Aesthetic Realism is true about all people . An apology
should be printed from Mr. Rich, because if he doesn't he
will not be at ease with himself. I can imagine what he goes
through at nights, knowing that he is hurting lives all over
the world.
People from all walks of life study Aesthetic Realism
& feel their lives have been saved. Print that, Mr.
Glaser, instead of some jive, no good slur. Aesthetic
Realism is true, and if you mess around with it, you will
never have a large feeling about anything anymore. You
should want to know the facts. Retract Mr. Wretch's, I mean
Rich's, slur. You will respect yourself.
[name]
Victim of the Press
What's on this site
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Cult Aspects
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What is Aesthetic Realism?
An explanation about both the AR philosophy and the group that promotes it.
Cult aspects of Aesthetic Realism
Fanatical devotion to the leader, cutting off relations with families who aren't also believers -- it's all here.
AR and Homosexuality
The AR group used to try to "cure" people of being gay. They stopped that in 1990 because high-profile success cases kept deciding they were gay after all and leaving. AR has never said their gay-changing attempts were wrong.
AR's founder killed himself
AR's founder Eli Siegel killed himself, but the AR people have been trying to hide that fact. They can't hide any more, since enough former students have come forward to confirm the truth.
Attempts to recruit schoolchildren
Some AR members are public schoolteachers, and yep, they do try to recruit in the classroom.
Five reasons you can't trust an Aesthetic Realist
One reason is that most people who were in AR eventually woke up and got out. See more about this, plus four other reasons.
Lies Aesthetic Realists tell
They say they never saw homosexuality as something to cure. They say the leader didn't kill himself. They say my family left the group when I was an infant. These and more are debunked here.
Hypocrisy of the Aesthetic Realists
It takes some serious brainwashing for the members to not realize that they're guilty of what they accuse others of.
Aesthetic Realism glossary
We explain the real meanings behind the loaded language that AR people use.
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Other goodies
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Thinking of leaving AR?
If you're thinking of leaving the group, you're not alone. Let's face it: Most people who have ever studied AR have left -- and not come back. There's got to be a reason for that. Curious about what they figured out? Worried about the fallout if you do decide to leave? Here's everything you need to know.
Media Reports
NY Mag called AR "a cult of messianic nothingness" and Harper's referred to them as "the Moonies of poetry". We've got reprints of articles, plus some help for journalists researching AR. (And here are shortcuts to the landmark articles in the NY Post and Jewish Times.)
Site News / Blog
Here's some news and commentary that I add from time to time.
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AR in their own words
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Actual AR
advertisment
The AR people spent a third of a million dollars
for a double-page ad in the NY Times to tell the world that the
press' refusal to cover AR is just as wrong as letting hungry people
starve to death.
Ad for the gay
cure
AR bought huge ads in major newspapers to trumpet
their ability to "fix" gays.
Actual
letters from AR people
When a theater critic casually dissed Aesthetic
Realism in New York magazine, the AR people responded with hundreds
of angry letters, calling the article "a crime against humanity".
Actual internal
meeting
The AR people blunderingly made a tape recording
of a secret meeting they had, where they lambasted a member who had
supposedly been "cured" of his gayness, but then found to still be
cruising for gay sex. Their screeching hostility towards him is matched
only by their fear that the secret will get out.
Actual AR
consultation
For the first time the public can see what really
happens in an Aesthetic Realism "consultation" (thanks to a former
member sharing his tape with us). In the session the AR counselors
tried to help the member not be gay, explaining that the path to
ex-gayness was to express deep gratitude to AR and its founder.
Actual AR lesson
I had a lesson with the cult leader, Eli Siegel, when I was two years
old, which, like everything else, they made a tape of. The highlight is
Siegel taunting me with "Cry some more, Michael, cry some more!"
Ad in the Village Voice from 1962
The AR folks try to deny that they're a cult in this ancient ad -- showing that people were calling them a cult as far back as 1962!
AR
responds to this website
The AR people have tried to rebut this website
with their own site called Countering the Lies, whose title
ought to win some kind of award for irony. Here we explain the story
behind that site.
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What former members say
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Aesthetic Realism
exposed
The ultimate statement by a former member, who
was involved for well over a decade.
A tale
of getting sucked in.
This former member describes exactly how he
initially got drawn in, and how he then kept getting more and more
involved.
Aesthetic
Realism ruined his marriage. "I consider my 'study' of
Aesthetic Realism to be one of the factors that led to the eventual
breakup of my marriage, to my eternal sorrow."
On
having all the answers. A former member explains how AR
members think they have all the answers, and feel qualified to lecture
others about how they should view personal tragedy.
Kicked
out for remaining gay. A former student describes how he
was kicked out of AR because he couldn't change from homosexuality.
"If I
disappointed them, then I now consider that a badge of honor."
A former member tells how AR try to change him from being gay, and
convinced him not to spend Christmas with his family.
"...people
were controlled and humiliated if they stepped out of line...".
The experiences shared with us by a member from 1974-80, now a Fortune
100 executive.
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"I want
Ellen Reiss questioned!" This former member wonders why there
hasn't been a class-action lawsuit against the foundation yet.
They
took his consultation tape. Describes how the AR people
kept his consultation tape with his most intimate thoughts on it, and
told him he couldn't study any more unless he incorporated AR more
radically into his life.
"There isn't any question: Eli Siegel killed himself."
A former member who had sought AR's "gay cure" explains how the group's leaders admitted that the founder took his own life.
Confirms
all the criticism. A former member from 1971-80,
confirms that AR students don't see their families, are discouraged
from attending college, and shun other members. He also offers that he
was mistaken when he was involved about thinking that AR had changed
him from homosexuality.
Michael Bluejay's
description. Your webmaster describes his own family's
involvement.
Members
interviewed in Jewish Times. This lengthy article in
Jewish Times quotes former students of Aesthetic Realism extensively.
NY Post article.
A series of articles in the NY Post quotes many former members who are
now critical of the group.
Aesthetic
Realism debunked. A former student explains the cult
aspects of AR. Posted on Steve Hassan's Freedom of Mind website.
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Aesthetic Realism at a Glance |
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Name |
The
Aesthetic Realism Foundation |
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Founded |
1941 |
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Founder |
Eli Siegel, poet and art/literary critic.
Committed suicide in 1978 |
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Purpose |
To get the world to realize that Eli Siegel was the greatest person who ever lived, and that Aesthetic Realism is the most important knowledge, ever. |
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Philosophy
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The key to all social ills is for people to learn to like the world. Having contempt for the world leads to unhappiness and even insanity. (Their slogan is "Contempt causes insanity".) For example, homosexuality is a form of insanity caused by not liking the world sufficiently.
Also teaches that "beauty is the making one of
opposites". |
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Location |
New York City (SoHo) |
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Membership
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About 106 (33 teachers, 44 training to be teachers, and 29 regular students). Has failed to grow appreciably even after 70 years of existence, and is currently shrinking.
All members call themselves "students", even the leaders/teachers. Advanced members who teach others are called "consultants". |
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Method of study |
Public seminars/lectures at their headquarters (in lower Manhattan), group classes, and
individual consultations (three consultants vs. one student). |
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Cult aspects
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- Fanatical devotion to their leader/founder
- Belief that they have the one true answer to universal happiness
- Ultimate purpose is to recruit new members
- Feeling that they are being persecuted
- Wild, paranoid reactions to criticism
- Non-communication (or at least very limited communication) with those who have left
the group
- Odd, specialized language.
More about cult aspects...
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