Bodies Revealed Show Draws Controversy
Dude…gnarly…
Catholic leaders in the Kansas City area are the latest church officials to take sides on popular museum displays touring the country that feature donated human bodies, MyFOXKC.com reports.
The bodies in Bodies Revealed are plastinated…STOP!
What’s Plastination? Louie explains:
Plastination - a process involving fixation and dehydration and forced impregnation and hardening of biological tissues; water and lipids are replaced by curable polymers (silicone or epoxy or polyester) that are subsequently hardened; the plastination of specimens can be valuable for research and teaching.
Okay…continue…
…then cut open to show how things are put together and how they work. The exhibit opens Friday at Kansas City’s Union Station, but despite its billing as an educational opportunity, local bishops have ruled it off limits for Catholic school children on field trips, according to MyFOXKC.com.
“The bodies of the dead deserve respect and charity, preserving the God-given dignity of the human person,” the church leaders said in a statement.
Sarah Biles from Union Station told MyFOXKC.com that she respects the church’s position, but plenty of schools around the region have already signed up for the exhibition.
Other Catholic leaders have come out on opposite sides of the debate.
The archbishop of Cincinnati recently objected to field trips to a similar show in that city called “Bodies: The Exhibition” because of news reports that those bodies were not willingly donated, according to the Kansas City Star, but the Diocese of Pittsburgh, on the other hand, approved of “Bodies: The Exhibition” last year, saying it had clear educational benefits.
(Fox)
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I saw this show when I was in Pittsburgh a few months ago. It was interesting, because they had shown this to a large group of doctors & surgeons the previous night, and many of them walked out after seeing the first few exhibits. Can’t say that I blame them.
What blew my mind was that no one who worked there knew or was willing to say exactly where these bodies came from. All they knew was that some were ‘found on the side of the road’ and some were ‘political prisoners’ in China. The fact that no one could account for who these people were and if they were willing participants really pissed me off. They’re “celebrating the human body”, but refusing to even acknowledge the subjects.
It was an interesting show, and the process was amazing, but I have to agree with the groups that have taken issue with it. There are plenty of people who have donated their bodies for experimentation–use theirs instead. These people were human beings, and deserve more dignity than to have their bodies sectioned in 2″ slices and paraded around the world.
February 27th, 2008 at 10:37 pmOkay … Prepare for a shocker here from the usually acidic Maggie (I hate that third person shit …)
I really … don’t have too much of a problem with this.
As long as the individuals DID “legally” donate their bodies to whatever organization (i.e., science), and were fully made aware of how they were to be used (such as medical school cadavers, lab tissue experiments, THIS …) We HAVE come a long way since the ages ago grave robbers of corpses for information-starved and curious medical students, scientists, and artists who needed to understand fully the inner workings and structure of the human form/body.
AND as long as the exhibit(s) were done with considerate thought as to how they would be depicted in a display (No “artistic” poses that would be disgusting or obscene, etc. … and no antiBush/antiwar/antiwhatever shit attached)
In other words, NO political, religious, sexual, or artsy-fartsy statements made. Just purely “natural” history agenda.
The picture provided, if actually related to the article/controversy, is really quite interesting.
I would have taken my (young) daughters to see the exhibit if it met all the benign criteria I listed …
P.S.
Not that I do not take “abuse of a corpse” seriously, I do think (being a lifelong Catholic) sometimes the “Church” (as well other religions) has put way too much emphasis on the body after the soul has long left it behind. Burial vs. cremation vs. embalming … If a person’s body is THEIRS to do with what THEY please, so then if before death THEIR final decision is what use that “body” is to fulfill … then so be it …
February 27th, 2008 at 10:52 pmAlthough I’m not happy about the title of the exhibit, the exhibit itself is quite fascination and VERY educational. I believe the Catholic church was given false information as to how the donated bodies were obtained.
“Bodies Revealed” is more of a title used in a Law Enforcement setting rather then a medical, educational setting. Its used to draw more attention, Honestly, it won’t need any more attention because the exhibit itself IS quite fascinating. I caught a documentary a few years ago on the subject.
February 27th, 2008 at 11:14 pmI saw this exhibit in philly. What I heard about the bodies is they were all voluntary donors of their corpses and the reason their names are not revealed IS out of respect to them.
The specific exhibit I saw had a “pregnancy room”. They showed plasticized fetuses from week four all the way to newborn. It was the most powerful anti-abortion sentiment I have ever seen. Even at four weeks the fetus looks like a child.
February 27th, 2008 at 11:25 pmI saw this at philly at the franklin institute where my bro-in-law works. The scoop is, its a traveling exhibit owned by some german organization. Of course, any place you see it here stateside will not have the information that only the german group would need. They want to respect the bodies by getting very little about their “living lives” out.
February 27th, 2008 at 11:29 pmI’ve seen the exhibit and it’s quite interesting. I took my kids and they found it interesting and educational. I hope the bodies were acquired ethically.
February 27th, 2008 at 11:31 pmWhen you first mentioned the “pregnancy room” and the “fetus” bodies actually used I cringed …
Until you continued with your anti-abortion (”humanizing” of the “fetal tissue” …) and then I thought, “Geez! The Catholic Church is missing a huge opportunity here!”
Although, I still have a HUGE problem with the use of fetal, baby, children’s bodies in such displays …
February 27th, 2008 at 11:32 pmThere are such bodies that are conserved in formol in “curiosities cabinets” of some our castels
February 28th, 2008 at 2:25 amDbo, I take it you’re from Philadelphia, me too. I didn’t go, because I just never got around to it. But, what I wanted to ask, I don’t remember the Church here saying anything negative about it, do you?
February 28th, 2008 at 2:35 amI am actually from Baltimore, but your right, I dont remember the church in the Philly area bitching about the exhibit.
February 28th, 2008 at 3:55 am” but the Diocese of Pittsburgh, on the other hand, approved of “Bodies: The Exhibition” last year, saying it had clear educational benefits.”
sex demonstrations also have clear educational benefits
February 28th, 2008 at 5:19 amsex demonstrations also have clear educational benefits
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And are more fun …
eh hmmm
… sorry … 
February 28th, 2008 at 5:53 amIf you think about it, this exhibit serves a more substantive and informative purpose than an exhibit of Egyptian or South American mummies (who WERE actually ‘ritually’ buried for what was intended to be eternity)…
And who asked THOSE dead folks if it would be alright to charge money to see their remains on display?
February 28th, 2008 at 6:53 amI’m planning on going to the KC show later this year, and they’re having a smaller one here in Wichita starting in May I think. I’ve always been fascinated by this process ever since I first read about it. Certainly better than preserved bodies in formaldehyde.
February 28th, 2008 at 7:15 amA question:
February 28th, 2008 at 9:47 amWhy do we have on television every single night of the week shows about cadavers running steadily? CSI miami CSI new york
CSI paduccah there are almost as many as there are starbucks.
Are we being groomed for something or are we just fixation ally morbid?
As far as I know, “The Church” has not officially spoken out about this. drillanwr, you’re right about the opportunity pro-life groups would have. When you see a 3-week old fetus up close, there’s no denying this “thing” is human life. And it isn’t a stretch to go backwards in the progression, and draw the same conclusions at 2-weeks…1-week…etc.
There are also specimens who had lung cancer, cirrhosis of the liver, etc. so there was a bit of an incentive to try and get people to live healthier. There was a big container labeled “dispose of your cigarettes here” and it had a few packs in it. Sadly, I didn’t see any discarded bottles of Jameson or Bushmills anywhere (rats!).
February 28th, 2008 at 11:28 am