Saturday was spent running up'n'down the Wasatch Front with G. First, deliciousness at The Soup Kitchen in Sugarhouse (perfect for a rainy day), then BodyWorlds at the Leonardo (more about this below), afterwhich I dragged Gretchen to Night Flight Comics at Library Square (oh how I miss living near a good comix store!), then to the Centerville DI, where I made another killing on great books at $1 a pop. We made our way to B & R's for dinner. SM made my day with her hugs, kisses, and smiles. Finally, we hit the Layton Mall for new VS brassieres before driving home. It rained all day, and hard.
Now, about BodyWorlds. The exhibit was not disgusting, as you might think; all of the specimens looked simply like very well done sculptures of illustrations in a biology textbook (which makes one wonder of the necessity of using real bodies in the first place.) The full body "plastinations" left me somewhat unsettled, though I have still to pinpoint why. Perhaps it was because - even though the bodies were supposedly donated for educational purposes - would you want to be split in half and lunged over a pair of skis for the duration? Or how about being permanently put in an intimate position with another body, both of your brains and spines thrusting out your backs?
It turned out that I was not most impressed by the full body specimens, but rather the displays of separate body systems (they seemed less exploitative) -- the digestive system in one case (HOW can that much intestine fit in each of us?) and the entire nervous system arranged in another case, por exemplo. The detail in a hand was mesmerizing.
What did I really learn, though?
I was interested to read a couple of articles this morning AGAINST BodyWorlds. It turns out that the ethical debate gives us as much to ponder as do our complex meat machines. It seems that the creator, Mr. von Hagens, is somewhat of a dubious character, for one. If you have time, which apparently you do because you read this far in the post, you should take a look:
http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/dead-body-porn
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5553329
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunther_von_Hagens
PS. Be advised that a "One Cool Thing About Logan -- Part II" is forthcoming.
8 comments:
It was way fun to see you! Come back! =) And I want to see those pictures of Sadie kissing you...you should get them from G & post them!
Sounds like great activities for a rainy day. I just sat in my house and packed all day. We're moving in 4 1/2 days. UGH!!!!!!!
Fun stuff Carrie :)
I didn't really like the slice and dice people because they were actual bodies. Now I'm not squeamish, I just regard the body as a sacred thing. I have no problem with doctors learning from real dead bodies, hopefully they are treated with some small amount of respect.
To me it just kind of reduces humanity to the level of roadkill taxidermy.
I think the exhibit looked pretty cool in the paper. My hubby doesn't want to see it, and I wouldn't take my 3 year old to it, but maybe I'll still take a trip there to see it myself.
i once went on a field trip at school to a university to see cadavers. it was really unsettling to me. interesting to the scientist within, but still really creepy.
oh ps - jeff and i think you should write for some paper. it's terribly interesting. not like the junk we read from the statesman! :)
Hey friend!! I have really been wanting to see the exibit. Bry still isn't sure how he feels about it. The links to the articles that you provided were very interesting. Working in medicine, I have heard many arguements on each side of the debate, but in general, the doctors and other medical personel are in support of the exibit. Maybe we already have to distance ourselves from the patients and view the human body as a series of chemical reactions to do our job effectively. (Not that that isn't a good arguement for the other side as well) :)
I am heading down this weekend, I am quite excited. Was it worth the $22?
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