Bodies at the Museum Center

[xu2006]

If you haven't been yet, I suggest you go to the Bodies exhibit at the Museum Center. It's an amazing show. It should take about 2 - 2.5 hours to wander through it all, and there are huge lines for tickets so it pays to plan ahead. You can get tickets online at cincymuseum.org and pick them up at the will call office. This saved my group about two hours - we walked in and still had to wait 30 minutes in the will call line.

Go see it. It's pretty amazing.

[xuirish]

What day did you go see it on?

[Stonebreaker]

I see bodies lying around on the local news. I don't need to stand in line.

[XU 87]

It probably is interesting. I have concerns about the ethics. We have dead bodies being paraded as exhibits, without that person's consent. In the U.S. this would be a felony for abuse of a corpse. Hamilton County just paid a ton of money in a settlement for wrongfully extracting body parts (corneas etc.) from dead bodies without permission.

But I would like to hear the counter argument to this.

[xuirish]

My wife and I and some of our friends are heading down there this afternoon to check it out, I'll give a report a little bit later on it

[muskies05]

i went to the museum on friday and i highly recommend it..... not only was the exhibit good,but so was the movie...make sure u see the omnimax if you are heading down..it is well worth it

[PM Thor]

My wife and I and some of our friends are heading down there this afternoon to check it out, I'll give a report a little bit later on it

Erp. I would highly suggest not going today. The place is packed. We made a run over there today and the lots around Union Terminal are all full, traffic cops all over, and it is nuts over there. Ive never seen the Museum Center so busy.

[BlueGuy]

Erp. I would highly suggest not going today. The place is packed. We made a run over there today and the lots around Union Terminal are all full, traffic cops all over, and it is nuts over there. Ive never seen the Museum Center so busy.


The publicity and protesting raised over the bodies exhibit b/c of ethics has only brought more attention to it, and thus more people going to check it out. I have to admit, I had no interest in it before. I'm really intrigued now.

[xu2006]

I went yesterday (Saturday) and the line was insane. Like I said, try the will call option.

I won't get into the ethics of the whole thing on here, because I probably don't understand enough about it.

The educational value of the exhibit makes it worth the ticket price, although it is difficult for me to see the bodies as actual people - it's just too bizarre to fully understand, I guess. I feel a little disrespectful saying that, but it's just such a strange view of the body.

One of the most interesting exhibits involved fetal development. I was walking through the exhibit and noticed that you can see eyes on a five week old fetus... a girl behind me mentioned to her friend that she had just had an abortion at eleven weeks, and that the display made her question her decision. It was an interesting moment at the least...

[D-West & PO-Z]

It probably is interesting. I have concerns about the ethics. We have dead bodies being paraded as exhibits, without that person's consent. In the U.S. this would be a felony for abuse of a corpse. Hamilton County just paid a ton of money in a settlement for wrongfully extracting body parts (corneas etc.) from dead bodies without permission.

But I would like to hear the counter argument to this.

I'm not sure why you think there bodies are being displayed without consent. If there was something said in Cincinnati confirming this that I missed then excuse me, because I am in St. Louis, but I would think all of these people have donated their bodies to this cause. At the Science Center in St. Louis right now there is the Body Worlds exhibit, which is the same concept but I think a different exhibit than the one is Cincinnati right now. However the bodies displayed here in St. Louis are the bodies of people who donated their bodies to Body Worlds. They wrote up a contract with the people who run Body Worlds and said that wanted their bodies donated to this specific scientific thing. I am a Physical Therapy student at SLU and this summer we took Gross Anatomy where we dissected cadavers. The bodies we used were also of those who donated their bodies to the school for this purpose. If this is the same scenario in Cincinnati, which I would have to assume it was, then I dont see any ethical dilemma at all.

[BlueGuy]

I'm not sure why you think there bodies are being displayed without consent. If there was something said in Cincinnati confirming this that I missed then excuse me, because I am in St. Louis, but I would think all of these people have donated their bodies to this cause. At the Science Center in St. Louis right now there is the Body Worlds exhibit, which is the same concept but I think a different exhibit than the one is Cincinnati right now. However the bodies displayed here in St. Louis are the bodies of people who donated their bodies to Body Worlds. They wrote up a contract with the people who run Body Worlds and said that wanted their bodies donated to this specific scientific thing. I am a Physical Therapy student at SLU and this summer we took Gross Anatomy where we dissected cadavers. The bodies we used were also of those who donated their bodies to the school for this purpose. If this is the same scenario in Cincinnati, which I would have to assume it was, then I dont see any ethical dilemma at all.

20/20 just went over this whole thing the other night. Apparently there are two different companies with this sort of exhibit right now. One is using cadavers w/ consent, the other is a bit more sketchy. It is speculated that the cadavers used in the exhibit in Cincy are those of political prisoners from China. There really is no definitive proof however.....

[D-West & PO-Z]

20/20 just went over this whole thing the other night. Apparently there are two different companies with this sort of exhibit right now. One is using cadavers w/ consent, the other is a bit more sketchy. It is speculated that the cadavers used in the exhibit in Cincy are those of political prisoners from China. There really is no definitive proof however.....

Ok I see, thanks for the explanation. I would think if they were bodies donated with consent that the company would have records of contracts that were made up and signed by the donator. If this company cant produce these then I would definitely think something sketchy was going on.

[XU 87]

My understanding is that the bodies are those of Chinese peasants who died and no one came to claim the bodies. If this is true, then I think it's unethical to use these bodies as exhibits.

[BlueGuy]

Either way it's pretty shady. In the 20/20 piece they showed where the bodies are being processed over in China. It was confirmed that is where they are coming from. If you didn't see the spot on 20/20, you almost wouldn't believe it. They are processing these boddies in some worn down factory looking building that is at the end of a dirt road. It resembled a auto chop shop.

[Stonebreaker]

Gotta love the standards China has.

[D-West & PO-Z]

Either way it's pretty shady. In the 20/20 piece they showed where the bodies are being processed over in China. It was confirmed that is where they are coming from. If you didn't see the spot on 20/20, you almost wouldn't believe it. They are processing these boddies in some worn down factory looking building that is at the end of a dirt road. It resembled a auto chop shop.

That is very disturbing, and its a shame that this company is doing this, because the Body Worlds company does it the right way using the bodies of people who specifically donated their bodies to science. That exhibit is amazing and it is amazing how the human body works and is made up. I have a big appreciation for how well done the dissections are too from having to do it myself this past summer. Its a shame that this company that is putting on the exhibit in Cincinnati is doing it this way and causing these type of exhibits to be questioned ethically.

[Lasser83]

Well, now I find the position of the archbishop of Cincy to be reasonable.

[BlueGuy]

There are some pictures from 20/20 here. (http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=4291334&page=1)

[xuirish]

Just got back from the exhibit, man it was a zoo in the museum was today. We got there at 3:30 hoping to see the 4:00 show. The line snaked around all the way back by the entrance to the omnimax.....at 3:45 they announced the next available show wasn't until 5:30. Luckily my buddy had his blackberry so he was able to buy our tickets that way or else we would of never of gotten through there..... honestly if you are thinking about going, wait for a month or so til the hype dies down, it was way too crowded, they run through groups of 15-20 people every 15 minutes and it takes at least 30 minutes in each room.....the exhibit itself in my opinion was very intense, and very informative, definitely a great learning experience. it's well worth the cost of admission.

[XU0001]

The hubby and I were there today with XUIrish and his comments are right on. Talked about it the whole way home and would like to go again after the crowds die down and you can take the whole thing in with out being elbowed or having your feet stepped on. Order online tickets but if you want to wait in line remember your Kroger Plus card to save $4

[Snipe]

Would it scare a 4 or 6 year old? It seems like my kids aren't old enough. On the other hand they could find it facinating.

Got to give it up for the Chinese, they will sell anything. You can buy live organs in China too and they rip them out of the living prison population.

[XU0001]

There were a decent amount of kids but I would make sure you have had "the birds and the bees" conversation before you go if they are older. While there my husband heard one parent giving the birds and bees story and another telling their kid we'll talk about it at home (the kids involved were about 8). I wouldn't say it is frightening but you are seeing actual body parts so that could be disturbing, but we didn't see kids upset about it. At 4 and 6 they may just find it cool, it was kind of like science class.

[blobfan]

Well, I'm in my 30's and still don't think I'm old enough for this exhibit. There's something disturbing to me about an exhibit full of posed dead bodies. My biggest objection to the exhibit is they won't take the pictures out of the ads. I don't like to see dead people but because they keep popping up on billboards and tv ads, I don't have a choice but to see them.

I admit the origin of the bodies disturbs me. I didn't see the 20/20 segment but did hear some whispering that perhaps the bodies weren't just unclaimed peasants but victims of oppression. Just whispers but enough to disturb me. I'm not one to run out and protest and a blanket ban seems a little extreme, but I do wish the exhibit weren't constantly thrown in my face.

If it's generally considered bad taste to show corpses on the TV news and print media, why is it ok to show skinned corpses w/ disturbing, goodly eyes waving a baton? Why is one dead person taboo and another ok?

[ATL Muskie]

The exhibit was here in ATL last year and we actually went twice. My kids (7 and 10) loved it. Are there really protests and such up there about it? It hardly raised any eyebrows at all here. The crowds were good and people really seemed to enjoy it.

[Fred Garvin]

The rumor is that these were Chinese peasants? Victims of oppression? Liberals must love this exhibit. I bet they show up and wax nostalgic about forced collectivization. I bet they even bring their Little Red Books.

[XU05and07]

The "Bodies" exhibit was extremely interesting. I have a science background from my time at X so it intrigues me about the physiology and anatomy of the human body (or any animal for that matter)...My girlfriend has a psychology background and kept wondering about the people and how they died (she wanted to analyze the people..which she does to me all the time)...there is something for everyone.

I understand there is a lot of objections to the bodies and how they were obtained. But that is not for me to argue and find the answer to. That is lawmakers, lawyers, and those that feel moved to do so. And since the exhibit is here, I am going to use it as an educational tool for myself and others. I already plan on taking my parents to the exhibit when they come down this summer.

Something that I liked about the exhibit is the message that they want to convey...One of the final exhibit signs explain the point and hope of the display...I'm paraphrasing here, but the point is that the hope is that people read and learn about their body. All too often humans hear or read something and that is the extent of their learning. They don't look or research any further. The exhibit is designed to enlighten, empower, fascinate, and inspire. In order to take better care of our bodies and lead a healthier lifestyle, we can see what our body does and what we do to harm it. By empowering people, it allows for the human population to take control of the care of their body so to live a healthier and better lifestyle.

I was in the group of people that went with xuirish and xu0001...it was a zoo. The wind and rain won't keep people away from the exhibit so I suggest planning early and buying tickets in advance. If you go, go with an open-mind and learn about all the organs and make-up of your body. And if you take your kids, make sure they understand what they are seeing and allow their curiosity to run wild. You might just be nurturing the next doctor, physical therapist, or researcher.

[Stonebreaker]

Must be a gathering to see their fallen comrades. I would think the PC crowd would holla foul at this one, but it seems that while some might be speaking out, everyone else is going.

[Fred Garvin]

I didn't know about the health angle. I don't want to go if part of the exhibit shows what alcohol does to my liver. In fact I'd pay extra for an exhibit that says alcohol is good for you.