One Of Terry's Corners Of the Online World

queen_nephthys, being a woman of sometimes gothic and gory sensibilities took me to see The Amazing Human Body exhibition down at Docklands today and it wasn't the best of experiences for me. None of this is her fault, I hasten to add. Maybe it was a problem of timing for me, or my increasing questioning of the things people do and use as entertainment in the 21st Century, but I found it all a little disgusting.

Some of it's my fault. Going to a sideshow like that just over a month after the open coffin funeral of my father was perhaps a little ill-considered. But I did experience a great deal of anxiety while we were in there. Tonight I did some research and there are some legitimate questions being asked about the provenance of the plastinated corpses. As anyone who has visited the exhibition can tell, the bodies are all Chinese and seem to come from one of two sources (depending on which web page you read). Either they're from mental hospitals or are executed criminals. The web site for the exhibit claims differently:

The specimens in this exhibit are from voluntary body donors-individuals who bequeathed that upon their death, their bodies could be used in this exhibition for education purposes. In making their donation, these voluntary donors agreed that all aspects of their identities, including age and cause of death, would remain confidential. The exhibit focuses on the nature of our bodies, not on providing personal information.

Okay, then riddle me this, Batman. How did the newborn baby give consent for its' skull to be included? Or the growers of any of the other kid's bits?

Look here for an alternate viewpoint on plastination as entertainment.

queen_nephthys was worried about me after the show, but I shook it off. But I have a problem with the whole deal. When did artfully displayed corpses become entertainment? I have the same kind of problem with it that I do about the humiliation aspects of reality television shows. As a culture, why do we use these things to amuse ourselves?

A brisk walk back to the car let me shake off the reaction to the sideshow. We headed off to Brunswick Street, Fitzroy for lunch where I had a terrific smoked duck salad for lunch at Via Volare. The soy dressing was terrific, with sesame oil and honey in it. Nothing like an excellent lunch to put me in a more sanguine mood.