Body Worlds

I saw this exhibit last month in, of all places the MGM Casino, in Las Vegas. As a physician, it was like a refresher course in gross anatomy. But I must say I found the exhibit somewhat distasteful, as the bodies were exhibited in various poses, e.g., throwing a dart. I am relatively sure that the people used in this exhibit did not "consent" to such posing. In fact, I had the eerie feeling that the people in the exhibit were not "asked" whether or not they wanted to be carted off for exhibition in various museums around the world as part of a capitalistic enterprise. Rumors are that these are in fact cadavers of political prisoners. As expected, an email query (by my son) to the website associated with this exhibit elicited no response...

Tuesday, December 19, 2006 "Body Worlds" Heard about the "Body Worlds" exhibit, in which actual eviscerated and dissected human bodies are turned into a plastic-like substance, then posed and exhibited for museum crowds? It's here in Dallas now, and I asked two smart guys to go see it and write their opinions for the section I edit.