At some point in the undetermined future, we will all cease to exist. Though our families and loved ones will keep the memory of our lives and achievements close to their hearts, there’s no denying that our physical presence will officially be finito, poof, terminé, arrivederci, gone-baby-gone. Peering into a crystal ball, trying to gauge the impressive length of the “lifeline” carved into our palms, submitting to a Suzanne Somers-like regimen of bioidentical hormones coupled with 60 daily dietary supplements, or seriously considering the benefits of cryopreservation will still do nothing to alter the course of our reality.
Unless you’re a surgeon who performs life-saving operations or a pathologist who conducts post-mortem autopsies, it is unlikely that many of us will ever get to look inside the human body and truly grasp what makes it all tick or how things can go dreadfully wrong. There are plenty of television shows designed to indulge our morbid curiosities and voyeuristic leanings, but it’s quite a different thing altogether to witness the inner workings of the human body with your own two eyes. However, if you’ve had a chance to view either of the anatomical exhibits that have toured the globe since 2004 -- “Body Worlds” or “Bodies – The Exhibition” – then you have been afforded the opportunity to ogle entire human beings in varying degrees of anatomical and cross-sectioned glory. It’s suspended animation with an emphasis on the gulp.
Yes, it is fascinating and creepy and oddly educational and yet without a doubt, wildly invasive. I’d imagine that any person with a shred of humanity inside of them might question the freak show aspect of such displays and wonder whether the perpetually plastinated mannequins (a.k.a. former human beings) had prior knowledge of their future career(s) as deli-meat-esque, reproductive organ-skinned, multi-million-dollar-generating museum specimens. Donating one’s body to science is a noble gesture that I cannot dispute, however, shouldn’t scientists be obligated to reveal the intended applications of such human gifts?? How can trained minds, in good conscience, carve into so many bodies in such horror-movie ways? Are donor families even notified that their loved ones are touring the globe for all to see…are they receiving royalties for the (literally) balls-out-sacrifice of their kin…and how can all of this actually be legal?
According to multiple online resources, the circumstances with which many donations are obtained is shady. Some cite that unclaimed donor bodies are legitimately obtained from European sources. Others describe a plastinate body donation program in Germany that has signed up over 9000 willing, knowing participants. Sources such as ABC News, however, claim that a thriving body black market exists in which the remains of tortured and executed Chinese prisoners are obtained for $200 - $300 each and then whisked away to so-called “Chinese manufacturing facilities” -- more familiarly known as Plastination Factories.
These facilities (which reportedly employ several hundred Chinese medical grads), first embalm each cadaver with formaldehyde, and then follow the process with acetone and liquid polymer baths. This rubberization technique draws out all naturally-occuring H2O from the body’s cells, displacing it with solid plastic which renders the final specimen fully rigid and positional, just like a Barbie or Ken doll. I’m not quite sure what is more disturbing – the fact that real, formerly alive human beings are continually being sought out to perpetuate the wealth of The Institute of Plastination and Premier Exhibitions Inc. – or the fact that real, formerly alive human bodies are being transformed into toxic museum puppets thanks to an array of chemical preparations that likely off-gas each internal environment they are positioned in.
What about the effect of plastination chemicals on the workers who are exposed to them? How do they discard these chemicals when they are no longer viable? When they screw up a body (which surely happens from time to time), what do they do with it – and shouldn't environmental contamination issues be a concern? This is apparently a thriving industry, as is evidenced by the steady employment of scores of laboratory workers, the constant need for bodies and the fact that both competitors produce sequel shows year after year that rival Star Wars and Rocky aspirations. In my humble opinion, however, it is a source of education that I can do without. If I’m really ever that curious about what a human body looks like on the inside, I’ll take a tour of You Tube or Google ad nauseum until the cows come home. I'd rather let my fingers do the walking in order to preserve a clear humanitarian and eco-conscience.
jen w
said on April 27, 2009