Body Worlds closes in a few days, so after getting my manuscript finished and emailed i headed for the science museum.
"See more than 200 real human bodies preserved through the process of PLASTINATION, invented by Dr. Gunther von Hagens. Understand your body in a whole new way."
1) it cost too much -- $22.00 -- that's not including Omnitheater.
2) it was so crowded i needed a periscope to see the majority of flat-case displays.
the actual bodies could be seen because they stood on platforms, but the display cases were almost impossible to see. i felt sorry for people in wheelchairs. The rooms were simply too small, so you basically shuffled from one bottleneck to another.
3) i'm not used to rubbing up against so many strangers is such tight quarters.
highlights: fetuses, and horse with rider. i should add that the fetuses were from old collections and hadn't been put through the plastination process. unfortunately plastination makes everything look fake. On a scale of 1 to 10, i would give body worlds a 4. Maybe a 6 if not for the poor layout. should i rate the bathrooms? dirty and no toilet paper in the two we visited.
they're protecting the privacy of the donors and donor's families, but i kept wondering about the personal history. as a writer, i really wanted to know who these peope were. just a paragraph. i even wanted to know about the horse. especially the horse.
Mr. McGuire: I want to say one word to you. Just one word.
Benjamin: Yes, sir.
Mr. McGuire: Are you listening?
Benjamin: Yes, I am.
Mr. McGuire: Plastics.
The Graduate
8 comments:
Did your display have the "family" (father, mother, & child) who were reduced to nothing but blood vessels and capillaries? I thought one was amazing.
Yeah, Philadelphia was crowded too. By the end of the exhibit, however, it opened up.
oh, yeah!! and also some animals. didn't see the rabbit, but a duck and something else that i can't recall. also just a human head. those were beautiful and amazing. i think kids would LOVE body worlds. anybody from about 7 - 17. it was kind of the disney world version of a body.
My kids have been trying to figure out how to dispose of me when I "achieve room temperature" (a Jim White phrase). The subject came up again over the recent holiday week-end. I told them I will try to expire as near the curb as possible and as close to trash pick-up day as I can manage. Hmmmm...wonder if "Body World" needs any new donations?
dee, LOL!!!!
as far as donations -- yes. as you're leaving the exhibit there's a place where you can sign up to donate your body. if i'd known you were in the market for plastination i would have picked up a form for you!
thanks, Anne. I always knew you were a good friend! I'll let the kids know, just in case I happen to expire at an untimely time!!
this might just call for a telephone tree.
There was a horse? We went in August and there was no horse. That would have been keen to see.
I liked the brains, of course. And was more fascinated by the actual process of plastination than the bodies. But it was very crowded. They should have let about half the people through at a time.
Cool to have seen though!
Michele
no horse in august? that explains why nobody mentioned seeing the horse.
you would like the brains. haha!
i agree that the process of plastination is amazing. but as far as looking at the bodies -- i found the mummy in another area of the museum more fascinating. maybe i'm just looking for the creepy factor. :D
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