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burntcopperOkay, that was a little weird. There's been a kerfuffle in the news recently about Professor Gunther Von Hagen (responsible for the Body Works exhibition, where preserved bodies in all shapes and forms are exhibited for all to see), because he wanted to do a live autopsy of a man who'd consented in front of the general public. Not just the medical profession, but the general public. It was ruled illegal, but he's gone ahead with it and it took place earlier today, also getting filmed, and Channel 4 did a lightning change of the schedule to put it on.
Hellishly weird, seeing a dead body that isn't a model or an actor on tv. That really was a dead body, and they really were cutting into it. Unfortunately the camera was unbelievably squeamish, so you couldn't see much, and most of the camera shots have been on the audience reaction, which was kind of like mine - interested, maybe a little 'eurgh', but fascinated. I've done dissection before, (you can't get through GCSE in the UK without it, and since I did A-Level Biology, you *definitely * have to do it, normally rats, it's part of the anatomy section) so I pretty much knew what to expect, but still, very weird. The only other dead body I've seen was in bits - bloke who threw himself under a bus and the organs were splattered across the road, just looking like bits from the butchers. The guy they were operating on had been a heavy drinker for twenty years - 2 bottles of whisky a day, as well as a heavy smoker, so they knew the cause of death. I'm wondering if the yellowness of the tissue inside was due to fat or the preservation fluid he'd already had pumped into him, as when we did the rats, they were dyed yellow by the formaldehyde. One of the few close-ups we saw was when he held up the front of the rib cage - one side was fairly clean, like ribs sold for eating, and the other was where the lungs stuck to it. They'd practically rotted away due to inflammation and so on.
All in all, *not* sensationalist in the least - Professor von Hagen carefully explained what was going on, why they were doing it, very steadily, without any showmanship. Just... interesting.
Hellishly weird, seeing a dead body that isn't a model or an actor on tv. That really was a dead body, and they really were cutting into it. Unfortunately the camera was unbelievably squeamish, so you couldn't see much, and most of the camera shots have been on the audience reaction, which was kind of like mine - interested, maybe a little 'eurgh', but fascinated. I've done dissection before, (you can't get through GCSE in the UK without it, and since I did A-Level Biology, you *definitely * have to do it, normally rats, it's part of the anatomy section) so I pretty much knew what to expect, but still, very weird. The only other dead body I've seen was in bits - bloke who threw himself under a bus and the organs were splattered across the road, just looking like bits from the butchers. The guy they were operating on had been a heavy drinker for twenty years - 2 bottles of whisky a day, as well as a heavy smoker, so they knew the cause of death. I'm wondering if the yellowness of the tissue inside was due to fat or the preservation fluid he'd already had pumped into him, as when we did the rats, they were dyed yellow by the formaldehyde. One of the few close-ups we saw was when he held up the front of the rib cage - one side was fairly clean, like ribs sold for eating, and the other was where the lungs stuck to it. They'd practically rotted away due to inflammation and so on.
All in all, *not* sensationalist in the least - Professor von Hagen carefully explained what was going on, why they were doing it, very steadily, without any showmanship. Just... interesting.
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Date: 2002-11-20 04:52 pm (UTC)It's very weird. A very intense experience to see a corpse dissected on TV and maybe we should get over ourselves and deal with the fact we're all ultimately wormfood, but I'm still freaked out by Von Hagens. I think he's an utter fucking ghoul.
The consent issue has to be shaky here. So the guy gave his consent to have his body used for educational purposes but did he know his pickled, butt naked ass was going to be paraded in front of a bunch of gawping media-ites? If he did, fair play, but surely he can't have expected to have been the subject of a public autopsy. There hasn't been one since the nineteenth century.
I admit, I have massive issues with Von Hagens. He has exhibited the corpses of unidentified people taken from morgues in Russia and China, obtaining government consent to use the bodies of John/Jane Does but not individual consent. That's where I get uncomfortable with it all. If rumours are to be believed his title of 'Professor' is somewhat suspect and he displays only rudimentary medical knowledge.
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Date: 2002-11-21 07:25 am (UTC)