The show was in Honolulu last year. By pure chance we were vacationing there and I just couldn’t believe I finally had a chance to see it, but my wife chickened out at the last minute so I had to respect her reasons for not wanting to see it. Now that it’s in town I finally got her to agree to come (perhaps she thought it would be a great birthday gift for me).Those who have seen it should know what I’m talking about here. The official descrip­tion of Body Worlds is The Anatomical Exhi­bition of Real Human Bodies. If I would edit that, I would insert “dead bodies” or perhaps change it to “corpses”. As one put it, it is an exhibit of corpses–flayed, then posed in ways that showcase a menagerie of muscles and innards.In the late 70’s, a German scientist invented and perfected a method called plastination. For whatever reason the bodies of deceased inmates and mental patients were dehydrated and the fluid replaced with liquid plastic that hardens. The bodies were then positioned in various stances before the plastic hardened. Since then many people have donated their bodies to the program. Today the list of do­nors (those who registered to have their bod­ies after they died donated to Body Worlds) are in the thousands.The exhibit comprises these plasticized bodies in various poses (like playing soccer and figure-skating) mostly skin removed so you can see all the detailed innards of the body, and lots of disected body parts.

The Vancouver show even has a special on brains. Since it’s inception the show has been a con­troversy, particularly from moral and religiousstandpoints. I would guess that those who strongly oppose the show may have not ac­tually seen and experience it. Personally, as I walked through the exhibit I found it easy to forget that these are dead people and instead looked at them like life-like plastic toys. I al­ways had to remind myself that these objects are real although lifeless.The real benefit of the experience for many people like me is that I get to see what’s inside and appreciate the complexity of the human body. What’s more daunting is the reality that our bodies need lots of care and attention. For instance, a piece of dissected normal blood vessel side-by-side with one that was ruptured due to aneurysm is an eye-opener if you are a fat eater. You can actually see the blood clot from fatty deposits that killed the person. A gall-bladder full of gallstones, blackened smoker’s lung, shrunken alcoholic’s liver and strained out parts of brain due to stress are just a few that would make you change the way you handle your body. Where else would you actually see a pregnant woman whose womb is open revealing a still-born bay inside, or actual fetuses in various stages from one month to birth?There’s nothing really irreligious or immor­al about it as some claim. One moral lesson, though. It is true, once the skin’s removed, all men were indeed created equal.The show is until January so if you have a chance go and see it.

Thinking about all these reminded me of what they say about what’s inside of lawyers. You must have heard this:Two new surgeons at the hospital were dis­cussing the qualities of their favorite patients. “I like contractors myself” says one. “They don’t even flinch when I tell them I underesti­mated the cost and length of surgery.” “Well, I had an electrician yesterday” another says. “It was beautiful everything inside well marked and color coded!’An older surgeon passing by heard them, and cut in. “You fellas ain’t seen nothing yet” he tells them “By far the best patients are law­yers- they have no heart, no spine, little guts, and the head and butt are fully interchange­able!”