Body Worlds Takes Philadelphia By Storm

The questions are always the same when someone asks about the new exhibit at The Franklin Institute - Will I be grossed out? Is it gory? Body Worlds is causing a stir and people are wondering about it.

The answers to those questions, by the way, are no and no.

Body Worlds is attracting a diverse crowd - people interested in the exhibit as art, those who are vaguely morbid, and many who are simply interested in the science. On a recent visit, Phillyist observed gum-snapping school girls giggling at a pair of exposed gonads while a frowning society maven shot icy death glares in their direction, a father with his young child giving an impromptu anatomy lesson, and a woman standing slack-jawed and obviously awed in front of a humongous, skinless horse. We won't tell you which group we fit into.

It’s easy to forget that the bodies on exhibit are real. They look fake if you don’t pay too much attention. And then you notice that the bodies have fingernails and toenails. Pubic hair. Tattooes. It’s absolutely fascinating.

The exhibit has been picketed in other places it has visited. Some think it’s disrespectful of the dead. The bodies on exhibit, however, were donated to the project, knowing that this is what would be done to their bodies after they died. If a person signs up to be plastinated and displayed, it is still disrespectful? Phillyist says no, and we can only thank those that have done so - we learned more about anatomy in one hour than we did in all our years of schooling.

Jennifer Hathaway, Franklin Institute PR guru, tells us that, worldwide, 6,000 people have signed on to donate their bodies for the Body Worlds exhibition, 160 of which are Americans. Donors have their facial features changed to avoid recognition.

Body Worlds
The Franklin Institute
$24.75 (daytime admission - and there are a plethora of discounts for students, children, seniors, and military)
through April 23, 2006