The Denver University Program’s Board in association with Centura Health and Porter Hospital presented DU students with a unique opportunity to attend the controversial Body Worlds 2 exhibit at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.
For only a mere five dollars, DU students were able to spend four hours, from 6-10:30 p.m., Friday night touring the nationally traveling exhibit.
With the help of volunteer workers from local Denver hospitals as tour guides, DU students were allowed to view all portions of the exhibit, getting a first hand look at the exhibit’s controversial use of real human bodies in its displays.
The exhibit, founded by Polish scientist Dr. Gunther Von Hagens, has been criticized for its use of real human bodies with their skin removed to give, what exhibit officials say, an unparalleled view of muscles, tissues, bones, and other parts of the human anatomy.
Von Hagens is renowned in the science world for creating and patenting a process called Plastination, which is a way to prevent the immediate decomposing of a human body after death.
It was this scientific discovery that gave Von Hagens the opportunity to create the Body World exhibits, in which Plastination is used to preserve the donated human specimens for display.
Since its arrival in Denver early in the year, Body Worlds 2 has been widely scrutinized for the way in which it uses its specimen.
Though all specimens are accompanied by the proper paper work proving donation, many in attendance Friday night were unsure whether it is really ethical or moral to display the human bodies in the way the exhibit has.
“It is really interesting to see the real muscles and real organs,” said DU freshman Andy Marshall. “But, I don’t necessarily agree with the way that they displayed some of the bodies, it was kind of disturbing to think that that is a real person.”
Marshall is referring to the way some displays showed the skinless bodies in activity, some in running motions, some sitting cross-legged, among other positions.
This positioning of the bodies is used to give a better demonstration of how the body works in activity, says Body Worlds’ official website.
Also criticized by many was the display of human fetuses, one particular which was still in the womb of a pregnant woman’s body. This display was used to demonstrate the way a fetus survives in the womb.
On the reverse side of the argument, one DU female in attendance said that she felt that the positioning of the bodies and use of the fetuses only heightened the exhibit’s realism and allows viewers to fully examine how the human body really works.
“I was amazed with the way our muscles and stuff really work,” she said. “It was really cool to see what our bodies actually look like.”
Whether the students agreed or disagreed with the practices of the exhibit, nearly all attendees interviewed agreed that the exhibit is definitely worth attending and fully embodies the exhibit slogan of “giving people an opportunity to appreciate what it really means to be human.”
The exhibit will continue at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science until July 26 this summer. Tickets range from $14-20, depending on date, age, and time of day.
