Today I did something I haven’t done in more than 10 years. I went to the Ontario Science Center, with Firda, my brother and sister-in-law. It was great. Most of the exhibits are interactive, especially the Science Arcade, where science is described in hands on, interactive, easy-to-understand ways.
The main reason we visited the Science Center was to see Bodyworld 2. Bodyworld is the brain-child of Gunther von Hagens, where he plasticizes cadavers to prevent decomposition. The exhibit was quite interesting, though at times a little creepy. Some of the cadavers looked very Dali-esque (especially one called the Drawer Man) but it doesn’t really phase you too much even knowning that these are the bodies of deceased humans. The exhibit had the potential to be educational but since it was so freakin’ crowded we saw what we could in an hour and got out. On the way out you could leave comments in a couple of notebooks. I looked through one of them before leaving and the comments were pretty funny. Some examples: “The exhibit was cool, but some of the displays smelt like blood”, “I really enjoyed the exhibit, but it made me kind of hungry” and “I can understand that children should be encouraged to study the human body, but should they be exposed to death as much as they are?”.
I never understood the controversy surrounding Bodyworld. As long as the people donated their bodies for this purpose there should be no issue. For those that raise issue with the exhibit, please stay at home and keep your children at home. I believe that children are much more capable of understanding life and death than most adults give them credit for. I also believe that exposure to the human body and even to the idea of death helps children understand more about life.
Thus ends my rant. SNL is on. Gotta go.