Yesterday, we took in the infamous Bodies Exhibit. Starting with the skeleton and working up to actual organs under glass, the whole thing was pretty cool. I realized that taking Josh, (squirmy during TV operating scenes, squeamish about looking at Dr Oz’s black lung on Oprah, and doesn’t like facing his own mortality), was probably not a great idea. We zoomed through the whole exhibit pretty quickly.

The place was very, very crowded on a saturday afternoon, which definitely hindered the whole experience. We had to wait in a sort of crowded line to view any of the parts under glass. People brought their kids–which is fine–but c’mon, a two-year-old crying and wailing is sort of the last thing you want to hear while you gaze at an opened aorta.
I really enjoyed the more abstract displays, such as the millions of veins and capillaries in the arm lit up under glass. You know that vein they always poke in the crook of your arm to draw blood? I saw it. I found the fetal exhibit amazing as always, but have to say the one at OMSI far surpasses the one at the Bodies exhibit. I waited my turn to view the little ovaries and general female parts on display. I skipped the boy parts because the whole exhibit tended to show off male genitalia with all their large structures. In fact, we didn’t even see a female body on display until we reached the little reproductive room. I could have done without seeing the pair of breasts in a display case–for some reason that part on its own really bothered me. Sure, I could look at the embalmed stomach with worms, but I felt really protective of the female displays.

The place is dimly lit with cool quotes on the walls, “It is nearly impossible to sneeze with your eyelids open,” and “a pack of cigarettes removes approximately two hours of your life.” If it hadn’t been so damned crowded I think I would have been able to research and appreciate the science of it all. As it was, I had to skim over the whole exhibit and pick and choose what I wanted to dwell on. I found the sicknesses really interesting: a gallstone in the kidneys, tumors in the brain, a cancerous breast, an enormous spleen. All of this was on display as a real wake up call. It showed a body with all of the fat, all the excess covering the inner core. I saw a diaphragm and realized what it means to ‘breath with your diaphragm” in addition to your lungs. I was impressed by the rows and rows of intestines laid out under glass. I cringed when I saw a huge pile of skin laid out–no bones, muscles, etc, just simple skin….made me shiver and think of serial killers.
This exhibit is not for the squeamish. Sure, you can separate the parts with the person, but often you’re confronted with the very realistic looking eyeballs of a body who once was. You can tell the bodies in this exhibit are not healthy, perhaps they really are men who died in prison and unwillingly donated their bodies to science. It doesn’t really bother me either way, since their finality is pretty solid. Most of the structures are just husks, their muscles pulled out in a fan, bones protruding, eyeballs glazed. There is also the ridiculous theme of pairing the bodies with objects, such as a football or a conductor’s wand. I think this is an effort to lighten up the exhibit, but Josh felt he could have done without seeing a body cut in half, high-fiving itself.

If you have an inherit desire to learn more about the body you’re walking around in, the Bodies Exhibit is recommended.  Don’t go on a weekend when it’s super crowded.  Don’t eat a big meal beforehand too.

Special thanks to Sam P. for letting us in!