Controversial “Body Worlds” Exhibit Returning to Franklin Institute

Examples of what you might see when the “Body Worlds: VITAL” exhibit comes to Philadelphia. It’s opening in February at the Franklin Institute. (photos courtesy Gunther von Hagens‘ BODY WORLDS, Institute for Plastination, Heidelberg, Germany)

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Controversial “Body Worlds” Exhibit Returning to Franklin Institute in Philadelphia

The Franklin Institute science museum in Philadelphia is not typically a place one associates with controversy. Thoughts of the Franklin Institute might conjure up the beloved Giant Heart, or maybe exhibits featuring huge LEGO displays or Harry Potter or Marvel movie magic. But then there’s “Body Worlds.”

“Body Worlds” is a series of traveling exhibits that display human bodies and various parts of human bodies (and sometimes animals and parts of animals). The specimens have been preserved by a German scientist named Gunther von Hagens. He preserves the once-living bodies through a process called Plastination that he developed in the 1970s. Essentially, he takes dead bodies and replaces the water and fat in them with certain plastics and other materials. In theory, this preserves the bodies for a very, very long time. He can display a whole body posed to be skateboarding or doing wheelies on a bike, a cross-section of a body, a lung showing the destruction of smoking… pretty much anything his imagination can conjure up, he can use a human body to show.

Some of the iterations of “Body Worlds” have been at the center of controversy in the past, whether over the sourcing of the specimens (some reportedly came from executed Chinese prisoners) or just the whole idea of displaying human remains to begin with. And those controversies came long before more modern-day discussions about such displays, like the controversy that has engulfed the Mutter Museum.

A promotion image from the “Body Worlds: VITAL” exhibit at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia

But having witnessed “Body Worlds” come to the Franklin Institute three times in the past (and another time using animals) and reading each time about this group or that group expressing concerns about the exhibit, I think it’s safe to say that, at least in the past, said controversies have only helped the exhibit. Kind of like when certain groups protested The Exorcist and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It certainly didn’t hurt sales! Indeed, the first time “Body Worlds” came to Philadelphia, in 2005, it was such a phenomenon that I could only get tickets for a midnight visit. Yes, they had midnight visits, which were appropriately spooky.

This newest edition of the exhibit is “Body Worlds: VITAL.” It opens at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia on February 15th. Expect tickets to go on sale next week.

To Snow or Not to Snow?

After the pittance of a “snowstorm” we received on Monday, local meteorologists have been quietly salivating over some systems that could maybe, possibly bring some truly significant snowfall to the region this weekend. On Monday, one weather industry insider told me: “TV is being conservative for now but if these two elements sync up while crossing the country we could be in for a blizzard… I just think TV has been burned too many times to even get into that now.” Well, at least for now, it sounds like the TV folks were smart to be conservative. As of Thursday morning, most reports were calling for maybe an inch of snow.

By the Numbers

575: Rita’s Italian Ice & Frozen Custard (you know it simply as Rita’s) locations in the world (yes, world) as of today. But look for that number to increase rapidly thanks to a huge investment from a Dallas-based firm. Just so long as these wealthy outsiders don’t do anything with Rita’s Swedish Fish flavor, we’re OK with it.

45,000: Tons of solar salt — the kind of salt frequently used for treating roads in winter — on a cargo ship that’s currently stuck on the Delaware River. Meaning that if we do get any major winter weather this weekend, some official will, no doubt, blame icy roads on the boat.

“Thousands”: Number of AI-generated porn images allegedly found on the work computer of a Pennsylvania State Police corporal who was just suspended. Which raises a couple of questions. First, why isn’t regular old porn good enough for him; is there something amazing about this AI-generated porn that someone isn’t telling me about? And, why isn’t he just using his person phone for porn instead of his work computer, the way those of us with work computers have been watching porn for years?

Local Talent

It’s hard to imagine two sitcoms being more different: Abbott Elementary and It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia. That’s what had people so curious for months about the rumored crossover episode between the two Philly-set shows. Well, it finally happened. And it was pretty awesome. Even the New York Times thinks so. You can watch now on Hulu.

And congrats to Abbott co-star Sheryl Lee Ralph, who just landed herself on the cover of People magazine. (We had her on the cover of Philly Mag a few months back. Just sayin’.)