What I've noticed in the media coverage leading up to the
"Bodies Revealed" exhibit opening today at Union Station is that so many columnists, reporters and opinion makers in this town don't have the courage of everyday people in Kansas City.
There are few exceptions and only
an article recently published in the Catholic Key takes the Bodies Revealed exhibit to task regarding the issue of consent. The details regarding the flimsy proof offered by the company are disturbing.
Union Station provided The Key with a copy of a consent form and confirmed that Premier represents that each of the specimens came from donors who had signed the form. The form provided both to The Key and Union Station is an English translation of a Chinese document with no signature. Union Station confirms in a Kansas City Star report they have not seen any forms that were actually signed.
Put simply, in a case where consent is the most important element regarding the ethical implications of this display, the evidence supporting the claims of the company is flimsy. And while criticism from Kansas City's mainstream media has been few and far between, the backlash against the exhibit has been evident in other venues. Former Assistant Secretary of State Michael E. Parmly. In 2001 testimony to the U.S. Congress said:
"The lack of meaningful consent further compounds our concerns about this practice. According to Article 3 of China's Provisional Regulations on the Use of Executed Prisoners' Corpses or Organs (1984), a corpse may be used for medical purposes if nobody claims the body or the family refuses to bury it; the prisoner voluntarily donates the body for use by medical facilities; or the inmate's family consents to its use after death. The first category opens the door to abuse because families are often not notified of impending executions or are too far away or unable financially to make the trip to claim a relative's body.
"Also, bodies are routinely cremated immediately after a sentence is carried out, making it impossible even for those families who are able to claim a family member's remains to determine whether or not the body has been used for medical purposes."
The way that these concerns have been blown off or underrepresented by the mainstream media in Kansas City is disgusting.
It's not just a personal bias, "Bodies Revealed" is a big money exhibit and they've spread around a lot of cash in promoting the carnival act featuring carnage - I contend that's why so many media folks haven't mentioned the questionable ethics of the display.
Also, there's the sad fact that Union Station has been consistently unprofitable since its reopening. Concerns about the financial well being of the money losing institution have mistakenly been considered as a reason to refrain from criticism of the show. This kind of despicable, expedient thinking ignores the public perception of a place willing to profit from grave robbing and the overall bad karma that comes from disrespecting the dead.
And in all of this, the details of the show are lost. Bodies Revealed is governed under laws concerning art shows, it literally
IS NOT SCIENCE. Strangely, I can think of a million more productive ways to
celebrate Chinese art and culture that don't involve the corpses of people who may not have given their consent - Most of them involve really bad movies featuring Bai Ling.
Thankfully, so many people in Kansas City have stepped up and shown that ordinary folks in this town don't submit to the biased reporting and softball questions posed to the people who are essentially being paid to promote this display and misrepresenting their coverage as news.
On the other hand, I've been throughly
impressed and amazed at the people, especially Kansas City Bloggers, who have voiced their opposition:
Alonzo Washington was one of the first to note that this exhibit denotes a general disrespect for life in Kansas City in much the same way as violent crime!!!In the blogosphere, Logtar has the courage to call the exhibit disrespectful!!!Bea's Weblog, authored by a Biologist, makes insightful remarks about the dignity of human life and its denial in this exhibit!!! Jay Bird joins in with informative commentary regarding the financial motivations of the display!!!Just Cara cuts through all the B.S. and explores the real motivations of patrons looking forward to the carnival act!!!Locomotive Breath laments the lack of consent!!!The Kansas City Catholic rightfully calls the show "Pornography for Graverobbers" and wonders if "Souls on Display" could be next!!!
Moxie Mama says the exhibit is "gross" and advises people to support other Kansas City Museums!!!The Drift adds her support and eloquently notes: "The mere shadow of doubt is enough for me to take a pass this time around"!!!These are all brave people who weren't getting paid to express their opinion or concerns. Their reaction has given me just a little bit of hope that
Kansas City does have a conscience regarding the value of the lives and dignity of people of color.
Meanwhile, so many columnists, reporters and big media organizations have yet to question the ethical implications of the display . . . On essentially meaningless topics these same folks passionately voice their feelings but when advertising money and the financial interests of a KC institutions are on the line - There is a silence comparable to a mausoleum.
Again, there's hope in all of this as the ongoing decay of relevance and integrity in the print media gives way to honest, passionate and fearless commentary from the Internet.
