Bodies repealed

You’d think Sacramento was under occupation by the living dead, given the number of bus-stop posters and newspaper stories devoted to Bodies Revealed and similar sideshows featuring real live dead people. Sure, ogling live dead bodies is cool. But talk about overexposed.

Actually, it’s not cool at all, according to Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, D-San Francisco. She’s introduced new legislation that would make such exhibits illegal unless the exhibitor can show they have permission from a family member or guardian of the ex-person on display. Ma contends that these shows “often obtain bodies from China, run galleries and displays of unwilled remains in distasteful poses generating millions in revenue.” She adds that, “One is hard pressed to find evidence that the bodies in the displays wanted to be there.”

Well, they do seem a bit dispirited.