State of the Art analysis
Present - Bones
Here in this section i will look at how Bones are culturally relevant to the present day world, how they fit in with modern day society, and how people view them regarding all aspects of life.
Every time I tried to search for the term “Bones” all you seem to get in the top searches is the hit TV show by the same name, thrown straight in at the deep end of what seems to be a television phenomenon; people are enthralled with everything related to crime.
Every time I tried to search for the term “Bones” all you seem to get in the top searches is the hit TV show by the same name, thrown straight in at the deep end of what seems to be a television phenomenon; people are enthralled with everything related to crime.
People seem to be very interested in death itself, dedicating a lot of their prime time television viewing to shows about death, crimes scenes, and most of all the police.
The show below is the one I have been seeing each time a simple “Bones” search is put into a search engine, and even though I haven’t ever seen it, I’ve been told its “amazing” which is strange to hear considering the content of the show being crime scenes, death, and murder.
Available: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0460627/ .
This is a link to this “Bones” on imdb.com, all you need to know about the cast and crew!
“A forensic anthropologist and a cocky FBI agent build a team to investigate death causes. And quite often, there isn't more to examine than rotten flesh or mere bones”.
It’s not just this show! There are tons of shows that allow people to pry into the lives of the deceased, and how murders actually come around, and what they entail, I don’t know whether they are in this for ideas for their own murderous antics, or they are so intrusive that a dying man’s last moments need to be shared with the nation.
With a description like this who wouldn't be intrigued!
It appears now a days people are so intrigued with death, and the behaviour of murderers that they are always looking for a way to pry into the lives of others, and what better way to do this that to see their disembodied corpse.
I managed to watch an episode or two and still couldn’t see why this craze has taken hold; people are watching dead bodies lying there, while they are being poked and prodded and its all in the name of entertainment, but that is just an opinion, I had to find out why people actually liked this show, I need to know why such a grizzly topic can be used as a means of entertainment.
Trawling forums I found a couple of online responses why people actually like this sort of thing, and to be honest, it’s a mixed crowd of people learning things about science from the show,
“Because it is a well-constructed television series that relies on universal tropes intermingled with realistic scientific quandary which clearly appeals to a generous portion of television viewers.
“In other words, because it is awesome!”
“Funny characters, humour with dark moments. I learn things watching it”.
“David Boreanaz!”
M Ponting. (19/10/2011). Why Do People Like Bones?.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9a/David_Boreanaz.jpg/200px-David_Boreanaz.jpg
Or the shows fan base is all people who noticed that someone from Buffy the Vampire Slayer was in it and turned over to watch him strut around looking intellectual for once, instead of trying to eat people.
However there are some people who came to the show just because of the producer, Kathy Reichs, who is a thriller writer, which explains why some people are so intrigue, falling in love with her literature, you would expect the show to be on par with her writing expertise, and display her writing talents on the big screen, with shocking onscreen scenes which with grab the viewer and keep them watching intently as they disembowel a man, or slowly move his corpse from a crime scene.
Bones isn’t the only show on the TV these days of the same genre; there are a lot of programmes which showcase peoples love for crime.
People watch a large amount of this type of show, from CSI, and I myself have even watched a few episodes of this television show
It seems that not just television shows involving death and conspiracy are all the world wants to see, they want to see scandal, it’s not just a corpse that will draw a crowd, but it seems a jolly roger will too!
Of course the skull and bones I am talking about is “The skull and bone order”. Something I stumbled upon in my research, and was taken aback by what people actually believe.
The skull and bones order is all revolved around a conspiracy theory about the order that the American president and presidential candidates are involved in this cult called “The Order of the Skull and Bones”.
People are genuinely scared of this secretive order that nobody knows much about, believing things like this quote,
“Never mind Iraq, terrorism and the economy. For some conspiracy-minded voters, the real issue of the 2004 presidential campaign is the allegedly sinister influence of Skull and Bones”.
Here is another bizarre occult “club” as it were, called the “Bohemian Club”, in this strange cult, which apparently the Bush family also reside in, they worship a giant stone owl in the woods and give a human sacrifice to this idol they worship.
There are a lot of sites where people actually seem addicted to finding out whether these secret clubs and ritualistic collective are real.
Here being an example which is where I am looking for my research about this cult.
They seem to be all over the internet, it just shows you if you want to find something weird and wonderful just do a Google search and you will have hundreds of weird and wonderful sites to look upon.
From a secret order, to the Jolly Roger. Skull and bones is often a sign that evil is on the horizon.
Instead of asking whether Bones is going to have another great series I have instead started at a different point, CAN WE BRING BACK DINOSAURS?! *Jurassic Park Theme Tune*
Available: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1026340/Jurassic-Park-comes-true-How-scientists-bringing-dinosaurs-life-help-humble-chicken.html.
Apparently yes, scientists in have been cracking open fossils in science labs trying to unlock the secrets of the scaly critters, hoping they can one day clone them, and then we can all have little dinosaurs of our own, which would be awesome, but hold on,
“Scientists now believe it is possible to resurrect the dinosaur after the discovery of DNA relics in the wings and beaks of regular chickens”
Well that was an unexpected twist, but it is not all just poking around in chicken beaks and out pops Dino from the Flintstones,
“Scientists have undone the progress made by evolution by altering chicken DNA to create embryos with alligator-like snouts instead of beaks”.
This process could allow people to examine birth defects that children suffer, and change the child before they are actually born, and this is a miracle, people will no longer feel scared hoping that their children will need constant care when they are born and not need medicines and constant doctor trips.
But where there is happiness there is always someone trying to kill the mood.
“Dr. Arkhat Abzhanov devises a whole new way to screw animals over. Now, what will he do with the poor little monsters he caused to be hatched? Don't even shroud this cruel genetic manipulation with phony goodness by claiming the "process could help detect birth defects in human children." This is animal cruelty at the embryonic stage. Stop playing god with my tax dollars”.
And people even thinking that scientists are not using this to develop the way we think about creatures, and how creatures evolved, people believe it’s another way to disprove god?
“Can’t find the missing link, so Let’s just make one”
There are many quotes like these all over websites, which show people that are genuinely angered by these breakthroughs, we are finally starting to understand a little bit more about how evolution works, finding that only single protean cells can change a chickens beak to an alligators snout is downright remarkable and people are still hung up saying that it’s a way to laugh at the bible.
I also found a very nice site which lies out very simple steps in which you need to take to create your own dinosaur!
“STEP 1) Find a piece of amber with a blood sucking insect from the dinosaur era trapped in it.
STEP 2) Extract the blood that insect sucked from a dinosaur.
STEP 3) Use the dinosaur's genetic code (DNA) found in the blood as blueprints for another dinosaur. If pieces of the DNA are missing, fill in the gaps with frog DNA.
STEP 4) Use these blue prints to create a dinosaur egg.
STEP 5) Hatch the dinosaur in an incubator.
STEP 6)Raise the dinosaur to full size.
STEP 7)Enjoy!”
Although it starts off with a joke about the easy creation of a dinosaur, it’s a very nice site to look at giving descriptions no how people actually access the DNA for dinosaurs, and how amber may not be the way forward for creation of dinosaurs, even going as far as saying
“Paleontologist Jack Horner and graduate student Mary Schwietzer had already been trying to isolate Tyrannosaurus Rex DNA from bones”.
Although there is a lot of controversy about science these days, the scientists keep cracking on with what they do best,
A very shocking fact I found out is that bones from animals such as cows, as used in everyday items.
Bone char, also known as bone black, ivory black, animal charcoal, or abaiser, is a granular material produced by charring animal bones. To prevent the spread of mad-cow disease, the skull and spine are never used.
This bone char is the charcoaled bones of animals, heated to a high temperature in an oxygen depleted environment. The Ivory black, as it is known, is then used in some very strange ways.
Bone char is used to remove fluoride from water and to filter aquarium water.
It is often used in the sugar refining industry for decolorizing
It is used to refine crude oil in the production of petroleum jelly.
Bone char is also used as a black pigment. It is sometimes used for artist's paint, printmaking, calligraphic and drawing inks as well as other artistic applications because of its deepness. Ivory black is an artists' pigment formerly made by grinding charred ivory in oil.
An artistic statement which is created using bones to put forward a haunting yet beautiful message.
Human skeleton is a strong visual symbol that represents what is left after life has ended, after the flesh and mind cease to function
Here is a much lighter look on Bones. This sweet little comic is about 3 little bones who are run out of their home town of Boneville, and from there have little adventures in the outside world.
It’s a nice change to find through a search instead of secretive cults, and dead bodies.
A small story about little bones going on very random adventures, and it’s a lot more fun to look at that death, cults, and an old actor from Buffy the Vampire slayer.
Some science now!
A bone scan or bone scintigraphy is a nuclear scanning test to find certain abnormalities in bone which are triggering the bone's attempts to heal
DID SOMEONE SAY TONY ROBINSON!
No they didn’t, but apparently he loves bones, well he hosted a show called “Time Team”
He even has his own fansite! Well, unofficial website, but it is still something!
Tony seems to have a background with the past, starring as Baldrick in the brillaitn comedy series, Blackadder. This was and still is one of the best british comedies that was ever created, and it really gave a chance for people to look at the wars, and the horrible events in history in a whole different light, and at the time of release I think this was what people wanted.
A lovely picture of Baldrick there From:
But as this is not a Bones issue and more of a Time issue, I will get back to Tony Robinson and his Time related comedies in the other sections of my blog!
Now where was i….. Oh yes channel 4
Here’s a nice link to get the section rolling, a channel 4 site that shows all the history shows that they have to offer.
A lot of people seem very interested about what happened to our past selves, it just proves that my other topic, Time, is linked with this one, even my Nan likes this!
People seem obsessed with learning, well, the channel 4 viewers do at least, having many shows like Time Team, that delve deep underground and uncover what people what to know about, which in this case, is everything!
The not knowing everything about the world, and just learning seems to be very common, people strive to learn as much as possible, being dead doesn’t stop people from digging you up and prodding your body finding out the “answers” of your existence, I mean just ask the dinosaurs…..well, you can’t, but you can learn about them all in local museums and schools because of the yearning for knowledge that the world has!
After looking through a few sites it seems I misjudged the Archaeologists, apparently it’s a “discipline”, and it is more than just poking around in the dirt, it is the;
And it is not just about being able to wield a shovel and whistle Hi Ho from Snow white as your get your knees a bit muddy!
“It draws upon anthropology, history, art history, Ethnology, Geography, Geology, linguistics, physics, information sciences, chemistry, statistics, paleoecology, paleontology, Paleozoology, Paleoethnobotany, and Paleobotany”
But since that’s a mouthful every time I want to make a reference to what it is they do, I am just going to stick with calling it “digging around a bit”
That leads me onto the last point I will make in this section.
After coming to the cult phenomenon of television shows involving Celebrities digging around in fields, the beloved comedy shows that everyone still know and love years later, and the fascination with death on screen in shows like Bones and CSI, I am going to talk about a very strange, fascinating, and remarkable television show that a lot of people are to squeamish to watch, that’s right Autopsy Live
A lovely picture of Gunther Von Hagen.
Don’t be scared, he is just a little weird that’s all.
again being on channel 4 this show is one of the more daring I have seen in quite a while, allowing people to get a look inside the human body, and find out more than they could of ever imagined all on one television show, and personally I loved this show.
In this episode they even take one of the human races biggest killers, Cancer, and show people exactly what they are dealing with, and what it does to our body.
But not everyone is of the persuasion that this show is good, getting reports and complaints very early on after being shown.
“TV regulators have thrown out complaints about Channel 4's taboo-breaking live autopsy.
The broadcast of the postmortem operation by professor Gunther von Hagens was branded offensive and tasteless by 34 viewers, even though it was scheduled in a late-night slot at 11.45pm last November”.
Which is a dire shame as the person involved did not mean to offend he only meant to teach, and he did it very well.
In the defense of the channel they did post many warning and disclaimers, yet still people felt the need to watch, then instantly complain after viewing something they were told not to view if they did not like the idea of the show?
Writing this in a local report
"The programme was scheduled to start at 11.45pm, well after the watershed and the images of the autopsy were not included until after midnight. As well as the programme's title, there were five clear and specific warnings to inform the viewer about the nature of the programme."
Channel 4 argued that the programme "represented an opportunity to dispel some of the confusion and misapprehension that people feel when they learn that a loved one has been or will be subject to a postmortem examination"
But it is not all disappointment, as you get further down the report you see that not everyone that rang in was there to moan about not giving more than 5 clear warnings, about what the show might contain
“More than 200 people called Channel 4 after von Hagens' autopsy were broadcast on Channel 4 in November.
Of those, around 130 complained that the programme should not have been broadcast.
The remaining callers either praised the show or asked for it to be repeated”.
The previous 3 quotes were from the guardian paper report on the channel 4 show Autopsy Live.
Asking for the show to be repeated to show more people the wonders and the tragedies that the human body reveals.
The man behind these so called atrocities on channel 4 was none other than Gunther Von Hagen
This site called body worlds tells the story of Gunther, and praises his work for what it really is, incredible art that shows the sculpture of the human form, and even animal form for all to see.
His views however even split government in half getting him two year imprisonment by East German authorities for political reasons, his release after a $20,000 payment by the West German government
The show that Gunther Von Hagen produced and created was a large exhibit of the insides, of creatures from the planet, all stripped of the skin so you can see the inner workings of the wondrous creatures that roam
Just looking through the pictures of the exhibit is just astonishing, how the body has melded together like this, and for someone like me believing in evolution its mind blowing how this grew all on its own, the perfect being, able to build tools and society from nothing but bricks and mud, and for us to be able to understand how our own complex system of organs and cells works is just a huge leap forward and one that shows great progress for our society and our species.
And judged by peoples accounts of how packed out the actual show was a lot of other people must feel the same way about his amazing exhibit.
“certainly seemed to be full to capacity; it was, however, midday on a Saturday close to the final days of the show, so it may not be reflective of the visitor numbers over the entire run of the exhibition”
This quote taken from an onlookers blog shows that people even though they have gone to see the show intentionally to see the sculptures and the cross over between life and death, people standing in middle of the pieces are sometimes thrown a back by what they are seeing in front of them,
“Another too-intimate thing that I found disturbing was that there wasn't always an evident reason for the ways in which bodies were dissected (male genitalia was often kept in place, nipples were kept, eyebrows and eyelashes in some cases), and that hair (which is so very personal and such a marker of individual identity) could often be seen. In the Ring Gymnast, above, he has a strange Mohawk hairdo; the plastination of the female in the show kept her pubic area, hair and all, intact.
Finally, I felt that the props added to the specimens (the rings for the gymnast, the balls for the football players and the basketball player, the hat for the winged man - "a white hat adds to the eccentric posture and further narrows the gap between life and death" - and the gilding applied to "The Inner Face") were too much like treating the bodies of real people (anonym zed as they were) like puppets. We can argue about whether this is disrespectful, but it is certainly jarring to be told that something is clinical and professional when you can see before you clear evidence of the individual lives these people led, written on their bodies (3D man had a tattoo!), or given to them after death by someone else”.
blog website.
I know it’s a rather large quote, but as a whole you see the thought process of someone coming to terms with what they are witnessing for the first time in the show, and this is how I feel a lot of people react to a corpse, on a television show, while people gather round, they are first taken aback by the true nature of things, then as they slowly realise the depth and gravity of the procedure they see, in the case of the Body Worlds show, the beauty of the form, and the incredible internal workings of the human form, and it is something to truly appreciate not something to offended.
Here is a review of the show, and a look at how Gunther actually preserves the bodies,
”removing the liquid from donated bodies, replacing it with a polymer, and hardening the results in lively, skinless, and often dissected poses”
This is the official post about the show after it was shown, and all the visitors were asked about.
As you can see as you look through the whole PDF that even though the show is met with harsh criticism from people who are not in approval of the show, there is still a huge positive response to the show
“The overall visitor poll demonstrates that BODY WORLDS has been met with an overwhelming amount of approval amongst its visitors. On average, 85% of the visitors said that the exhibition was either very good or good. Only 2% said the exhibition was poor”
Which is a huge success not just for the scientist himself, but it shows that people accept and even look on in awe to things such as the dissection and in the exploration of the human anatomy.
From television shows with ex vampires looking at corpses, the world seems very interested in the unknown, especially when it comes to death, and the inner workings of the human body
For your research you need to explore a diverse variety of ways that your chosen themes have been represented in the media, both in the present and over time.
ReplyDeleteYou can look at books,toys, radio, theatre, film, music, festivals, events, journals, magazines, comics, games, etc to see how these thems have been portrayed.
Also look at Google scholar and in educational and academic journals and papers to read and quote any academic research on these themes.
Need more thorough exploration at this stage and images to support your text with links to sources.
ReplyDeleteLoads more forensic tv shows out there at the moment than you've got listed.
Look them. It's a craze on tv at the moment.
Great list of stuff above but now need to see it written up and images added.
ReplyDeleteGreat findings Mike! I love occult stuff and conspiracies. I find them fascinating and it would be great if you could delve even deeper into the origins of these occult secret organisations. Additionally, It would be nice to see the whole blog a little bit more organised. I might just be me being a bit OCD but it's easier to take in information when it's grouped together and organised. Great job so far though! I'm looking forward to the future updates!
ReplyDeleteI would like to see you diversify your research more- You need to demonstrate a popularity for your topic in todays culture by looking at various forms of media (books, TV, Comics, Merchandise, theatre, toys etc.)
ReplyDeleteConsider looking at sites such as:
ebay (items that are selling show a popularity and if the item is an antique/old it demostrates a continuing popularity over time)
Amazon (sells a diverse range of products across many categories)
Supermarkets (not just food, but homewares, clothes, electronics, medication, entertainment etc)
It’s important to follow the schedule on webct so you don’t fall behind. This is to give us an opportunity to give constructive feedback and for you to make any required adaptations.
You should have completed your research into present on both topics and be on target to complete your research into the past as soon as possible.
Here are some example searches to consider:
Bone(instead of Bones)
Bone Tired,
Dog Bone
Bone Idle
bones.com
bonesbearings.com
bonesrocknroll.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bones_%28studio%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bone_%28comics%29
http://www.journals.elsevier.com/bone/
http://www.circusboneidle.com/
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Handmade-Camel-Bone-Vintage-Train/dp/B002AWM3Q0/ref=sr_1_6?s=outdoors&ie=UTF8&qid=1319806384&sr=1-6
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Religion-Cross-Bone-Printed-T-Shirt/dp/B00502PJ04/ref=sr_1_1?s=clothing&ie=UTF8&qid=1319806455&sr=1-1
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-ANTIQUE-OX-BONE-MUGHAL-PAINTINGS-Emperor-Shah-Jehen-wife-/330629635340?pt=UK_Antiques_Asian_Oriental_Antiques_ET&hash=item4cfb0fdd0c
I would like to see more images and make the images clickable , leading to the websites or sources that they are from
ReplyDelete