Large Fierce Mammal

Look at you. You used to be so cocky. You were going to go out and conquer the world. You once called me a warped, frustrated, old man! What are you but a warped, frustrated young man? A miserable little clerk crawling in here on your hands and knees and begging for help. No securities, no stocks, no bonds, nothin’ but a miserable little $500 equity in a life insurance policy.

[chuckles]

You’re worth more dead than alive! ~ Henry F. Potter (character), It’s a Wonderful Life

These lines from the classic James Stewart film came to mind while I was watching a particular scene in the television series Game of Thrones – specifically how well the last sentence spoken in the following clip applies to old Henry F. Potter himself:

Ah, the Great Truths.

Worth more dead than alive. How much are you worth dead anyway? And to whom? I mean, in and of yourself and sans all that mortal coil encumbrance crap like life insurance. That’s what we’re here to look at today.

Yesterday we took a mere peek at the industry of the grave robber as it was practiced in Victorian times. Today we’re moving forward.

The film you are about to see features significant unwilling involvement on the part of broadcaster Alistair Cooke. who actually had his bones stolen by what the press at the time referred to as a “transplant gang“.  I’m warning you about this because you are now likely to have a piece of music playing in your head, and the only possibility of exorcising it lies in hearing it played all the way through. To that end, and before going further, please listen to this.

So now, please sit back and watch today’s feature – the 2008 Horizon documentary, How Much Is Your Dead Body Worth?

By way of introduction:

When veteran broadcaster Alistair Cooke died in 2004 few suspected that he was yet to uncover his greatest story. What happened to his body as it lay in a funeral home would reveal a story of modern day grave robbery and helped smash a body-snatching ring that had made millions of dollars by chopping up and selling-off over 1000 bodies. Dead bodies have become big business.

Each year millions of people’s lives are improved by the use of tissue from the dead. Bodies are used to supply spare parts, and for surgeons to practice on. Horizon investigates the medical revolution that has created an almost insatiable demand for body parts and uncovers the growing industry and grisly black market that supplies human bodies for a price.

So now, to it.