An overview of the article "Medical documentary: conjoined twins as a
mediated spectacle" By Jose Van Djick. published in Media, Culture & Society2002 24: 537
Ride the Storm: Navigating Through Unstable Periods / Katerina Rudko (Belka G...
Medical documentaries on conjoined twins van djick
1. MEDICAL
DOCUMENTARY:
CONJOINED TWINS AS A
MEDIATED SPECTACLE
José van Dijck
Media Culture Society
2002
2. CONJOINED TWINS AS
FREAKS
„The freak is an object of simultaneous horror and fascination
because . . .the freak is an ambiguous being whose existence imperils
categories and oppositions dominant in social life‟ (Grosz, 1996: 56).
Conjoined twins were seen as monsters during the Middle
Ages, but during the 19th century, many congenital defects were
medicalised.
However, this did not free them from popular entertainment.
3. CONJOINED TWINS AS
FREAKS
Ousted from their families, these individuals had little choice but
to put themselves on display, and be exploited (Thomson, 1996: 2).
Many “Freaks” were, thanks to their contracts, no better than
slaves.
Often, freaks would be imported from Asia or Africa and were
marketed using their exotic otherness, defining physical abnormality
against western normality(Lindfors, 1996; Vaughan, 1996).
4. THE ORIGINAL SIAMESE
TWINS
Chang and Eng Bunker(1811 - 1874) from Thailand (then known
as Siam) were twins joined at the hip.
They travelled with a freak show throughout America and Europe
It could not be assessed as to whether they shared a liver, and the
twins refused all attempts to separate them
They retired in 1833 and married two sisters, with whom they had
22 children.
5. TRANSITION TO
MEDICINAL FOCUS
After 1900 the general public began to lose interest in freak shows
Robert Bogdan (1988)attributed this to an increasing
„medicalization‟ of society, where freaks were no longer regarded as
monstrosities, but as disabled people that science could aid.
However, van Djick argues that the freak show did not disappear,
instead the focus shifted to the surgeon.
6. USE OF EARLY CINEMA
Early filmmakers often filmed things which already fascinated
audiences, such as freak shows.
It was also experimented with for recording medical procedures
and their results.
Between 1950 and 1970 television became more dominant than
film in this area.
7. USE OF OPERATION
DOCUMENTARIES
Four reasons
To train specialists, especially in terms of rare operations.
To showcase surgical skill to outsiders
To inform and entertain an audience
And to promote the medical establishment
8. TODAY
Because of this, the separation of conjoined twins becomes a
mediated event(van Djick, 2002)
It is suggested that an element of the growing popularity of these
programs is the convergence between medical and media technology.
The camera and monitor are as indispensable to the surgical team
as they are to the film crew.
9. TODAY
Documentaries no longer aim to educate professionals, but to
inform the public.
Directors and editors focus on extending the narrative and drama
of the event, as well as the human interest angle.
The interests of the surgeon trying to gather interest in their
work, and the broadcast companies attempts to reach wide audiences
are now the same.
10. SIAMESE TWINS (1995)
Dao and Duan Headly
The twins surgical separation is a
relatively small part of the program.
Instead the focus is on the surgeons
themselves as heroic saviours.
Phrases such as “this is the point of no return” highlight the
tension
Also, lots of focus on the children and their parents as human
beings, their personalities, hopes and fears.
11. IDEOLOGICAL RELATIONS
The program pits the western ideal of advanced tech and social
justice against the “backwards nature” of the third world.
Compares the sisters to the original Siamese twins, Chang and Eng
Bunker and presents their lives as a fulfilment of the American
Dream.
Due to advance medicine, conjoined twins are seen as exotic once
again.