JtR Museum and dark tourism

[etenguy]

Interesting debate on TV last night about whether people's suffering should be packaged as entertainment for tourists. It centred on the JtR Museum but also referenced Pompeii and Aushwitz.

Clearly, there are reasons for educating about dark moments in our history and of course people have a legitimate curiosity about exceptionally horrific events. And in the case of JtR, there is the on-going mystery - partly what draws us to examine the murders on this board. But taking selfies at the gas chambers in Aushwitz might be considered disrespectful. It was also suggested that parts of the JtR Museum might be more about voyeurism.

Having read the home page for the JtR Museum today - well, they seem to be saying there were more than 6 JtR victims - as if that were a fact. They also seem to be claiming that they are the first to seriously examine the crimes. Hmmm.

The museum is a dedicated to the history of the East London in the 1880s, providing a serious examination of the crimes of Jack the Ripper within the social context of the period. For the first time it tells the story of the man known as 'Jack the Ripper' from the perspective of six of the women who were his victims.

The about the museum page (https://www.jacktherippermuseum.com/...he-museum.html) - well, some of the language might have been better chosen.

Has anyone visited the museum? Does anyone know if it is worth visiting? The web information is quite sparse.

[Herlock Sholmes]

Interesting debate on TV last night about whether people's suffering should be packaged as entertainment for tourists. It centred on the JtR Museum but also referenced Pompeii and Aushwitz.

Clearly, there are reasons for educating about dark moments in our history and of course people have a legitimate curiosity about exceptionally horrific events. And in the case of JtR, there is the on-going mystery - partly what draws us to examine the murders on this board. But taking selfies at the gas chambers in Aushwitz might be considered disrespectful. It was also suggested that parts of the JtR Museum might be more about voyeurism.

Having read the home page for the JtR Museum today - well, they seem to be saying there were more than 6 JtR victims - as if that were a fact. They also seem to be claiming that they are the first to seriously examine the crimes. Hmmm.

The museum is a dedicated to the history of the East London in the 1880s, providing a serious examination of the crimes of Jack the Ripper within the social context of the period. For the first time it tells the story of the man known as 'Jack the Ripper' from the perspective of six of the women who were his victims.

The about the museum page (https://www.jacktherippermuseum.com/...he-museum.html) - well, some of the language might have been better chosen.

Has anyone visited the museum? Does anyone know if it is worth visiting? The web information is quite sparse.

I visited a couple of years ago. There are some interesting artefacts in there but overall it’s not particularly impressive imo. It has fake victim photographs and when my friend and I pointed this out to the proprietor he wouldn’t listen. He said that a ‘researcher’ had verified them or some such crap.

The main issue with the place is the dishonest way that it apparently came about. I spoke to a female London tour guide (not on a ripper tour) about it a couple of weeks ago and she said that the reason that there were so many complaints and protests about it when it opened was because the owner had told everyone that he wanted to open a museum about the achievements of Victorian women. And so everyone was expecting a museum to Suffragettes, women’s right’s campaigners, humanitarians, pioneers etc. Instead they got a serial killer of women.

[spyglass]

Would people be so upset if the Whitechapel murders happened 300 years ago.....can 130 years seem to recent?
Some of the biggest tourist attractions in this country like the Tower of London and the London Dungeon are dedicated to mainly torture and misery, but because it happened 500 or more years back people view this differently.

Regards