Liverpool, England, may now be known as "Leave-A-Pool" after an event that included the presence of a 30-foot puppet of a giant girl who appeared to urinate in city streets.
The Giant Spectacular Sea Oddysey going on this weekend was intended to honor the 100th anniversary of the Titanic, but some attendees are pissed off by the peeing puppet, intended to represent an 11 year-old girl named May McMurray who wrote to her father when he was aboard the Titanic, the Guardian reported.
He never got the letter, but as part of the show, the puppet was supposed to walk around Liverpool -- where the Titanic was registered -- before reuniting with her "fictional" uncle. Early in the performance "May" stopped and appeared to "urinate" on the floor according to ClickLiverpool.com.
Thousands of spectators reportedly gasped as the puppet pre-teen squatted down and let loose with a geyser of water from beneath her green skirt.
The display left a sinking feeling in the heart of Cliff Ismay, the great-great nephew of former White Star Line boss J.Bruce Ismay, and curator of the Titanic Heritage Museum in Cumbria, UK.
"A performance like this is disrespectful not only to those who died, but also to their families," he told ClickLiverpool.com. "The centenary of the disaster should be about showing respect to those who lost their lives. It should not be any kind of spectacle and I'm very saddened and shocked that it has descended to this level. To have a giant puppet urinating in the street in this context is an outrage and quite disgusting."
Another critic of the puppet's public urination, a Titanic tour guide named Philip Coppell, said he was "absolutely appalled" by the display.
"This is a deplorable insult to the memory of the people who died aboard the Titanic and it's an embarrassment to the city," he told ClickLiverpool.com. "The French firm who are running Sea Odyssey must be ordered not to repeat this stunt of urination, or anything else so disgusting."
Other people, such as 10-year-old Nathan Kyle, who was dressed as a third-class Titanic passenger, weren't as bothered.
“I have been looking forward to this for weeks," he told the Liverpool Daily Post. "She looks brilliant and I don’t think anything like this is going to happen ever again.”
But puppeteer Patrick Smith of Royal Deluxe, the French-based company who put on the giant puppet gala, poo-poos the notion that it is offensive.
"It's what little girls do -- even giant little girls -- and all of the giants have many other surprises in store for the people of Liverpool," he told ClickLiverpool.com.
The gala ends on Sunday and show designer Jean-Luc Courcoult said the whole event -- including the urinating puppet -- reflects the personality of Liverpool.
"Passions for football, the revolutionary music and poetry of the Beatles and the legendary story of the Titanic give the city a strong, emblematic identity and the people a compelling warmth which draws me to them," he told ITV.
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Huffington Post | By David Moye Posted: 04/21/2012 12:13 pm Updated: 04/21/2012 12:13 pm