MLK statue causes uproar - with furious relative saying it resembles sex act
A statue to honour Martin Luther King and Coretta Scott King has caused uproar - with many pointing out it resembles a sex act.
The massive 20-foot (6m) tall and 40-foot (12m) wide monument, which cost $10m (£8.1m), was unveiled in Boston on Friday, near to where they met while studying in the 1950s.
Named 'The Embrace', the headless statue shows the couple's arms around one another and was inspired by a photo taken after he wont the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.
The artwork was designed to look like four intertwined arms forming a heart from one angle, but people are claiming it looks like something a lot more vulgar from another view.
It's even divided relatives of the Kings - with one outraged family member saying it looks like "hands hugging a beefy penis"
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The statue is in honour of Martin Luther King and Coretta Scott King (Granger/REX/Shutterstock)Seneca Scott, a cousin of Coretta Scott King, claims the Boston Common statue is "insulting" to the family.
"The new Boston sculpture 'honouring' Dr Martin Luther King and his wife, Coretta Scott King, looks more like a pair of hands hugging a beefy penis than a special moment shared by the iconic couple," Scott wrote in Compact Magazine.
He continued: "Ten million dollars were wasted to create a masturbatory metal homage to my legendary family members—one of the all-time greatest American families."
On Martin Luther King Day, Tucker Carlson described the statue as "ugly at best, pornographic at worst" while interviewing Scott on his Fox News show.
Scott claimed the statue was a "product of the woke algorithm" and admitted he was "rather upset" to see the monument.
The statue shows four intertwining arms (CJ GUNTHER/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)However, the eldest son of Dr King and Coretta Scott King has defended the artwork, which was designed by conceptual artist Hank Willis Thomas for the organization Embrace Boston.
Martin Luther King III, who approved the piece and was one of the family members at the unveiling last week, told CNN he enjoyed the sculpture.
"I think that's a huge representation of bringing people together," he said on Monday. "I think the artist did a great job. I'm satisfied."
It's hoped the permanent memorial will provide a living space for conversation, education, and reflection on the racial and economic justice ideals of the couple.
It will serve as a permanent monument to the Kings' time in Boston, during which they met and fell in love, and which helped shape their approach to a just and equitable society.
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(Steven Senne/AP/REX/Shutterstock)Speaking about his creation, artist Hank Willis Thomas said: "When we recognize that all storytelling is an abstraction, all representation is an abstraction, hopefully it allows us to be open to more dynamic and complex forms of representation that don't stick us to narrative that oversimplifies a person or their legacy, and I think this work really tries to get to the heart of that."
Some people have criticised the decision to leave the Kings' faces out of the sculpture.
Boston Herald columnist Rasheed Walters tweeted to call the statue "aesthetically unpleasant" and a "huge swing and miss in honouring the Dr & Mrs King".
However, King III told CNN that even though the sculpture did not have "mom and dad's images" it represents "something that brings people together".
"And in this time, day and age, when there's so much division, we need symbols that talk about bringing us together," he added.
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