The internet is reeling after a man in Bristol trying to woo his ex-girlfriend vowed to keep playing the piano until she takes him back.
Luke Howard, 34, set up camp in College Green, a public square in Bristol on Saturday with his piano. He told the Bristol Post that he is trying to get his ex back after they broke up. The pair had been together for four months.
He told the Post: ‘[My ex] is a very organised person, very practical and I’m just trying to show her I’m really serious about us. It’s a kind of off-the-cuff thing, and I just want her to know how much I love her, to give us a chance rather than leave it there. I’m not ready to throw in the towel just yet.’
However people on Twitter have called Howard’s gesture ‘creepy’ and ‘abusive’.
The backlash has centered on the fact that the public stunt shows a lack of respect for his ex’s decision to end their relationship.
The Metro likened the move to ‘blackmail’, writing: 'The world wants their fairy tale ending, and she’s going to look like the buzzkill if she doesn’t give it to them. That’s not a basis for a healthy partnership.’
Howard, who didn’t name his girlfriend, has been referring to her instead as his ‘Rapunzel’, compounding the unsettling nature of his stunt. Rapunzel being the character in the problematic fairytale who is locked in a tower until a prince rescues her.
As one Twitter user said, women are allowed to leave their partners. 'Stop romanticising controlling, stalker behaviour,' they said.
Image courtesy of SWNS
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.