Criticism of Coney Island

As the critics of Coney Island demonstrate, all forms of entertainment will have its controversies. The amusement activity which the majority find fun and exhilarating will always have an opposition calling it dangerous or unacceptable for social behavior. Used to the Victorian era, some of the elder people were probably shocked at the sensuality and lack of morals the park demonstrated. In the words of Edward A. Ross, at Coney Island "masked by their anonymity, people feel free to give rein to the expression of their feelings" (97). Free from the stress of work, people let loose and stop thinking about the consequences of their actions as much, relying on their heart to guide their actions on the spur of the moment. Similarly, I think that the college party scene, in terms of social interactions, on weekends faces the same issues which Coney Island presented: the negative being a loss of inhibitions with the positive being having time to have fun  .

At Coney Island, the skirts became shorter, the boys were in closer contact with the girls, and people were controlled by their emotions. On the weekends at college, the skirts also become shorter, the heels are higher, and, regardless if alcohol is involved or not, people will be a little more wild and rambunctious than normally as form of stress relieving. Both situations allow for reason and logic to be forgotten, actions are driven by emotional desires, sometimes getting the individual in trouble. At amusement parks, after the species of straitjacket that we wear in every-day life is removed at such Saturnalia as Coney Island, the human animal emerges in a not precisely winning guise" (96). James Gibbons Huneker's comment reinforces the observation that the decisions people make which swept away in entertainment aren't always the most moral ones. In college, the alcohol only encourages these decisions which are made in the now without consideration as to the outcome. After 4 shots, maybe that one night stand is looking like the best idea of someones entire life, but they regret it on the walk of shame back to their dorm the next morning. People at Coney Island and at college parties might not feel the same way about their decisions if they removed themselves from the situation and really considered the actions they were about to take. Both situations create an environment where losing inhibitions is accepted and encouraged.

Although people may not have been the happiest with the decisions they made, Coney Island and the social scene at college allows both generations the chance to be free from all the hard labor or work they are subjected to during the week. Coney Island presented a Sunday get away for the middle class family from their strenuous long work week. A time to be in an amusement park removed the workers from the city where the idea of work would still linger. The displacement from where work was and this city created specifically for fun allowed people to become a new person in this new world of lights, rides, and shows. Similarly, at college on a Saturday night, students will forget about any and all of their school work, staying out of the library, the environment associated with school work. The social aspect of parties does encourage illegal underage drinking, but regardless the students are more engaged in who is winning their pong game then about writing their literature paper. The social scene, even if students aren't drinking, removes the people from the stresses of the week and opens up into a world of fun and fun. Both Coney Island and college parties allow the subjects a stress reliever from their hard work during the week.

The question I have about the social changes during the beginning of the 20th century is did the social morals change as a result of the new age entertainment or did the new age entertainment only reflect the growing needs of the people?