This video displays how things are always going to change, but memories can be forever unaltered. For the man in the video, to keep your memories unchanged, you must have a "Coney Island of the mind." He recalls his childhood memories very clearly. He remembers the way the food smelt, and the different restaurant he used to eat at. He mentions how many of the restaurant have closed down, but it doesn't change much for him. His golden age will never be over; maybe he never wants to admit that his childhood is over. He emphasizes the importance of dreaming, if we ever want the real coney island to exist. He is dreading the day when Coney Island could vanish, because that is his childhood that would be disappearing right before his eyes. He keeps coming back to visit his hometown, because he has hope that it will return to its earlier state.
There are certainly negatives to Coney Island but those imperfections make it even more beautiful. No city or state is going to be perfect. The flaws of coney island make it real and humane. We don't live in a fairy tale world where everything can go right all the time. As much as I love living in Long Island, I don't enjoy every single thing about it. I can't stand the way people drive, or the service I get when I go to some restaurants. You have to take some and give some.
In essence you seem to be saying that the imperfectness of a place somehow makes it feel perfect - it makes the place feel human and real, instead of merely a fantasy. From your post, I am able to understand that the man's discussion of how imperfect Coney island is now and how wonderful it once was gives him hope that it might one day be almost, if not as beautiful as it was then.
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