Welcome to BSA Images of the Week!

Societal norms and entertainment ethics change, sometimes radically, as time progresses. It would be fantastic if you could determine which era is more shocking and if its behaviors indicate a golden age or a declining one. Just look at New York history at Coney Island, which may seem barbaric and beyond the pale by today’s standards, alongside oddly similar occurrences in contemporary Western society.

Earlier examples of entertainment that New Yorkers found compelling at Coney Island included freak shows that drew on unusual physical characteristics, human zoos, an Infant Incubator Exhibit, and the electrocution of Topsy the elephant. These were considered normal a hundred years ago, and religious people of good conscience allowed them, much like they did with whites-only water fountains and children working in factories. Women first competed in the Paris 1900 Olympics (22 women, 975 men), but only in five competitions: Tennis, Sailing, Croquet, Equestrianism, and Golf.

On Friday night, during the opening ceremonies of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, X was all atwitter with self-proclaimed Christians expressing outrage over a small segment of the three-and-a-half-hour show that featured a few well-known French drag performers doing a campy modern homage to The Last Supper paintings of the Renaissance. Decades of austerity budgets have starved our education system, and it shows, as many were scandalized by this portrayal of ‘Sodom and Gomorrah’ and other ‘disgusting’ scenes referencing French history, such as the French Revolution, the Enlightenment, World War I and II, the Industrial Revolution, and the Cultural Renaissance. And that depiction of Marie Antoinette holding her head under her arm? There’s a story behind that.

Meanwhile, in very modern history, we have a president out of the race, a former president who said yesterday that we wouldn’t need to vote in four years, his VP choice who once called him “America’s Hitler,” and, according to The New Yorker, a presidential candidate who sparked a reported 700-percent increase in voter registrations. July has been a ride, y’all! This week, we welcome August with hope and possibly some trepidation.

And here is our weekly interview with the streets, this week featuring Aiko, Adam Fujita, Homesick, Degrupo, Optimo NYC, Werds, DEK2DX, Lee Holin, Snoeman, NAY 281, Bogus, EXR, Uwont, Jacob Thomas, Chido, Smooth, Kasio, Wild West, JDI, and FAQ COP.

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