Monopoly of Life

<p> Like many recent documentaries on the peculiar pastimes of everyday folks, <em>Under the Boardwalk: The Monopoly Story </em>focuses on a subculture the rest of us little suspect: the Monopoly World Championship held every four years, usually in a city associated with money. Chatter from the contenders fills much of the running time, but one of the most interesting segments of director Kevin Tostado's film concerns the game's origins. </p> <p>A political activist with an anti-capitalist message introduced the precursor of Monopoly as early as 1903. Parker Brothers rejected it. Over the next 30 years the board game evolved as it passed from hand to hand before an unemployed plumber, Charles Darrow, sold it to the Parker conglomerate in the depths of the Great Depression. By that time the message seemed to have flipped. Monopoly could now be seen as celebrating vulture capitalism. </p> <p>Aside from the game's obvious fantasy of allowing everyone to play Rockefeller or Trump, the film speculates that Monopoly's appeal may be lie in its approximation to a popular interpretation of life that holds success as one part skill and three parts luck. <em>Under the Boardwalk: The Monopoly Story </em>is out on DVD. </p>