That's what I'm hoping, just very much not optimistically. Corpos will usually allow things like feminism (the Barbie movie, for example), but I can't see them being cool with telling the tale of wealth inequality. Maybe a super watered-down version where one poor person gets a better outcome, but nothing systematic is changed. They're typically ok with stuff like that. (Like the whole Undercover Boss model, where the boss pays off someone's tuition or whatever but wages remain the same.)
Capitalism is a system that sustains itself even if literally everyone knows how evil it is. This is part of the fundamental conceit.
Capitalists literally have nothing to gain by "hiding" some truths, as if the masses were living with a veil in front of their eyes that one can just pull back to radicalize them. We were all there in 2008. We all saw behind the curtain. Literally nothing fundamentally changed and no movie is going to come close to having that cultural impact.
Also capitalists aren't any less prone to the tragedy of the commons than any other group of people. One corporation would end capitalism next quarter if they believed it would make them richer this quarter.
The truth is much simpler than any conspiracy theory: Hollywood is largely systematically incapable of competent social commentary. There are occasional brilliant exceptions, but rampant nepotism, incompetent corporate meddling, and a strong history/culture of "character stories" means that Hollywood doesn't know how to make a story about anything other than a character story.
That’s the thing. There’s no shortage of ideas. Hollywood is not out of ideas. They’re out of courage. They’re terrified of taking a risk on anything that’s not attached to some existing brand.
Was it this production company that did Battleship though? I don't think they were around back then.
I'm definitely with you on Hollywood apparently bring out of ideas, and I don't think Monopoly is a great idea for a movie ... Just that if any producers can pull it off, it'll be them.
That said, the Clue movie from the 80s was actually good. Perhaps with Monopoly (unlike Battleship) having an actual established character of sorts, that could make all the difference.
Either way, I'm way more excited for The Sims movie that these folks are also making. I think that genuinely offers some real possibilities for storytelling a la what they did with Barbie.
It could be a biting criticism of capitalism, as that's what the game was originally designed as. Although there's no way Parker Brothers would allow that.
I hope they follow the real rules and not house rules. Movies gonna be 35 minutes of someone getting lucky and slowly buying up everything. the rest of the movie is the cast now working two jobs to pay the rent that was raised so that whoever is winning can buy boardwalk. The poorest one is constantly having to pay to get out of jail.
Monopoly was designed by a socialist to demonstrate that capitalism is flawed, since the game eventually ends with all of the wealth in one player’s possession. Interestingly, the creator also included an alternative “Prosperity” rule, where all players received payment from a property purchase. All of this was omitted and replaced with the notion that “anyone can be rich” in capitalism when pitched to Parker Brothers.
And Monopoly is based on The Landlord's Game, which was created to be a "practical demonstration of the present system of land grabbing with all its usual outcomes and consequences".
Designed by Elizabeth Magie between 1902 and 1903. She based the game on the economic principles of Georgism, a system proposed by Henry George, with the object of demonstrating how rents enrich property owners and impoverish tenants.
Isn't Monopoly supposed to be critic of capitlism but noone gets it (like Fight Club is a take on toxic masculinity but toxic douchebags love it because the don't understand it)?
Monopoly originated as a critique of both capitalism and communism. But then the creator sold it and it was turned into capitalism simulator where it teaches that only having the most is a winning strategy. So this'll be weird.