I am not sure there is anyone over the age of 10 who has never played Monopoly. The game has been around forever, I have purchased the game many times over. In the documentary Under the Boardwalk: The Monopoly Story, the history of Monopoly is told, along with following contestants to various Monopoly competitions leading up to the penultimate: Monopoly World Championship. The game touches people in different ways, it teaches about money management, negotiation, competition and good sportsmanship (or lack of).
It was very interesting to learn the history of the game. When the game was invented it was originally turned down by Parker Brothers. It took 30 years of being passed around and improved upon before it was then presented and ultimately accepted again. Due to the fact that it had 30 years of research and development, it became almost the perfect game. Another interesting fact was that the British used the game to “sneak” maps and info to prison of war captives through Red Cross care packages.
I know from experience that Monopoly brings out the best and worst in people. Competitiveness can make people do things that they would not normally do. Everyone knows someone who is a bad loser (and flips the game over, or leaves without helping put the game away, or steals from the bank, or makes unfair trades, or a hundred other bad things) or the bad winner who
gloats and dances, calls you names (you know who you are). These are still all great reasons to play at an early age. You learn lessons about real life and how to deal with people that may not act with good sportsmanship. The game can teach math skills, the documentary shows a teacher who uses Monopoly in his class.
Narrated by Zachary Levi, Under the Boardwalk is an excellent documentary explaining the history, the people, and interesting facts of a game that is loved the world over. If we play I’m the race car.
What are you watching?
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SeanSpeak 