In response to our course topic of Contemporary American Dreams and Nightmares, I constructed a creative project to embody themes of mobility and the American Dream. Inspired by numerous current events articles on the college admissions scandal involving Lori Loughlin, a case in which Loughlin is accused of gaining her daughter’s admission to USC through giving substantial amounts of money to the school (latimes.com), I reworked the game of Monopoly to accurately reflect modern American capitalism. The creator of Monopoly, Elizabeth Magie, actually created her original version called “The Landlord’s Game” with the intention of having people see the corruption of growing American monopolies. Her idea was later altered though, and her plan of making a social critique did not work. (Pilon)
Although the game already depends on economic competition, it does not take into account the many social factors involved in economic success. Additionally, the game of Monopoly has each player start equally, with the same amount of money and no property. This may make for a fun board game, but in modelling the game to the real world, this is entirely inaccurate, as people are born into a wide range of opportunities and very different amounts of wealth.
In order to make my version of the game more accurate to modern American society, each player begins the game by selecting two player profile cards. The primary card specifies a player number, and elaborates on that player’s personal rules for the game. The card lists the amount of money the player starts with, how much they collect when they pass go, where they can buy property on the board, what cards they can draw, and how they can get out of jail. All of these factors represent the opportunities and limitations placed on people who are born into certain socioeconomic statuses.
The second profile card indicates the players’ chances of mobility through a description of one’s race, gender, and other background information. These traits indicate their own sets of opportunities and limitations that reflect issues such as the wage gap and white privilege. Not only does this allow more real-world accuracy, but also displays how people can face discrimination outside of their economic conditions.
Finally, I’ve incorporated the issue of discrimination in American law enforcement. As stated in his article, “The effects of Mass Incarceration of Communities of Color,” Robert Crutchfield explains how “…poor people of color have been incarcerated disproportionately during the massive increase in imprisonment that has occured in the nation since the early 1980s.” To reflect the growing concerns of discrimination not only in race, but also in one’s background, nieghborhood, and social status, players who are given a lower economic status or a certain race/gender are also given further limitations and consequences before and after landing in jail.
In Jennifer Hochschild’s scholarly article titled, “What is the American Dream?” she explains four tenets that define the American Dream, including how anyone can achieve it and success is based on virtue. These are only a few of the false ideologies people have associated with American opportunity. Nevertheless, she explains how “seductive” this ideology is, as, “Hard work and virtue…produce a few spectacular winners and many dismissible losers.” (25). This is precisely what I hope to demonstrate in my Monopoly when players enter the game hopeful and confident, but left disappointed. By discrediting these tenets and popular ideas of the American Dream, I hope to also show players the idea of this being rather an American “Nightmare” which they can work to change.
To finish the game, I’ve generated a list of discussion questions for the players, including, “Would the result have been different if everyone had started off with the same socioeconomic conditions” and “In conjunction with the previous question, traditional Monopoly does not address factors of various types of discrimination in social and economic mobility. What effect did the consideration of these factors hold in the game?” With these, questions I hope that my game not only shows players the realities and falsehoods of the American Dream, but also opens a discussion on how to repair these issues, which is what I find many scholars seem to miss in their critiques. Thus, the players can hopefully leave the game with a new perspective of the society they live in.
Contemporary American Dreams & Nightmares 