"Monopoly" by Tosh Berman

 

"Monopoly" by Tosh Berman. Read it here: 

Monopoly by Tosh Berman

Chris Curtis and Board Games on Tosh Talks

Chris Curtis is a great friend of mine, and someone I admire, due to being a great human being, but also his taste which is very articulate and refined to a perfect point in his ability to express what he likes and why.  His current passion is board games, which is a subject I knew nothing about.  After watching this show the viewer will be fascinated with the board games history, and it's cultural importance in society.   We discuss my favorite childhood games that came from TV shows from the 60s and beyond, but Chris gets into the nitty-gritty of the gaming world.  - Tosh Berman, your host for Tosh Talks.

August 10, 2014

August 10, 2014

Real estate never has been an interest for me.  Therefore the worst form of nightmare is being dragged into a game of Monopoly, which seriously I never cared if I win or lose.  It is nothing but just to pass the time. The only thing I like about the game is the design of the board, and its play money, plus the “chance” cards. The risk is always taking the chance, and I think real estate is all about planning, and then taking a chance that a specific neighborhood will move towards your direction – financially speaking.  There is something about the great depression in the United States which inspired people to play with ‘imaginary property’ that they don’t actually have.  Charlie Darrow is the inventor of “Monopoly,” but there were other people at the time playing their own version of this game, or at least with the subject matter regarding losing and gaining property.

“The Landlord’s Game, ” patented in 1904 by Elizabeth Magie, is the inspiration for “Monopoly.” The oddity of the game is that it demonstrated the economic ill effects of land monopolist and the use of land value tax as a remedy of them.  So in a sense it is very much an anti-capitalist game, while “Monopoly” is about being greedy and making yourself wealthy through one’s greed.   What I find interesting is how board games reflect on life, and even writers like Guy Debord, became devoted to the board game and actually invented such a game called “Le jeu de la Guerre (A Game of War).   More likely he wanted this game to be just as popular as “Monopoly,” but I think that is impossible due to the animal-like desire for land and how much wealth can come from that property.   The horror show aspect of real estate is the fact that it often destroys creativity and a form of currency.  Art can be defined as cinema, literature, dance, theater, and visual - but I also think real estate is an art form as well, with respect to retail shops and how it affects a neighborhood.

“Monopoly” and “The Landlord’s Game” are both fascinating.  The latter exposes the corruption of the landlord, while “Monopoly” exposes a need to obtain wealth at all costs.  A board game basically imitates real life, because life and politics are nothing but a board game, but played out in real time, with real results.  I’m sure the Israelis are looking at the Palestinian issue as a board game.  They must have a large table or a computer screen, where they can map out the territory and imagine it as a 3D image, where they can enter and then disappear by will.  The same for Iraq and any other country involved in a military narrative.  Then on top of it, they monitor reactions from the media - both from social networks to TV talking heads.   As well as presidential elections or when there is one side fighting against another side.   All of it is deemed to be a board game.  The problem is one gets sucked into a set of rules of not of their own making.  There is this and there is that.  Surely there must be a third option?

February 7, 2014

February 7, 2014

I used to play a weekly game of Monopoly with Juilette, which almost like clockwork, I would lose to her on a regular basis.  We would meet up at the Café de Flore, where I arranged with the manager to have a table for us in the middle of the afternoon.  I think one of the reasons why I am such a lousy player is that I don’t like the game at all.  But Juilette has a passion for it, that to be honest I don’t fully understand. 

Everyone presumes that we are a couple, due to our common love for clothing that is all black, and our shared passion for jazz.  The fact is Juilette has been having an affair with an American Jazz trumpet player for the past three months.  The funny thing is her english is terrible, and he can’t speak a word of French.  I can only imagine what they share, and I’m just lucky that Juliette meets me on a weekly basis to play a shitty game of Monopoly.  

After a few hours of losing miserably to her, I asked her if we can cut the game out, and go see a film.   She agreed to this, and we went to Le Cinema de Grand Action on Rue des Ecoles.  They were showing the complete “Flash Gordon” movie serial from 1936, starring Buster Crabbe as Flash.   Over the years, they mostly showed an edited version of the serial, and made it into a feature.   But here, they are showing the complete series which is 13 episodes.   The episode tonight is Chapter 8 “Tournament of Death.” I have read that Andre Breton would go to movie theaters without knowing what was playing or their time schedule.  It could be in the beginning, middle or end. It didn’t matter to him.  Once he felt a tinge of boredom he would leave and go to another screening.  Rarely would he see a whole film by itself, and me watching a movie serial is very much like that, because I don’t see every episode.  For instance, I missed out on Episode 7.  

Nevertheless I like sitting with Juliette in a dark theater.  When I look at her, by my side, she virtually disappears into the blackness, perhaps due to the clothing as well as dyed black hair.  The only thing that is highlighted is her red lips and white skin.  Watching Flash battle a masked opponent, I begin to regret that I may lose Juliette to her new American lover.  What was taking place in front of me, on the screen, was all of a sudden not important to me. 

The film, or episode was only 20 minutes long.  But within that time frame I came to the conclusion that I love Juliette, and yet as the theater lights got turned on, I realized something has changed.  As we walked out of the theater, I asked her if she wanted to go have a drink, either cafe or wine.  She told me that she can’t because she has to meet her boyfriend at another cafe, but thanked me for the film, and the game, mostly thanked me for the game.  I don’t know why she enjoys playing with me, since I lose every game.