Monopolising

The term to 'monopolise' means to have control fully and exclusively.

With this term in mind, we utilised it's definition to create an ironic nature around the idea of the money theme. By using 'Monopoly' money, we referenced the term 'monopolisation'. It is then ironic in the sense that the characters within our video who are supposed to be representing fans of the ska genre, both of the present time and also potentially the time when ska music was at it's peak, such as the skinhead ska/punk characters from This is England '86, who considering their current economic situation were far from 'in control' of the situation. The economic depression under that government of Margaret Thatcher had caused mass unemployment and so the working class people of the time, including the ska/punk fans such as the characters from This is England, would not have been able to have a direct impact. Because of this, our use of monopoly money ironically highlights their lack of control, considering the term 'monopolising' itself means the direct opposite.

As well as this ironic underlaying meaning to our use of the money, there is also a more direct meaning. The fact that the money is from a board game, monopoly, can also be directly related to our female protagonist. It is heavily implied within the video that she is literally 'playing a game' in order to gain money for herself, as well as being a metaphor for the economic climate and money-grabbing banker situation. Being the strong female character she is, she is in complete control of the game she is playing, which of course is again linked to the term monopolisation so rather than there being an ironic meaning, the use of monopoly money is also presenting the fact that the female protagonist is in complete control of the supposed male characters that she is taking financial gain from.