“You ain’t never had a friend like ME!” – A double negative quote from the Genie from the 1992 animated feature film Aladdin. Sodoes that mean we have had a friend like him? No we haven’t and sadly never will again- R.I.P. Robin Williams (July 21, 1951- August 11, 2014)
But you can have a friend like Will Smith, as he takes on the titular role of the Genie in Disney’s 12th live-action remake of Disney’s 31st animated feature film Aladdin. Wait a minute; how can you possibly make… remake… re-envision-mentation… whatever, Aladdin without Robin Williams who virtually immortalized the role of the jinn? Keep in mind that the story “Aladdin and the Magic Lamp” has been told and retold since it first appeared in the early 18th century as one of the tales in The Book of One Thousand and One Nights (The Arabian Nights). And will continue to be told, retold, remade, re-envisioned… you get the idea… it’ll just keep on going regardless of whether a comedian or rapper is crammed in the lamp. Still it would have been nice to have seen Williams in the live action role, or at least got his impression of the new film. Alas it all comes back to wishful thinking.
But before you start thinking too wishfully, there are a few provisos, a couple of quid pro quos when making one’s wishes three. Three rules for every wisher set forth by their jinni, quoted by Mr. Williams, and broken by me.
Rule #1 – I can’t kill anybody… so don’t ask! OK. We won’t ask, but there are ways to kill someone indirectly without directly asking. For example you could just wish someone in front of a speeding truck or to the middle of the ocean or 100 miles straight up. You didn’t wish for them to be run over, drowned or splattered, just placed in a precarious position. He said he couldn’t “kill anyone” he didn’t say anything about putting anyone’s life in mortal danger.
Rule #2 – I can’t make anybody fall in love with anybody else! Now this one is a little bit tricky. You can’t control another person’s free will but you could wish to be trapped, with your love interest, on a secluded, romantic, deserted island for a year. If it hasn’t worked out by then maybe you’ll at least be friends. Or you could just wish for a robotic clone of the person you admire. It may not be “the same” but if you’re desperate enough to wish for it, you’d probably take whatever you can get, including robot nookie.
Rule #3 – I can’t bring people back from the dead! It’s not a pretty picture, I don’t like doing it! Whoa whoa whoa! Did our Genie with phenomenal cosmic power and an itty bitty living space just contradict himself? He says he “can’t bring people back from the dead” then turns right around and says that he “doesn’t like doing it!” How would he know he didn’t like doing it, or what it would look like if he did it, if he couldn’t do it or had never done it? Seems like more of a “won’t” than a “can’t.” So perhaps with enough persuasion he could or would have to?
Well even if our all-powerful Djinn refuses to ignite a zombie apocalypse there’s still a loophole to raise the dead: You simply wish they had never died in the first place. Back from the dead – never died… technically the same thing.
OK. So those are da rules, now about the wishes three. Wait, you need to think this through, don’t just blurt something stupid out. Do you know how many people have exploded from making stupid wishes? Seven, that’s how many, and if you don’t want to be number eight you better think before you speak.
This isn’t a blow your candles out situation, so you’ve plenty of time to decide. Just bear in mind a wish must be made in one sentence. When you hit a period, whatever came before is granted.
Most people immediately go for material goods; it’s in their nature because everybody wants more stuff. Using one carefully worded wish for financial gain isn’t a bad thing. But don’t let it limit you to the myriad of possibilities available just a wish away. Once you’ve wished yourself wealthy, you can look beyond wanting all the things you can buy and places you can afford to go.
Then you can focus on some serious wishes that can bestow you things that money can’t buy.
You can wish away diseases. You can stop disasters. You can alter the course of history (be careful there you may wish yourself out of existence). You can wish for super powers (though three out of the seven people who exploded did just that). Foregoing personal gain and prestige (or wallowing in it) you could save the world.
Then when you’re loaded and the world’s a better place, you can wish for something even more valuable. Something more precious than gold and worth more than life itself – you can wish for knowledge.
Yes, initially that sounds totally lame as hell and why would you want to be smarter- you’re rich and the world’s a happy place (all because of you). But this is where the thinking part really comes into play. Think of all the questions you’ve ever wanted to know the answer to. All the things you’ve ever wanted to know about the world you live in, its history, life, death and what lies beyond. You may be able to word your last wish to get more than one of life’s mysteries answered. But be forewarned, whatever answer you wish for you might just get it and it may not be what you wished it was.
I welcome almost all questions and comments via FOCUS, or E-mail me at –[email protected]. Hope to hear from ya until then try and stay focused. See ya.
does that mean we have had a friend like him? No we haven’t and sadly never will again- R.I.P. Robin Williams (July 21, 1951- August 11, 2014)
But you can have a friend like Will Smith, as he takes on the titular role of the Genie in Disney’s 12th live-action remake of Disney’s 31st animated feature film Aladdin. Wait a minute; how can you possibly make… remake… re-envision-mentation… whatever, Aladdin without Robin Williams who virtually immortalized the role of the jinn? Keep in mind that the story “Aladdin and the Magic Lamp” has been told and retold since it first appeared in the early 18th century as one of the tales in The Book of One Thousand and One Nights (The Arabian Nights). And will continue to be told, retold, remade, re-envisioned… you get the idea… it’ll just keep on going regardless of whether a comedian or rapper is crammed in the lamp. Still it would have been nice to have seen Williams in the live action role, or at least got his impression of the new film. Alas it all comes back to wishful thinking.
But before you start thinking too wishfully, there are a few provisos, a couple of quid pro quos when making one’s wishes three. Three rules for every wisher set forth by their jinni, quoted by Mr. Williams, and broken by me.
Rule #1 – I can’t kill anybody… so don’t ask! OK. We won’t ask, but there are ways to kill someone indirectly without directly asking. For example you could just wish someone in front of a speeding truck or to the middle of the ocean or 100 miles straight up. You didn’t wish for them to be run over, drowned or splattered, just placed in a precarious position. He said he couldn’t “kill anyone” he didn’t say anything about putting anyone’s life in mortal danger.
Rule #2 – I can’t make anybody fall in love with anybody else! Now this one is a little bit tricky. You can’t control another person’s free will but you could wish to be trapped, with your love interest, on a secluded, romantic, deserted island for a year. If it hasn’t worked out by then maybe you’ll at least be friends. Or you could just wish for a robotic clone of the person you admire. It may not be “the same” but if you’re desperate enough to wish for it, you’d probably take whatever you can get, including robot nookie.
Rule #3 – I can’t bring people back from the dead! It’s not a pretty picture, I don’t like doing it! Whoa whoa whoa! Did our Genie with phenomenal cosmic power and an itty bitty living space just contradict himself? He says he “can’t bring people back from the dead” then turns right around and says that he “doesn’t like doing it!” How would he know he didn’t like doing it, or what it would look like if he did it, if he couldn’t do it or had never done it? Seems like more of a “won’t” than a “can’t.” So perhaps with enough persuasion he could or would have to?
Well even if our all-powerful Djinn refuses to ignite a zombie apocalypse there’s still a loophole to raise the dead: You simply wish they had never died in the first place. Back from the dead – never died… technically the same thing.
OK. So those are da rules, now about the wishes three. Wait, you need to think this through, don’t just blurt something stupid out. Do you know how many people have exploded from making stupid wishes? Seven, that’s how many, and if you don’t want to be number eight you better think before you speak.
This isn’t a blow your candles out situation, so you’ve plenty of time to decide. Just bear in mind a wish must be made in one sentence. When you hit a period, whatever came before is granted.
Most people immediately go for material goods; it’s in their nature because everybody wants more stuff. Using one carefully worded wish for financial gain isn’t a bad thing. But don’t let it limit you to the myriad of possibilities available just a wish away. Once you’ve wished yourself wealthy, you can look beyond wanting all the things you can buy and places you can afford to go.
Then you can focus on some serious wishes that can bestow you things that money can’t buy.
You can wish away diseases. You can stop disasters. You can alter the course of history (be careful there you may wish yourself out of existence). You can wish for super powers (though three out of the seven people who exploded did just that). Foregoing personal gain and prestige (or wallowing in it) you could save the world.
Then when you’re loaded and the world’s a better place, you can wish for something even more valuable. Something more precious than gold and worth more than life itself – you can wish for knowledge.
Yes, initially that sounds totally lame as hell and why would you want to be smarter- you’re rich and the world’s a happy place (all because of you). But this is where the thinking part really comes into play. Think of all the questions you’ve ever wanted to know the answer to. All the things you’ve ever wanted to know about the world you live in, its history, life, death and what lies beyond. You may be able to word your last wish to get more than one of life’s mysteries answered. But be forewarned, whatever answer you wish for you might just get it and it may not be what you wished it was.
I welcome almost all questions and comments via FOCUS, or email me at [email protected] or you can FRIEND me on Facebook under Saw’s Brood!
