Internal consistency of Aladin, and the rules of the Lamp.

[sbk1234]

I was thinking about the Disney flick, Aladin. In the movie, Aladin finds the lamp, the Genie gives him three wishes. At the end of the movie, he wishes his third wish. However, at one point, Jafar steals the lamp, so he gets HIS three wishes. When Aladin gets the lamp back, he only has his one wish left from before. Shouldn't he have 3 new wishes, since ownership of the lamp had changed hands? If so, once Aladin finished his 3 wishes, could he have passed it on to a friend, he gets HIS three wishes, then that friend passes it back to Aladin when those wishes are done? Could he have thrown it in the back yard, and found it again right away, and then had three new wishes again?
These issues are important. What do you all think?

 

[Temis the Vorta]

This is why I love teh internet.s

 

[TemporalFlux]

I think the consistency works. One owner gets three wishes - period. It doesn't matter how much the lamp is passed around or how much time passes; it's three and done.

Of course, this does not address attempts to fool the lamp (such as wearing a Groucho mustache).

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Y5Zy_aJ128[/yt]

 

[sbk1234]

Can you get around the three wishes rule if you write a whole long list of what you want, and simply wish for everything on the list? Would that count as one wish?

 

[Thestral]

Can you get around the three wishes rule if you write a whole long list of what you want, and simply wish for everything on the list? Would that count as one wish?

I would imagine that such attempts to trick a genie/djinn would end... badly.

 

[Marten]

I see no inconsistency. As mentioned, it's three wishes per person, without regard to the time in between.

 

[Admiral Shran]

Just wish for infinite wishes. Problem solved.

 

[HappyDayRiot]

Aren't the rules:
You can't wish for more wishes.
You can't kill anyone
You can't make someone fall in love with you?

The best genie however it Norm from Fairly Odd Parents. He does allow for more wishes, so every third wish Mr Crocker makes is for 3 more wishes.

 

[Gaith]

^ Yep, though you forgot "can't bring someone back from the dead."


As for overly long/complex wishes, it's a case-by-case thing, I guess. If I had three wishes, I'd first want to protect myself and my first cousin against premature death for any reason, and I wonder if I could compress that into one wish by asking that none of my paternal grandfather's already-alive descendants die prematurely - thus leaving me two more wishes instead of just one.

 

[RoJoHen]

Just wish for infinite wishes. Problem solved.

The Genie clearly says this is not possible.


I agree with Temporal Flux. One owner gets 3 wishes, and that's that.

 

[HappyDayRiot]

Could you wish that the rules of the genie didn't apply to you?

 

[RoJoHen]

Could you wish that the rules of the genie didn't apply to you?

Ah-ha! There's always a loophole.

 

[milo bloom]

As I posted as my Facebook status not too long after a Smurfs DVD marathon at our house, if I ever find any type of wish-granting genie lamp thing, I'll toss it in the deepest, darkest hole I can find, and then drink until I forget I ever saw the thing.
Just.
Not.
Worth it.

 

[Goliath]

I hate genial mechanics.

 

[tharpdevenport]

Wish One: a cat that can talk, but only says three things (each a wish I want).
Wish Two: a second cat that can talk, but only says three things (each a wish I want).
Wish Three: Yet another cat that can talk, but only says three things (each a wish I want).


I won't wish for money as I will film the cats talking. That will bring me cash forever.

 

[Spot's Meow]

^I think you should really go with dogs instead of cats. Dogs are more willing to bend to your will and will certainly bring your wishes to the genie. Cats, I think, would take the opportunity to benefit themselves.

 

[Guartho]

I think I would've argued that my 1st wish to be a prince should remain in effect forever. After all, Aladdin only threatens to go back on the "freedom" deal when he's afraid he will need his 3rd wish to make himself a prince again in order to keep the smokin' hot Jasmine. If the Genie had done his job right the first damn time, there wouldn't be a problem.

 

[Admiral Shran]

^ The problem was with Aladdin's wish. He said - "Genie, I wish for you to make me a prince." As a result, all the Genie did was give him a bunch of material things that made him look like a prince. He didn't give him a birthright or a new life.

If Aladdin had been smart and said "Genie, I wish I had been born as a prince," there wouldn't have been a problem - the Genie would have completely changed who he was, not just slapped some fancy clothes on him.

 

[Gaith]

He had to wish to be a prince twice?! That is messed up.

 

[Admiral Shran]

He had to decide what to do with his third wish - wish to be a prince or wish for the Genie to be free.

The problem was that Aladdin screwed up his first wish by wishing for Genie to make him a prince. He then had to use his second wish when he was at the bottom of the sea and about to drown - he wished for Genie to save him.

After that, Jafar got his three wishes - one of which was to be the world's most powerful sorcerer. He then used his new powers to show that Aladdin wasn't really a prince, but a commoner.

After Jafar is defeated, the Genie offers to make him a prince again. Except, if Aladdin hadn't screwed up the first time, there would have been nothing for Jafar to reveal and so the thrid wish could have remained open.

Of course, in the end Aladdin wishes for the Genie to be free and the Sultan simply changes the law so that Jasmine doesn't have to marry a prince.

Why the hell didn't her father just do that in the first place?