Je souhaite, donc je suis

So, what would you wish for if you had three wishes?
Two views of genies and their wish-granting:

Genies as metaphor

Those of you who believe in God are likely, occasionally, at least, to pray for this or that. And, miraculously, sometimes it may appear your prayers have been answered and that which you prayed for is given unto you. More often than not, however, you are left with a distinct impression that God isn’t listening as the bills mount up and Auntie Flo’s varicose veins go unhealed.
Those of you who really believe will console yourselves with the thought that God’s ways are not the ways of humanity. You know that your prayers have been answered just in not so obvious a way. This will inspire you to greater faith and further discernment – in principle, at least.
Those of weaker faith will suffer dejection and loss of faith – temporarily or permanently – giving up on a God who seems not to care.
Genies serve to help us understand this relationship of prayer with God.
The original djinn appears in the Qur’an and is not to be mistaken with the Western interpretation that has become, down the ages, the Genie. This latter creature, whatever its cultural roots, is usually what appears in popular culture and, particularly, in ‘Je Souhaitte’.
The point of the Genie is to give material shape to our relationship with God.
We want a personal, one-on-one, relationship with a physical being even though we know this to be impossible. Of course, this is not possible and we know it! Doesn’t stop us from imagining what it would be like to have our own personal God who would be willing to answer every prayer.
At the same time as we imagine God at our side, ready to jump to our every whim, we are fully aware that it is such a daft idea! This is why the three wishes never work out quite as they should. Even if the first two grant us great wealth and success with the sex of our choice, the third will be the ‘chronic morbid tumescence’ that leads to our downfall.
The interesting thing about the Genie is the realisation that whatever our wishes might be they are beyond our ability to achieve on our own. By succumbing to the allure of the Genie, we acknowledge our own inadequacy. Real meaning is only ever to be found in achievement; wish-fulfillment is not just lazy, it is a denigration of our very humanity.
Which bring us to the second view of the Genie.

Genie as reminder

Life is hard and we naturally wish for it to be easier.
Being granted $30 million in response to a wish has got to be better than actually having to work for it, right?
In all honesty, the only wish I’d be tempted by if I were to be granted wishes by a Genie, is for immense wealth – but only because it would make all other things possible – bearing in mind that mortality isn’t to be avoided (Ask yourself how a mere Genie could undo God’s creation (cf. Gen. 3:19, 22)?)
Even if you don’t think God has any say in the matter, consider the human condition. If we are evolutionary beings – which would seem to be the case – then it is not only normal but an integral part of who we are as a species to adapt and survive, to snatch survival out of the jaws of annihilation, to outwit the predator and prove ourselves capable of overcoming almost insurmountable odds. Evolution doesn’t grant wishes.
Why, in any film that depicts a form of utopia, is the hero/heroine always the one who brings about its downfall?
The answer is that, just as we know we are not meant to have our wishes so easily fulfilled, we also know that it is the struggle for life that not only makes survival possible, it is the source of life’s meaning, as well.
The Genie, then, is both the longing for a more intimate, aberrant relationship with God and a realisation that happiness is a wish achieved not granted.