Wish FulFillment

     Not sure what got me thinking about this, but it seems that popular culture tells us that wishes are bad. More specifically, the fulfillment of those wishes by magical means or entities is bad, and will always turn out causing more harm than good

     Finians Rainbow- Finian McLonergan lays hold of the leprechauns crock of gold, resulting in a vengeful leprechaun following, his daughter nearly being burned to death, the "blackening" of a US senator, and the full transformation to human of the leprechaun. only when the magic of the crock of gold is gone forever is there a chance for happiness

     Darby O'Gill and the Little People- Darby O'Gill is captured by, and then captures the leprechaun king Brian Connors, and as ransom, the king must grant him three wishes. His wishes indirectly almost cost him his daughter, until he uses his final wish to trade places with her in death. King Brian Connors then tricks him into wishing a fourth time, negating his prior wishes. Again, only when the magic is gone, can the ending be happy

     Aladdin(Disney)- Aladdin gets the lamp, uses the Genie to wish himself prosperous and attractive, marries the girl, and loses everything until he tricks the evil Grand Vizier(is there any other kind?) into taking the Genies place in the lamp and frees the genie with his final wish. Only after he gives up the magic is he actually happy

     Bruce Almighty- Bruce Nolan curses God and challenges him that he could clean up the mess the world is in in nothing flat; he is led to a warehouse and given God's powers, where he proceeds to prove that he's selfish, foolish and unwise. He proves that Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely and only in buckling down, doing a hard days work, and surrendering to Gods plan is he made happy.

     Is the message here something like "Don't expect magic to solve your problems, only hard work can do that"? are these movies just a love song to the industrial culture than tells us to buckle down and do our jobs, and good things might come to us if we work hard? The Aladdin story in Folklore comes out different, with him using another magic to counter the magic turned against him. it speaks more to using magic wisely. I may just be talking out of my hat, too, but I would love to see some other folks thoughts on this. I would also like to see any examples that prove or disprove my point!

If wishes were horses, beggars would ride...