- The Picture Of The Wheel Of Fortune Wheel
- The Fortune Wheel Tarot
- The Wheel Of Fortune Wheel Is Rigged
Fortune Wheel is a Cantonese dim sum restaurant located in Levittown, Nassau County that also serves Cantonese cuisine on their regular menu. Since Fortune Wheel is one of the few genuine dim sum restaurants that serve dim sum from carts, I had to go check it out. On the stage or in the studio, wheels can introduce improvisational or random elements into your music, art, writing, theatre, or improv comedy. Mix your show up with a wheel. The wheel is wise. Let it tell your fortune or use it to tell others' fortune with wheels like the Magic 8-Ball, Yes or No, and the Tarot Wheel.
The Picture Of The Wheel Of Fortune Wheel
A lot of us would love the chance to compete on the legendary game show Wheel of Fortune, and winning lots of cash or an awesome trip would really be the icing on the cake. After all, walking away from the experience with winnings is the object of the game, but what if winning Wheel of Fortune wasn't everything it seemed.
For starters, just doing well on the show is a bit of a challenge. It's one thing to be able to shout out all the answers from the comfort of your favorite chair at home, but actually doing so on live TV is a whole other beast. Former executive producer Harry Friedman told San Francisco's ABC7 that half the battle includes being the type of person who already likes to solve problems and puzzles.
Host Pat Sajak added that success on the show really rests with a contestant's approach. 'The trick is just treat it as a fun experience ... it doesn't hurt to watch a show occasionally because there are strategies involved.' And so if one can do all that, and actually win cash, a car, or a trip, what of the victor's spoils. How much do winning contestants get to actually keep?
Wheel of Fortune winnings are taxed
Many of the prizes on Wheel of Fortune seem almost too good to be true. Contestants regularly win enormous sums of money, expensive cars, and trips around the world. It turns out that there is a reason the prizes might feel unrealistic: winners end up paying taxes on everything they take home from their TV experience.
When you win big on the show, the IRS treats the price tag of your winnings just like income: You're taxed in a big way. CinemaBlend explored the case of Wheel of Fortune winner Matt McMahan, who walked away with over $16,000 in cash and two trips worth more than $15,000. The show does allow winners to find less expensive versions of their trips to avoid a higher tax hit. McMahan took this option, ending up with trips for $10,000.
Once the taxes were paid out, McMahan estimates he walked away from Wheel of Fortune with about $6,000 out of over $30,000 in prizes. It really makes you think. When speaking to MarketWatch, he did say that the trips were worth it, saying that even with all the strings attached, 'experiences are worth more than money right now.'
In The Merchant of Venice, Portia, an affluent and quick-witted heiress from Belmont, aids in rescuing Antonio from his legal plight with Shylock. The fates of people around Portia shift constantly, while her situation generally improves without problem. Portia's actions through the play embody Fortuna's whimsical interest in humanity.
The Roman Goddess Fortuna, with a cornucopia in one hand and a rudder in the other.
In order to compare Portia and Fortuna, we need a little background on this mythical figure and her famous wheel. In Roman mythology, Fortuna was the goddess of Luck, Fate, and Fortune. She watched over the fate of the individual as well as the state. In her left hand, Fortuna usually held a cornucopia, a symbol of all good things flowing in abundance. In the other hand, Fortuna held a ship's rudder, which implied her power to steer the delicate lives of mortals. By using both objects, she was able to either bring happiness to the person's life, or completely destroy the individual's life instead.
Associated with Fortuna was her Rota Fortunae (Latin for 'wheel of fortune'), which was a medieval concept that involved the use of a wheel that a person symbolically rode during his or her life. At the top of the wheel, a person's lifestyle was full of happiness and leisure. A individual at this level would live like a king. However, the wheel would eventually rotate and the person would begin to endure a miserable existence, full of pain and tragedy. Someone at the bottom hoped that Fortuna would eventually spin her wheel often enough for the individual to come back on top, both metaphorically and financially.
La Rota Fortunae – notice the position of the individuals at the top and bottom of the wheel as Fortuna in spins the wheel.
Portia, true to her allegorical figure, jumps at the opportunity to rescue Antonio from Shylock during the trial scene, spotting it as a situation where she can spin her metaphorical wheel and dramatically alter the fates of the people involved. By indirectly offering to pay more than triple the amount Bassiano borrowed from Shylock, Portia's act symbolizes the cornucopia in Fortuna's left hand.
The parallel between Portia and Fortuna also shows up in the last scene of the play. After revealing that she had been the lawyer during the trial in Venice, Portia hands Antonio a sealed letter:
'Unseal this letter soon; There you shall found three of your argosies, Are richly come to harbor suddenly. You shall not know by what strange accident, I chanced on this letter.' (V.I.295-297)
Portia claims to have discovered the news herself without any external help, which leads me to see a further connection between her and the concept of Fortuna. Antonio, whose ships disappeared through fortune, is finally rewarded with the return of his ships after the terrible trial with Shylock. Maybe Fortuna's wheels rotated even more for Antonio, elevating him to an even higher level of wealth because his ships came back to harbor. Like the rudder in Fortuna's hands, Portia's letter embodies Fortuna's jurisdiction over a mortal's life.
'Unseal this letter soon; There you shall found three of your argosies, Are richly come to harbor suddenly. You shall not know by what strange accident, I chanced on this letter.' (V.I.295-297)
Portia claims to have discovered the news herself without any external help, which leads me to see a further connection between her and the concept of Fortuna. Antonio, whose ships disappeared through fortune, is finally rewarded with the return of his ships after the terrible trial with Shylock. Maybe Fortuna's wheels rotated even more for Antonio, elevating him to an even higher level of wealth because his ships came back to harbor. Like the rudder in Fortuna's hands, Portia's letter embodies Fortuna's jurisdiction over a mortal's life.
The Fortune Wheel Tarot
Today, the 'wheel of fortune' is probably most well known to people as the popular television show hosted by Pat Sajak. While the element of luck will not have much of an effect on a person's life, the game show does at least guarantee a brief period of pleasure for the winning contestant, either through fabulous vacations or enormous sums of money. But who knows, maybe the spirit of Fortuna does grease the wheel of 'fortune' of the winners, imbuing them with success.
The 'Modern' Wheel of Fortune. Maybe you'll be on the top of the wheel someday?
Sources:
The Wheel Of Fortune Wheel Is Rigged
1. Took, Thalia. 'Fortuna, Roman Goddess of Luck, Chance, and Fortune.' The Obscure Online Goddess Dictionary.. Web. 14 July 2015.
2.Caldwell, Ellen M. ‘Opportunistic Portia As Fortuna In Shakespeare's Merchant Of Venice'. SEL Studies in English Literature 1500-1900 54.2 (2014): 349-373. Web. 15 July 2015.
