# Harry Potter Brainwashing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 23, 2002, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-brainwashing/120310 "2002-07-23T00:50:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hazmatt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hazmatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazmatt)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2002, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-brainwashing/120310/1 "2002-07-23T00:50:04Z")
The other day a friend of mine told me about a news report which seemed fishy to me. Apparently a child was reading Harry Potter, and he put on a cape, and jumped off a roof. I instantly realized that this story was very similar to some urban legends, in which someone does the same thing after seeing Superman, or after playing Dungeons and Dragons, etc. I told my friend this, but he just said, “It has to be true! I saw it on CNN!” So I have to know, is there any truth to this story? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2002, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-brainwashing/120310/2 "2002-07-23T01:11:59Z")
[Girl Injured Attempting To Fly Like ‘Harry Potter’](http://www.local6.com/orlpn/news/stories/news-156947620020721-150719.html) > [@](#): > > A 4-year-old girl was critically injured after she apparently tried to fly after watching “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” movie, according to a Local 6 News report. > > Authorities in Shelby, N.C., said that the girl watched the movie and then crawled onto a kitchen counter, straddled a broom and then jumped off. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2002, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-brainwashing/120310/3 "2002-07-23T01:22:11Z")
Sure enough, children are uncoordinated, accident-prone and impressionable. This is news? [editorial]Which movie do we blame if a child gets hold of the parent’s car keys and goes on a joyride? How about if he sets his hair on fire doing that neat trick he saw at the circuis? How about- oh nevermind.[/editorial] ---
**Author:** ![belladonna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9fc29f/32.png) [@belladonna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/belladonna)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2002, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-brainwashing/120310/4 "2002-07-23T02:21:40Z")
I saw this and was rather amazed that a jump from a countertop could leave a child in _critical_ condition. Anyone know exactly what she injured? Reading the OP gives a little thumbnail sketch on the birth of an UL though, doesn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2002, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-brainwashing/120310/5 "2002-07-23T02:53:11Z")
A fall of a few feet can cause serious brain damage, especially to a child’s somewhat softer skull. It really doesn’t take much. Bikers occasionally do serious damage to themselves by hitting their heads falling over at stop signs. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2002, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-brainwashing/120310/6 "2002-07-23T06:34:33Z")
Way back in the seventies, my six year old neighbor broke his arm when he thought the combination of superman undershirt and his mom’s apron as cape would give him the ability to fly from the hood of my grandpa’s truck. Good thing it was the seventies, or grandpa woulda been sued. Just thought I’d share. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2002, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-brainwashing/120310/7 "2002-07-23T21:45:41Z")
I’ll just note that, in reference to the OP, there is no connection between capes and flying in the Harry Potter books. There are plenty of flying broomsticks, mention of flying carpets, and riders on the back of flying hippogryphs (but if your kid has access to a hippogryph, him or her trying to ride it would be the least of my worries), but there are no references to people with capes flying. ---
**Author:** ![jiHymas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/439d5e/32.png) [@jiHymas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jiHymas)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2002, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-brainwashing/120310/8 "2002-07-24T04:26:39Z")
Way back when, it was “Peter Pan” who was blamed for this kind of thing. I was a victim of this kind of thing myself - deliberately getting in front of a toboggan so I could be knocked up and over into a headstand at the rear of it, just like Yogi Bear. What can you say? Kids are kids and sometimes do stupid things, most of which don’t hurt them seriously. ---
**Author:** ![mandielise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/58956e/32.png) [@mandielise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mandielise)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2002, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-brainwashing/120310/9 "2002-07-24T17:41:55Z")
Now, if you really thought you could fly, why would you have to jump from a high place anyway? I haven’t read the series, but I watched the Harry Potter movie, and everyone who flew started from the ground. I understand this is a child we’re talking about, but people blame drugs for the same thing. “Guy on acid tries to fly from 5th story window.” My advice: try taking off from the ground first! ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2002, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-brainwashing/120310/10 "2002-07-24T19:01:35Z")
When I was a kid, I hauled my tricycle up an eight foot high bale stack and was going to ramp off like Evil Kineval, who was my hero back then. Fortunately, for me, my mom looked out the window and immediately figured out what I planned to do. I was four years old and gunning for glory 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2002, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-brainwashing/120310/11 "2002-07-24T21:51:48Z")
An injured child is not funny but kids have been doing stuff like that for years but no one blamed a movie for “johnny rooftop paratrooper” accidents. The news channel page actually captions the video clip as a “Harry Potter injury.” Truth is more surreal than fiction. It sounds like an article from [The Onion](http://theonion.com/onion3628/fun_toy_banned.html) ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2002, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-brainwashing/120310/12 "2002-07-24T21:56:49Z")
An injured child is not funny but kids have been doing stuff like that for years but no one blamed a movie for “johnny rooftop paratrooper” accidents. The news channel page actually captions the video clip as a “Harry Potter injury.” Truth is more surreal than fiction. It sounds like an article from [The Onion](http://theonion.com/onion3628/fun_toy_banned.html) ---
**Author:** ![ForgottenLore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5e9695/32.png) [@ForgottenLore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ForgottenLore)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2002, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-brainwashing/120310/13 "2002-07-25T13:07:42Z")
I was seven years old when the original Star Wars came out. It made a big impression on me. Particularly the scene where Luke Skywalker defends himself against the remote with his eyes closed, using the Force. I started to wonder if I could do that. Well, only one way to find out, right? So, did I do something harmless like toss a ball up in the air with my eyes shut and see if I could catch it? Of course not! I got on my bike and pedaled around the neighborhood with my eyes shut, and got an aluminum mailbox in the face for my trouble. I guess the Force just wasn’t with me. My point is, kids will ALWAYS do stupid stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2002, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-brainwashing/120310/14 "2002-07-25T18:34:30Z")
> [@](#): > > I guess the Force just wasn’t with me. On the contrary, I imagine that you experienced a _very_ significant force from the mailbox ;). And **mandielise** , what you say makes sense, but I can annecdotally say that whenever I or any of my friends tried to fly, we used at least four steps on a staircase. Yeah, it might be logical to start from the ground, but you really can’t count on kids to be logical. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-brainwashing/120310/15 "2002-07-26T08:25:09Z")
Anybody concerned about whether Harry Potter is an appropriate film for a kid this age? Gee, can’t wait for preschoolers to watch dementors sucking people’s souls out in the 3rd film! ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2002, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/harry-potter-brainwashing/120310/16 "2002-07-26T08:27:32Z")
At age 6, I hauled myself up into a tree with a rope, and forgot that I had to hold on once I was in the air. No help from literature or film generated this adventure, I’m afraid.