I know, Leap of Faith is pretty old, but I thought it would be pretty interesting to talk about.
After watching Leap of Faith, I wondered why Granny Smith could swim and dive and do all that jazz despite the elixir being nothing but a hoax. I then remembered this phenomenon in science called the placebo effect.
What is the placebo effect? According to Wikipedia, it is when a patient perceives that he/she has gotten better since taking a certain drug. The thing is, the drug does nothing. This is what I saw during the episode: Granny Smith has confidence to swim again, but the elixir's nothing but apple juice.
So, what do you guys think about it? If you want to read more about the placebo effect, here are some links:
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Placebo
WebMD: http://www.webmd.com/pain-management/what-is-the-placebo-effect