Playing With / Handbag of Hurt

• Basic Trope: A character uses their purse as an improvised weapon.
• Straight: Alice is attacked by Bob in the parking garage on the way to her car. She bludgeons him with her purse.
• Exaggerated: In addition to the wallet, keys, phone, lipstick, loose change, old receipts, and tampons one would expect to find in a purse, Alice has placed stones inside of it, just in case she needs to use it as a weapon. Bob comes away from the altercation with a shattered skull.
• Downplayed: Alice smacks Bob with her wallet or evening bag.
• Justified: Purses make good improvised weapons; they're kind of heavy and can be swung around easily.
• Inverted: Bob takes Alice's purse and hits her with it.
• Subverted: Alice doesn't swing her purse at Bob.
• Double Subverted: She uses the carrying strap on her purse to put Bob in a stranglehold.
• Parodied: A roving gang of old ladies gains notoriety for hitting people with their purses.
• Zig-Zagged: Alice initially tries to use her purse as a weapon but fails, but then later successfully uses it on the Charlie.
• Averted: Bob doesn't attack Alice.
• Implied: Alice might have used her purse as a weapon in a off-screen situation, as shown by beaten Bob and the bloodied purse.
• Enforced: The Director wanted a humorous scene involving a purse as a weapon.
• Lampshaded:
  Alice: "Isn't it convenient how my purse just happened to contain the perfect brick for this situation?"
• Invoked: Alice is attacked in the middle of the night, and she doesn't carry a gun or a knife on her. She's not skilled in karate or other martial arts, and doesn't have any pepper spray. This is the only way she has to defend herself.
• Exploited: Alice commits a Bank Robbery. She holds up her purse in front of the teller, but not to have the teller put the money inside. It's to threaten the teller with being hurt by it.
• Defied:
  • Alice simply runs away and calls the police.
  • Alice knows that it's dangerous getting off work at night, going into a dark parking garage by herself. So she has the security guard at her office building escort her to her car.
• Discussed: "I've seen it in movies before, but is hitting someone with a purse really effective?"
• Conversed: "...Maybe I should upgrade my purse for self-defense...""