Basic Trope: A character is caught indulging in something raunchy and claims it's for an innocent aspect.
- Straight: Alice sees Bob reading an adult magazine. Bob insists he only reads it for the written articles.
- Exaggerated: Bob is Caught With His Pants Down and still says he's only reading it for the articles.
- Downplayed: Bob's reading a book known to have a pretty steamy sex scene in it. Alice accuses him of just reading it for that scene, but he denies it.
- Justified: Bob is afraid that Alice knowing about the magazine will affect their relationship.
- Inverted: Alice sees Bob looking at a completely innocent work. He claims he only has it for the Fanservice.
- Subverted: Bob is telling the truth and one of the articles really is the reason he has it.
- Double Subverted: The article itself is explicit.
- Parodied: Bob is caught being a Peeping Tom. He says he's just doing it for the articles.
- Zig Zagged: Bob claims it's for the articles and shows the page he's on to prove himself, but the other page happens to have an explicit full-page image. He covers it up and says that's not what he's looking at. It turns out the article in question is highly erotic. He then tries to say it wasn't that part he was interested in. She thinks his argument is getting weaker and weaker, but he proves that he's telling the truth by pointing out a piece of vital, plot-relevant information in a specific quote. Then when Alice looks away, he starts eagerly flipping through the rest of the magazine. Then he stops on a specific page and begins to read aloud an article about botany. Which turns him on.
- Averted: Bob doesn't try to defend himself.
- Enforced: Executives feel audiences will buy a male character sneakily looking at explicit photos, but a woman who's fine with such content and gives him no reason to hide it is just too implausible.
- Lampshaded: "That clichéd excuse is Not Helping Your Case, Bob."
- Invoked: Bob gets that particular magazine precisely because it has legitimate articles he can use as an excuse.
- Defied: "Look, I've got to be honest here..."
- Exploited: Alice calls his bluff by telling him to read the page he's on right now.
- Implied: The scene starts in mid-conversation. We don't hear what Bob said just before, but Alice replies, "Yes, I'm sure all the pictures of naked women have absolutely nothing to do with your choice of reading material."
- Discussed: "Men will never admit they're perverts, Carol. You catch him with one of those dirty magazines, they'll say they're just reading the articles..."
- "Oh, it's a new month. Time to renew my subscription to Hot Chicks magazine...for the articles, of course."
- Conversed: "Let me guess, you're reading it for the articles?"
Back to I Read It for the Articles
