History Main / ChewOutFakeOut

-->'''Emperor''': I've heard a great deal about you, Fa Mulan. You stole your father's armor, ran away from home, impersonated a soldier, deceived your commanding officer, dishonored the Chinese Army, destroyed my palace, and... you have saved us all.

* A book (whose name I cannot recall at the moment) had a student answering a question about the Declaration of Independence to her teacher, and described it as poetry. The teacher questions this opinion sharply, asking if the student was very sure about this. The student gives a very meek "yes," and the teacher praises her for being the only one in the class to notice this, as well as for being brave enough to stick to her convictions.

** To be fair, the school just gave him a 2-day suspension, which is just giving him a big break from how the campus might react to the whole mix-up. The other kid was given a longer and more fitting suspension.

* At the end of ''Discworld/FeetOfClay'', the Patrician notes that Commander Vimes has managed to infuriate all the important figures in the city, and therefore he clearly has no choice but to increase the man's wages.

Junior is in trouble. He tried to pull off the greatest prank he could think of, but it went horribly wrong...mostly because he got caught. Now the principal has suspended him and he has to face his parents.

His dad takes him aside and is giving him a stern look. Junior knows this is it, his chickens have come home to roost, he's going to be grounded until the cows come home, and he won't see daylight again until the hogs catch their 9 am flight to Miami. After an unbearable silence, dad has only one thing to say: He thinks what Junior did was ''hilarious'', and he's pretty proud that he managed to pull it off.

In short, this trope is where a character expects to be dressed down by an authority figure, only to find out the authority figure is pretty impressed. What Junior did was still wrong, of course, but Dad doesn't care so much about ''that'' little detail.

If the authority in this case is an official one (commanding officer, for example), they'll likely give a reprimand that both parties recognize as a token nod to the rules. If it's a parent, it's almost always the father.

----
!!Examples:

[[AC:Comics]]

[[AC:Film]]
* In ''SkyHigh'', Will Stronghold trashed the school cafeteria, got into a fight, and used his powers when he wasn't supposed to. His dad punishes him by telling him no X-Box for a week. Will protests that he doesn't have one...at which point his dad reveals he's so proud of him for having powers that he bought him one.
* Young con artist Frank Abagnale gets his start in ''CatchMeIfYouCan'' by [[BavarianFireDrill taking over his French class]], including teaching, assigning homework, and [[RefugeInAudacity having parent-teacher conferences and taking a field trip]]. While his mother is suitably disappointed with the naughty boy, Frank Senior can only grin and laugh that his boy had the balls to pull it off.
* In ''KindergartenCop'', Arnold beats the snot out of a man who's been beating his kid. The Principal takes Arnie into her office, and he expects her to throw him out of the school. But regarding the beating, the only thing she has to say is to ask how ''good'' it felt to smack him around.

* In a scene cut from ''LoveActually'' (but included in the DVD extras), Karen (Emma Thompson) is called to her son's school because his teacher is upset by a theme paper he wrote, in which he described how the world would be different if people's farts were visible. Karen listens attentively to the teacher and principal, and then quietly takes her son into the hallway to talk to him;
-->'''Bernie''': Sorry, Mum.

* In ABridgeTooFar a tough old sergeant (Played by James Caan in the movie) has just held a surgeon at gunpoint to force him to work on the sergeant's commanding officer. As soon as the surgeon is done, the Sergeant gives him his pistol. The surgeon chews him out slightly, and places him under arrest, for 60 seconds.
** To elaborate further; the surgeon in question had declared the man dead on arrival and refused to waste time on a corpse. In order to convince him otherwise the sergeant pulled a gun and ordered the surgeon to treat him anyway. After a quick examination the man was found to be both alive and have good chances of survival. Until that point, neither the audience nor the sergeant had been given any indication that the officer had been alive at all.
* In the third {{Mission Impossible}} film, [[spoiler: Ethan]] has been brought into HQ because his superiors think he's gone rogue ([[spoiler: He's really trying to save his wife, who has been kidnapped by the villain]]). As he's lying immobilized, his immediate superior begins chastising him (for the benefit of those listening in), while simultaneously mouthing an escape plan, knowing that [[spoiler: Ethan]] can read lips.

[[AC:Literature]]
* From ''HarryPotter:''
-->'''Dumbledore:''' You both realize, of course, that in the past few hours you have broken perhaps a dozen school rules.
-->'''Harry, Ron:''' Yes, sir.
-->'''Dumbledore:''' And that there is sufficient evidence to have you both expelled.
-->'''Harry, Ron:''' Yes, sir.
-->'''Dumbledore:''' Therefore, it is only fitting that you both receive [pause] special awards for services to the school.

* In the LordPeterWimsey short story "Talboys", Peter's eldest son catches a snake and Peter is expected to tell him off, but as soon as the two are alone, he not only tells his son that he thinks it's actually pretty cool, but conspires with him to use it to prank an unpleasant guest.
* In NicholasNickleby, John Browdie appears that he's going to beat the crap out of Nicholas for attacking Wackford Squeers and rescuing Smike. Instead, he congratulates him for a job well done.

[[AC:Live Action Television]]
* When Hal goes to visit Francis's military school in ''MalcolmInTheMiddle'', he's at first appalled that all Francis is doing is goofing off, playing pranks, and getting into all manner of trouble. But when he learns that Francis is doing it to Stick It To Commandant Spengler, who is unnecessarily cruel, Hal is all sorts of proud of his son.
* In the children's sitcom ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Out_of_Tune Out Of Tune]]'', the Vicar discovered his niece Midge had been modifying the buttons on [[CrustyCaretaker Tony]]'s suit to make him think he was getting fatter or thinner throughout the episode.
-->'''Midge:''' Are you angry...?

[[AC:Real Life]]
* A RealLife example might be the internet's response to a [[MemeticMutation video of a kid]] [[WrestlerInAllOfUs powerslamming]] a kid who was bullying him (and subsequant memetic mutation, including a version with ''StreetFighter'' music and a version with ''TeamFortress2'' sound effects). Averted by his school, since he was suspended, however.
** ''PennyArcade'' [[http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2011/3/18/ invokes this trope to the letter]].

[[AC:Videogames]]

[[AC:Webcomics]]
* In ''DoubleK'', Kamina tells Kittan the story of a drug bust he handled, and he honestly expects the goody-two-shoes Kittan to berate him over it. Kittan instead proclaims, tears in his eyes, that it's the greatest story he's ever heard, and reveals that he's just as crazy as Kamina, and that his by-the-book image was just a fake-out so he could transfer to another department.

[[AC:Western Animation]]
* In the ''{{Danny Phantom}}'' episode "13", Danny intentionally lets himself get caught spying on Jazz and Johnny. When his parents find out, they initally seem angry... But then quiety congratulate and thank him for doing so, before yelling in earshot of Jazz not to do it again, and then quietly tell him to do it again.
* Occurs in GeneratorRex, when the protagonist's pseudo-father-figure acknowledges that Providence may have denied him just a ''bit'' too much normality in his life.

* [[AssassinsCreed2 Assassin's Creed 2]] has this gem around twenty minutes into the game, shortly after [[TheHero Ezio Auditore]] has a gang battle and a night of passion with his girlfriend. Ezio returns to his home, seeing his father at the door, expecting the worst when...
--> '''Giovanni Auditore''': This behaviour is unacceptable... it... it... *laughs* it reminds me of myself when I was your age!
* When Hal goes to visit Francis's military school in ''MalcolmInTheMiddle'', he's at first appalled that all Francis is doing is goofing off, playing pranks, and getting into all manner of trouble. But when he learns that Francis is doing it to Stick It To Commandant Spengler, who is unnecessarily cruel, Hal is all sorts of proud of his son.
* [[Comicbook/{{Batman}} Tim Drake/Robin]], after losing nearly all of his biological family, sets up an actor to pretend to be his fake uncle so that he doesn't have to go into the foster care system. Batman, being Batman, naturally finds out, and Robin assumes he's about to be reamed out for going behind Bruce's back...but all Bruce can say is that he's so proud of Tim for taking the initiative, and [[DoWrongRight gives him some tips on how to make the deception foolproof]].

* In ''TheIncredibles'', Dash gets in trouble for placing a tack on the teacher's chair. His father is more impressed by the fact that Dash managed to avoid being caught on a hidden camera then upset about the prank.

* In ''DoubleK'', Kamina tells Kittan the story of a drug bust he handled, and he honestly expects the goody-two-shoes Kittan to berate him over it. Kittan instead proclaims, tears in his eyes, that it's the greatest story he's ever heard, and reveals that he's just as crazy as Kamina, and that his by-the-book image was just a fake-out so he could transfer to another department.

-->'''Vicar:''' Angry? I'm furious...furious I didn't think of it first!
* In a scene cut from ''LoveActually'' (but included in the DVD extras), Karen (Emma Thompson) is called to her son's school because his teacher is upset by a theme paper he wrote, in which he described how the world would be different if people's farts were visible. Karen listens attentively to the teacher and principal, and then quietly takes her son into the hallway to talk to him;
-->'''Bernie''': Sorry, Mum.
-->'''Karen''': I'm sorry too, Bernie. Sorry and ashamed and embarrassed... that I have put you in a school with such total and utter pricks that they don't get a good gag when they see one! I mean, this is high-class comedy. This is first-rate stuff! Look, you're my son and obviously I have to love you. But right now, I really love you! (Mother and son dissolve into laughter)

* In the LordPeterWimsey short story "Talboys", Peter's eldest son catches a snake and Peter is expected to tell him off, but as soon as the two are alone, he not only tells his son that he thinks it's actually pretty cool, but conspires with him to use it to prank an unpleasant guest.
* In ABridgeTooFar a tough old sergeant (Played by James Caan in the movie) has just held a surgeon at gunpoint to force him to work on the sergeant's commanding officer. As soon as the surgeon is done, the Sergeant gives him his pistol. The surgeon chews him out slightly, and places him under arrest, for 60 seconds.
** To elaborate further; the surgeon in question had declared the man dead on arrival and refused to waste time on a corpse. In order to convince him otherwise the sergeant pulled a gun and ordered the surgeon to treat him anyway. After a quick examination the man was found to be both alive and have good chances of survival. Until that point, neither the audience nor the sergeant had been given any indication that the officer had been alive at all.
* In NicholasNickleby, John Browdie appears that he's going to beat the crap out of Nicholas for attacking Wackford Squeers and rescuing Smike. Instead, he congratulates him for a job well done.

* In the third {{Mission Impossible}} film, [[spoiler: Ethan]] has been brought into HQ because his superiors think he's gone rogue ([[spoiler: He's really trying to save his wife, who has been kidnapped by the villain]]). As he's lying immobilized, his immediate superior begins chastising him (for the benefit of those listening in), while simultaneously mouthing an escape plan, knowing that [[spoiler: Ethan]] can read lips.
* In ''Film/{{Thor}}'', Sif and the Warriors Three are discussing what to do about [[spoiler:Loki taking the throne]], and they worry that Heimdall might be watching them. He is, and calls them to his post, gravely asking them if they ''really'' plan to defy their king's explicit orders, which Sif admits to. Heimdall immediately exclaims, "Good!" and lets them do just that.

-->'''Agent Six''': Sneaking off to spring break was foolish and irresponsible and... completely normal for someone your age.

--> '''Giovanni Auditore''' "This behaviour is unacceptable... it... it... *laughs* it reminds me of you when I was your age!"

* In ''Film/{{Thor}}'', Sif and the Warriors Three are discussing what to do about [[spoiler:Loki taking the throne]], and they worry that Heimdall might be watching them. He is, and calls them to his post, gravely asking them if they ''really'' plan to defy their king's explicit orders, which Sif admits to. Heimdall immediately exclaims, "Good!" and lets them do just that.

* In the third {{Mission Impossible}} film, [[spoiler: Ethan]] has been brought into HQ because his superiors think he's gone rogue ([[spoiler: He's really trying to save his wife, who has been kidnapped by the villain]]). As he's lying immobilized, his immediate superior begins chastising him (for the benefit of those listening in), while simultaneously mouthing an escape plan, knowing that [[spoiler: Ethan]] can read lips.

* In the ''{{Danny Phantom}}'' episode "13", Danny intentionally lets himself get caught spying on Jazz and Johnny. When his parents find out, they initally seem angry... But then quiety congratulate and thank him for doing so, before yelling in earshot of Jazz not to do it again, and then quietly tell him to do it again.

* In NicholasNickleby, John Browdie appears that he's going to beat the crap out of Nicholas for attacking Wackford Squeers and rescuing Smike. Instead, he congratulates him for a job well done.

* In ABridgeTooFar a tough old sergeant (Played by James Caan in the movie) has just held a surgeon at gunpoint to force him to work on the sergeant's commanding officer. As soon as the surgeon is done, the Sergeant gives him his pistol. The surgeon chews him out slightly, and places him under arrest, for 60 seconds.

* In the LordPeterWimsey short story "Talboys", Peter's eldest son catches a snake and Peter is expected to tell him off, but as soon as the two are alone, he not only tells his son that he thinks it's actually pretty cool, but conspires with him to use it to prank an unpleasant guest.

Compare ArsonMurderAndLifesaving and NotSoAboveItAll. May include DoWrongRight if afterward the parent/authority gives the protagonist tips on how to not get caught next time.

* In the LordPeterWimsey short story ''Talboys'', Peter's eldest son catches a snake and Peter is expected to tell him off, but as soon as the two are alone, he not only tells his son that he thinks it's actually pretty cool, but conspires with him to use it to prank an unpleasant guest.

** ''NerfNow'' speculated on [[http://www.nerfnow.com/comic/484 the boy's parents' response]].

Compare ArsonMurderAndLifesaving and NotSoAboveItAll.

* [[Comicbook/{{Batman}} Tim Drake/Robin]], after losing nearly all of his biological family, sets up an actor to pretend to be his fake uncle so that he doesn't have to go into the foster care system. Batman, being Batman, naturally finds out, and Robin assumes he's about to be reamed out for going behind Bruce's back...but all Bruce can say is that he's so proud of Tim for taking the initiative, and gives him some tips on how to make the deception foolproof.

->'''Midge:''' Are you angry...?
->'''Vicar:''' Angry? I'm furious...furious I didn't think of it first!

* When Hal goes to visit Francis's military school in ''MalcolmInTheMiddle'', he's at first appalled that all Francis is doing is goofing off, playing pranks, and getting into all manner of trouble. But when he learns that Francis is doing it to [[StickingItToTheMan Stick It To Commandant]] Spengler, who is unnecessarily cruel, Hal is all sorts of proud of his son.

* When Hal goes to visit Francis's military school in ''MalcolmInTheMiddle'', he's at first appalled that all Francis is doing is goofing off, playing pranks, and getting into all manner of trouble. But when he learns that Francis is doing it to StickItToTheMan, Commander Spengler, who is unnecessarily cruel, Hal is all sorts of proud of his son.