It's for a Book: Difference between revisions

== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==

* In ''[[Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle]]'', Syaoran uses this excuse in one of the worlds to gather information of legends. He got the idea from his father, an archeologist, who used it all the time.

** (The answer is, "cover it up and have an alibi." You know, the ''answer that would presumably come to mind immediately.'')

** Later, Rika uses a better example of this trope; asking "What would a villain's motivations be and how should the heroine fight back?", claiming that she needs help with the manga she's writing.

*** [[Literary Agent Hypothesis|That explains so much...]]

 

 

 

== [[Film]] ==

* Part of the plot of ''[[Basic Instinct]]'' is that author/suspect Catherine Tramell wrote a book with a murder that matched a real one with chilling accuracy; a second murder then occurs that matches one from a second Tramell book.

* Subverted in Kevin Smith's ''[[Mallrats]]'', where there is a high-school aged character who has sex with older men (and films it) for a book she is writing. The book is actually published, and becomes a best seller.

* On ''[[Friends]]'', Chandler leaves Ross's baby on the bus, and has to call the Transportation Department to get it back. Rather than admit he left the baby behind, however, he tells the operator it's for his book. "Yes, what's that? Yes, it would have to be a very stupid character to leave their baby on the bus."

* On ''[[Journeyman]]'', Dan calls a physics professor to ask about [[Time Travel]], saying it's for a book he's writing. The professor obviously knew more about Dan's predicament than he was letting on but the series was canceled before it was revealed.

* One episode of ''[[Boston Legal]]'' had a woman ask for details in how to commit a crime, then added the phrase "for a book" after Alan Shore said he'd have to call the cops.

* ''[[Veronica Mars]]'' used to use "it's an assignment for health class" (or some variant thereof) to cover all kinds of activities, including collecting a DNA sample from her dad. Somewhat justified in that she's a good actress and usually plans out her requests beforehand instead of making them up on the spot.

** The series actually ''inverts'' it in the third season. The final assignment from Veronica's former FBI agent criminology professor? A paper on how you'd commit the perfect murder. When the Dean ends up dead in a manner that copies elements from Veronica's paper, she is seriously wigged.

* One episode of the show ''[[Cheaters]]'' featured a man who used this excuse after being caught with a hooker.

** It's [[Inverted]] in a later episode, after Merlin gives Arthur some startlingly good advice, and on being asked how he's so knowledgeable, tells him "I read a book."

* In the ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' episode "Earshot", the Scooby Gang pretend to interview teachers and students for the yearbook at Sunnydale High to find out the identity of a potential gunman. "Hi, Mr. Beach. I was just wondering if you were planning on killing a bunch of people tomorrow? Oh, it's for the yearbook."

** Toward the end of Season 3, Castle's mother points out he has more than enough material for several books; [[UST|he's clearly not doing it for professional reasons anymore]].

** To be honest, he was never really in the first place...

* Done well in ''[[Home and Away]]'': Belle is kidnapped by Dom, an unstable stalker who thinks she's in love with him. After her boyfriend Drew rescues her, he ends up running Dom over while trying to escape. Weeks later, Dom is in hospital from an infection he received because he didn't get treatment for his injury. Drew panics at the possibility that Dom could press charges, and has his friend Lucas, a writer, consult Morag, a former judge, for legal advice. Lucas gives her the scenario, under the guise of writing a book -- "''[[Wolf Creek]]'' meets ''[[Puberty Blues]]''", -- and relays the information to Drew. There is no indication that Morag knows the truth.

* Referenced in ''[[Peep Show]]'', when Jeremy is attending an interview for a cleaning job and tries to secure the position by claiming to find cleaning out plug-holes "interesting" (he desperately wants the job so he can stalk his ex-girlfriend). The interviewer seems baffled as to why ''anyone'' would seem so enthusiastic about cleaning, and asks if Jeremy is researching for a novel or something. Not wanting to seem over-qualified, Jeremy replies: "What's a novel?"

* Used by the villains in the episode "Dirty Bomb" of ''[[Numb3rs]]''. They contacted a professor at Cal Sci for information about a particular radioactive isotope, claiming it was for a movie.

* ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' has this gem from fictional presidential candidate Tim Calhoun: "I have touched many pages in my life... because I am a voracious reader... of child pornography... studies. Illustrated studies."

 

{{quote| If Saddam Hussein had said he was doing a project on Kuwait, the Gulf War would never have happened.}}

* This trope even shows up in ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]''. When Frodo and his companions arrive at the inn in Bree, they realize they're going to need a plausible explanation for their wandering out of the Shire -- so Frodo claims to be a historian who's thinking of writing a book about the relationship between the Shire and Bree. Two volumes later, as they're returning home through Bree, Frodo is asked if he's written his book yet. He says he's still getting his notes in order. He wasn't completely lying - like [[The Hobbit|Bilbo before him]], Frodo [[Literary Agent Hypothesis|recorded the story of the characters]] in the Red Book, which was then passed down through generations of hobbits.

** This kind of thing happened in real life, when writing the books, too (mostly by ghostwriters). Laura Battyanyi-Weiss had to look up limited information on Giant Squids when writing #27 ''The Exposed''.

** Lisa Harkrader, for book #44 ''The Unexpected'', had to research planes, amputation, non-returning (hunting) boomerangs, and Aboriginal life. For the airplane research, she talked to a retired TWA mechanic "to find out how Cassie could get from the cargo hold to the passenger area of a jet." In #51 ''The Absolute'', Lisa also had trouble researching tanks (how to steal and board them), arousing suspicion (and getting nowhere) when she called the army. Eventually a retired Army tank commander named Art Alphin provided Lisa with the info she needed and read over details in the book for accuracy.

** In book 29, ''The Sickness'', Cassie knows that someone must perform brain surgery on Ax to remove his ''Tria'' gland. She runs inside her house and tells her mom she's doing a school report on animal brain surgery. "Any books you think might help?"

* Jo actually does research poisons for her horror stories in ''[[Little Women]]''.

** In ''[[Third Girl]]'', author surrogate Ariadne Oliver claims to be researching how easy it is to follow someone, when following a suspect on behalf of Poirot. She tells the suspect she's concluded it's quite difficult.

* Then there's ''[[Harry Potter (Franchise)/Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince|Harry Potter]]'', in which Tom Riddle (young Lord Voldemort) {{spoiler|learns about Horcruxes from a teacher this way}}.

 

== [[Tabletop Games]] ==

 

 

== [[Video Games]] ==

* In ''[[Scratches]]'', the protagonist tries to get information about the mystery he is investigating by calling the retired police officer responsible for the case and pretending to be a reporter writing about famous murder cases.

 

== [[Web Original]] ==

* ''[[Marble Hornets]]'' season 2: When a passerby at the hotel Jay woke up in asks why he has a camera strapped to his body, he explains that he's shooting a documentary...about hotels. {{spoiler|Turns out later she didn't really believe him.}}

 

 

== [[Western Animation]] ==

* In one episode of ''[[Western Animaton/Family Guy|Family Guy]]'', Stewie (using mind control) tries to use Chris to buy a "hand-operated buzzsaw capable of cutting through a human sternum". The store clerk gives him a funny look and Stewie makes Chris say, "It's for a...school project! I need it for...blast, what the devil do these kids study...Latin class!"

 

 

* According to legend, in the early 1950s Japanese police arrested two men who were in a restaurant discussing how to destroy Tokyo. They were the director and producer of what would become the original ''[[Godzilla]]'' movie. The commentary track on the ''Gojira'' DVD says that the police showed up when some of the production team were up on top of a building in downtown Tokyo, discussing which of the other buildings in sight they wanted to "destroy". No one actually got arrested.

* Crime author Ian Rankin once returned from an isolated cottage in the Scottish hills and requested to speak to a Police Officer about several 'plot points' for his story. Questions such as: police procedure in child abduction/murder cases, sentence lengths, etc. Unbeknownst to him a young girl had been kidnapped and murdered earlier that week -- and here was a quite scruffy man 'researching' about a very similar topic. Unsurprisingly, he was questioned.

* There was a Nick game show at one point that required kids to go to various public places and (with the aid of a hidden camera) get people to do various ridiculous actions (eat bugs, wear silly hats, etc.) The usual explanation was something like "We're doing a school project".

* When Winona Ryder was busted for shoplifting, she claimed she was just doing research for a role. No one bought it for a second.

* After being caught accessing child pornography, British comic Chris Langham claimed it was in preparation for a role. He was convicted and sentenced to ten months imprisonment (later reduced to six) at trial, and the appeal judge remarked that his explanation was "highly improbable".

* Similarly, Pete Townshend of The Who claimed that he was doing research for a book after being caught accessing a site which provided links to child pornography (although he apparently didn't download any ''actual'' pornography). The main problem was that it was a pay site, and he'd used his credit card to access it. The officials basically said "It's not a question of whether he was doing this for a book or not, so much that he gave these people money."

* In his book ''Shark Life'', [[Peter Benchley]] notes he once asked his father which end of a shark would float were it cut in half.

{{quote| "What're you up to?"<br />

"That's some shark." }}

* On the commentary track for ''[[Saw]]'', Leigh Whannell mentions how, early in the scriptwriting, he asked a doctor which drug was best to use if you wanted a person to be unable to move, but still be conscious and able to feel pain. --> "He was suspicious".