Tropescilloscope: Ripped from the Headlines

A recent or ongoing news story is the basis for the plot. (read more at tvtropes.org)

More Tropes Spiteful Spit Lighter and Softer Scare Chord Woman in White folderlabel Bilingual Bonus Translation Convention Rule of Cool Book-Ends Malevolent Masked Men Race Against the Clock Science Fiction Films Blonde, Brunette, Redhead Big "NO!" Death of a Child The '60s Your Cheating Heart Meaningful Background Event Better to Die than Be Killed Retcon Race Lift Dumb Blonde Cool Guns Sole Survivor Shown Their Work Drowning My Sorrows The Dreaded Dirty Coward Big Eater Very Loosely Based on a True Story Actor Allusion Missing Mom Adapted Out The Ghost The Load Deliberately Monochrome Slashed Throat Monumental Damage Room Full of Crazy Reality Has No Subtitles Plot Hole Never Trust a Trailer aka: Trailers Always Lie Line-of-Sight Name Broken Bird Arranged Marriage Sinister Minister Cluster F-Bomb Bury Your Gays Victoria's Secret Compartment No Ending Reality Ensues May–December Romance Adaptational Badass Flipping the Bird Humiliation Conga As the Good Book Says... Evil Counterpart Jerk with a Heart of Gold Domestic Abuse Slasher Smile He Who Fights Monsters Credits Gag Good Is Not Nice Costume Porn The '90s Slap-Slap-Kiss Ripped from the Headlines The Power of Love Bowdlerise Greater-Scope Villain Rich Bitch Stepford Smiler Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass Stock Footage Moment Killer Make It Look Like an Accident Too Dumb to Live Dwindling Party The Remake Red Oni, Blue Oni Dropped a Bridge on Him Mr. Fanservice Stalker with a Crush Bi the Way Pretty Little Headshots Manic Pixie Dream Girl Dull Surprise O.O.C. Is Serious Business Dark Is Not Evil Did Not Get the Girl Knight Templar Sir Not-Appearing-in-This-Trailer British Films In the Back Shower Scene Mundane Made Awesome Playing Gertrude Black and Gray Morality Scary Black Man Foregone Conclusion Cruel and Unusual Death Tranquil Fury Rewatch Bonus Impaled with Extreme Prejudice Hong Kong Films Death by Irony Gender Flip Pragmatic Villainy Fire-Forged Friends Half the Man He Used to Be Break the Haughty Why Don't You Just Shoot Him? Mercy Kill BFG And I Must Scream A God Am I Camp Gay Wham Shot Parental Abandonment Our Vampires Are Different Happily Married Anachronic Order Epic Fail Psychological Thriller Gold Digger Grievous Bottley Harm Token Minority Taking You with Me Christmas Movies Index Authority Equals Asskicking Vacation Films No Antagonist Fainting Taking the Bullet Shipper on Deck Empathic Environment Captain Obvious Australian Movies Genre Shift Neck Lift Honor Before Reason Parental Incest What You Are in the Dark And the Adventure Continues Alpha Bitch Bond Villain Stupidity Our Zombies Are Different Outrun the Fireball Suddenly SHOUTING! Aside Glance Adaptation Name Change Adults Are Useless Never Found the Body The '50s Bald of Evil Big Bad Setting Update Bottomless Magazines Fatal Flaw Villain Song Eureka Moment Unusually Uninteresting Sight Only One Name Black Comedy Rape Intergenerational Friendship Badass Boast Thriller Everyone Has Standards Papa Wolf Soft Glass Famous Last Words Drugs Are Bad Intrepid Reporter Evil Cannot Comprehend Good Action Genre Frame-Up Ascended Extra Maybe Ever After Artistic License – Gun Safety Not Quite Dead Henpecked Husband Star-Crossed Lovers Stuff Blowing Up Parental Neglect Meaningful Name Blatant Lies Madness Mantra It Will Never Catch On Awesome, but Impractical Not What It Looks Like Skewed Priorities Title Drop Calling the Old Man Out Death Seeker The Reveal Bloody Hilarious Author Avatar Agony of the Feet Hoist by His Own Petard I Want My Beloved to Be Happy Camera Abuse Those Two Guys Humans Are Bastards Pimped-Out Dress The Faceless The Chessmaster Amoral Attorney Screw This, I'm Outta Here! Reasonable Authority Figure Small Name, Big Ego The End... Or Is It? Laughing Mad Epic Movie Index of Film Westerns Bring My Brown Pants Loophole Abuse B-Movie Reality Is Unrealistic Call-Forward Bar Brawl Rousing Speech Daylight Horror You Have Failed Me Heel–Face Turn Men Are the Expendable Gender Screw the Rules, I Have Money! Psycho for Hire Girl-on-Girl Is Hot Annoying Younger Sibling Card-Carrying Villain Kubrick Stare Have a Gay Old Time Brick Joke Military and Warfare Films Author Appeal Not Even Bothering with the Accent Male Gaze Heroic BSoD Naked People Are Funny Big Brother Instinct Abhorrent Admirer Bad "Bad Acting" Parental Substitute Historical In-Joke Black Dude Dies First Insult Backfire Death by Sex No Name Given Corpsing Only Sane Man Horror Films As You Know Betty and Veronica Auto Erotica Dogged Nice Guy Silence Is Golden Even Evil Has Standards N-Word Privileges Improbable Infant Survival aka: Infant Immortality Recap / RiffTrax aka: Riff Trax Movies Character Development Tap on the Head Evil Laugh Self-Deprecation The Bully Combat Pragmatist Brother–Sister Incest Evil-Detecting Dog Stylistic Suck Cat Scare The Lancer Plucky Comic Relief Bare Your Midriff Documentary Sacrificial Lion Kick the Son of a Bitch Shirtless Scene The Big Guy Screw the Money, I Have Rules! And Starring Evil vs. Evil Colour-Coded for Your Convenience aka: Color Coded For Your Convenience Obfuscating Stupidity Superhero Oh, Crap! Red Eyes, Take Warning Pyrrhic Victory Punny Name Hate Sink Japanese Films Dirty Cop Fatal Family Photo Anyone Can Die Artistic License – History Same Language Dub Hero Antagonist Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas Pet the Dog Big Fancy House Jerkass Has a Point Pretty in Mink One Steve Limit Whole Plot Reference Those Wacky Nazis Drives Like Crazy Sudden Sequel Death Syndrome Alliterative Name Rule of Funny Does Not Like Shoes The X of Y Gainax Ending Hair-Trigger Temper Curb-Stomp Battle Does This Remind You of Anything? What Happened to the Mouse? Evil Is Hammy Deus ex Machina "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue Soundtrack Dissonance Daddy's Girl Loads and Loads of Characters Morality Pet Paper-Thin Disguise Animal Title Index Rule of Symbolism Animated Credits Opening Sexy Discretion Shot Truth in Television Spared by the Adaptation Casting Gag Never My Fault Names to Run Away from Really Fast Not So Above It All Shout-Out Darker and Edgier Totally Radical Face–Heel Turn She's Got Legs Department of Redundancy Department Offscreen Teleportation Green-Eyed Monster Hero of Another Story True Companions Vitriolic Best Buds The Hero Crazy Jealous Guy You Have Outlived Your Usefulness Mexican Standoff Random Events Plot Toilet Humour aka: Toilet Humor Downer Ending No OSHA Compliance Here We Go Again! Leaning on the Fourth Wall Wrong Genre Savvy Disguised in Drag It's All About Me Roger Ebert: Great Movies List Man on Fire Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil Important Haircut Fantasy Films From Nobody to Nightmare Properly Paranoid Car Fu Early-Bird Cameo Disney Villain Death Award-Bait Song The Starscream Retirony Gory Discretion Shot Covers Always Lie Show Within a Show The Brute The Vamp Darkest Hour All Girls Want Bad Boys Bait-and-Switch Closed Circle The Mafia Eiffel Tower Effect Chekhov's Gun Babies Ever After Would Hit a Girl Adorkable Ambiguous Disorder Noodle Incident Dies Wide Open Mama Bear Double-Meaning Title Cold-Blooded Torture Exact Words Stealth Hi/Bye Exactly What It Says on the Tin Spanner in the Works Disproportionate Retribution Creative Closing Credits Despair Event Horizon Facial Horror Distracted by the Sexy Real Life Never Trust a Trailer Meet Cute Older Than They Look Sanity Slippage Sadistic Choice A Father to His Men Dark Action Girl Adult Fear Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking Boom, Headshot! Light Is Not Good "The Reason You Suck" Speech Big-Bad Ensemble Hope Spot Nice Guy Zombie Stories Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy Cat Fight Earn Your Happy Ending Product Placement Shell-Shocked Veteran Death Glare Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold Body Horror For the Evulz Mystery and Detective Films Horror Comedy Suspiciously Specific Denial Composite Character Bavarian Fire Drill Deadpan Snarker Time Skip Fate Worse than Death The Stinger Evil Is Petty Would Hurt a Child Kids Are Cruel The Lost Lenore Unusual Euphemism Trailers Always Spoil Red Herring Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds Gone Horribly Right Heroes Want Redheads Karma Houdini The Great Depression Freeze-Frame Bonus Love at First Sight The Hero Dies Foreshadowing Only a Flesh Wound No-Sell Motor Mouth Obviously Evil Grey and Gray Morality Beta Couple Off-into-the-Distance Ending Anachronism Stew Television Movie Index Psychopathic Manchild As Himself Wicked Cultured Refuge in Audacity Peek-a-Boo Corpse Beauty Is Never Tarnished Final Girl Age Lift I Did What I Had to Do Really Gets Around Deal with the Devil The Mole Adaptation Distillation Cool Shades A Date with Rosie Palms Artistic License – Physics Evil Sounds Deep Villain Protagonist Dirty Old Man Arch-Enemy Chewing the Scenery Fake Shemp Jerkass Deliberate Values Dissonance The Musical Say My Name Depraved Bisexual The Stoner Drill Sergeant Nasty Getting Crap Past the Radar Reckless Gun Usage Guns Akimbo Freudian Excuse Love Triangle Novelization Rasputinian Death Attempted Rape Mugging the Monster Why Did It Have to Be Snakes? Needs Wiki Magic Love Dutch Angle Fingore All for Nothing Ax-Crazy Film Noir All Just a Dream Nice Job Fixing It, Villain! Serious Business World of Ham The Ditz The Ace Italian Films Shut Up, Hannibal! Determinator aka: The Determinator Mistaken for Gay Throwing Your Sword Always Works I Need a Freaking Drink Jitter Cam Precision F-Strike NO INDOOR VOICE Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane Romantic Comedy Not So Stoic Last-Name Basis One-Man Army Undying Loyalty Nice Job Breaking It, Hero! After the End Pay Evil unto Evil Driven to Suicide Russian Films Decoy Protagonist Super Strength As Long as It Sounds Foreign Bond One-Liner Manly Tears Heterosexual Life-Partners The Chick Irony Recycled IN SPACE! Improbable Weapon User Smoking Is Cool Fantastic Racism Disney Death Ms. Fanservice Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping Comically Missing the Point Eagleland The Sociopath Together in Death Catch-Phrase Aluminum Christmas Trees Yandere Male Frontal Nudity Redshirt Army Genre Savvy Eyepatch of Power Extreme Doormat Danny Peary Cult Movies List Brainless Beauty Bound and Gagged Spiritual Successor Rape as Drama Alas, Poor Villain Let's Get Dangerous! Roaring Rampage of Revenge Breaking the Fourth Wall Double Entendre He Knows Too Much Badass Grandpa Mooks Chiaroscuro Chekhov's Skill Unspoken Plan Guarantee Central Theme '80s Hair Politically Incorrect Villain Hollywood Darkness Armor-Piercing Question Re-Cut Cool Car The Un-Reveal Expository Hairstyle Change Evil Plan Left the Background Music On Crazy-Prepared The Un-Favourite aka: The Un Favorite Dramatic Irony Arc Words Imagine Spot Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right! Hollywood Law Ass Shove Interrupted Suicide Eldritch Abomination Call-Back Heroic Sacrifice Crucified Hero Shot I'm a Humanitarian Even Evil Has Loved Ones Fanservice Extra Dying Moment of Awesome Manchild Unwitting Instigator of Doom This Is Gonna Suck Manipulative Bastard Back from the Dead An Aesop Big Applesauce Ghost Fiction All Men Are Perverts Sir Swears-a-Lot Bullying a Dragon Logo Joke Hypocritical Humor Mood Whiplash The Bad Guy Wins Guile Hero Funny Background Event Continuity Nod For Want of a Nail Fun with Acronyms Red Shirt Big Damn Heroes Real Life Writes the Plot Big Bad Duumvirate Police are Useless Adaptational Attractiveness Gratuitous English Bland-Name Product Chuck Cunningham Syndrome Pre-Asskicking One-Liner Take a Third Option Cowboy Cop Unreliable Narrator Berserk Button Take That! Foil Blackmail Destination Defenestration Action Prologue The Cavalry Air-Vent Passageway Match Cut Neck Snap Redemption Equals Death Video Credits Gorn Canadian Movies Sequel Hook Belligerent Sexual Tension The Cameo The Oner Sealed Evil in a Can Protagonist Title Not Using the "Z" Word Dark Reprise Broken Pedestal Bloodier and Gorier Break the Cutie Overprotective Dad Jack Bauer Interrogation Technique Actually Pretty Funny Immune to Bullets Jump Scare All There in the Script Mad Scientist Lock and Load Montage Only in It for the Money Adaptation Expansion Historical Villain Upgrade Dual Wielding Horror Doesn't Settle for Simple Tuesday Coming-of-Age Story I Just Shot Marvin in the Face Early Installment Weirdness Dramatic Gun Cock Asshole Victim Red Right Hand Took a Level in Badass Badass Bookworm Woman Scorned Nothing Is Scarier Bad Boss Overly Long Gag Pun aka: Incredibly Lame Pun Extremely Short Timespan Sci-Fi Horror No-Holds-Barred Beatdown Affably Evil Unresolved Sexual Tension Villainous Breakdown Adaptational Villainy Adaptational Heroism Dressing as the Enemy Faux Affably Evil Brutal Honesty Punch-Clock Villain Vampire Fiction Worthy Opponent Martial Arts Movie What the Hell, Hero? A.I. Is a Crapshoot Mythology Gag All There in the Manual Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene Demonic Possession The '70s Fiery Redhead Enemy Mine Action Girl Meaningful Echo Groin Attack Blood from the Mouth Badass Normal Batman Gambit Five-Man Band Cool Old Lady Works Set in World War II Up to Eleven Fanservice How We Got Here Antagonist Title Once More, with Clarity! Fourth Date Marriage Determinator Curse Cut Short Jerk Jock Butt-Monkey Aww, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other Cain and Abel Conspicuous CG Not So Different Black Comedy Accidental Misnaming Advertised Extra Femme Fatale 20 Minutes into the Future Accidental Murder Badass Longcoat Off with His Head! Took a Level in Jerkass La Résistance Deconstruction It's Personal Villain Ball War Is Hell No Good Deed Goes Unpunished Bolivian Army Ending Canon Foreigner Creepy Child Knife Nut Offscreen Moment of Awesome Spell My Name with an "S" Fish out of Water Four-Temperament Ensemble Those Two Bad Guys I Have Your Wife Face Death with Dignity Kill 'em All Insane Troll Logic Karmic Death Implacable Man My God, What Have I Done? Leitmotif The Alcoholic Biopic Sports Stories The Smart Guy The Alleged Car Hidden Depths Sequel Escalation Police Brutality "Well Done, Son!" Guy Improbable Aiming Skills Broken Aesop Based on a True Story In Name Only Defiant to the End Dark and Troubled Past Revenge Rated M for Manly Mr. Exposition Hypocrite Large Ham Villain with Good Publicity "Shaggy Dog" Story Developing Doomed Characters Expy Non-Indicative Name Blood Knight Anguished Declaration of Love Naïve Newcomer Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep" Made of Explodium The Quiet One Informed Ability Market-Based Title Bittersweet Ending Kill It with Fire Easily Forgiven Crapsack World Vomit Indiscretion Shot Abusive Parents Action Survivor Chase Scene Ship Tease An Axe to Grind Serial Killer German Films Married to the Job The Film of the Book Ugly Guy, Hot Wife timeperiod Your Head A-Splode Celebrity Paradox Affectionate Parody A Minor Kidroduction You Have Got to Be Kidding Me! Be Careful What You Wish For The Dragon Diabolus ex Machina Villain Opening Scene Apocalypse How Posthumous Character Artistic License – Military Didn't Think This Through Beard of Evil More Dakka Fan Disservice Beware the Nice Ones Artistic License – Law Animal Motifs The '80s The Place Evil Brit The Voiceless Major Injury Underreaction Instant Death Bullet Artistic License – Biology Poor Communication Kills Fat Bastard MacGuffin She Cleans Up Nicely Killed Mid-Sentence Laser-Guided Karma Contrived Coincidence Historical Hero Upgrade Lampshade Hanging Insistent Terminology Sassy Black Woman Riddle for the Ages Wham Line Cool Old Guy Cassandra Truth It Can Think Damsel in Distress Wounded Gazelle Gambit Get Out! Catapult Nightmare Almost Kiss Made of Iron Ambiguously Gay Film Noir Index Punctuated! For! Emphasis! Word of God Historical-Domain Character Bloodless Carnage French Films Leave the Camera Running Tagline Training Montage Sliding Scale of Idealism vs. Cynicism One-Word Title Bitch in Sheep's Clothing Narrator Twist Ending Adaptation Dye-Job The Casanova Smug Snake Idiot Ball Handicapped Badass Mind Screw Toplessness from the Back Kick the Dog Ironic Echo Cloudcuckoolander Silent Movie Public Domain Feature Films Storming the Castle Dissonant Serenity Dramedy Defrosting Ice Queen Stealth Pun Suspiciously Similar Substitute Country Matters You Killed My Father Anti-Hero Chekhov's Gunman Due to the Dead An Arm and a Leg Film Series Only Known by Their Nickname My Greatest Failure Visual Pun Shoot the Shaggy Dog Demoted to Extra Corrupt Corporate Executive The Dog Bites Back Becoming the Mask Friend to All Children Artistic License – Geography Heel Realization From Bad to Worse Death by Adaptation In Medias Res Disappeared Dad Improvised Weapon Hell Is That Noise Every Car Is a Pinto Tempting Fate Gilligan Cut Romantic False Lead Captain Ersatz Straight Gay Obstructive Bureaucrat Ambiguous Ending Ragtag Bunch of Misfits Scenery Porn Funny Foreigner Failed a Spot Check My Beloved Smother The Stoic Creator Cameo Bunny-Ears Lawyer Vomit Discretion Shot Mighty Whitey Wretched Hive No Celebrities Were Harmed Anti-Villain Slasher Movie Scenery Gorn Faking the Dead Pre-Mortem One-Liner Nice Hat Homage There Is No Kill Like Overkill The Smurfette Principle Put on a Bus Music Stories Children Are Innocent Rule of Three Retired Badass Flashback Establishing Character Moment The Atoner Amusing Injuries Pragmatic Adaptation Well-Intentioned Extremist Running Gag Badass in a Nice Suit Ominous Latin Chanting Black Best Friend "Awesome McCool" Name Framing Device Genre Throwback Ungrateful Bastard Hooker with a Heart of Gold Eye Scream