Lampshade hanging

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The lampshade effect (also, hanging a lampshade or hanging a lantern) is a technique used in many forms of fiction to deflect attention from implausible or just plain bad writing. If something unusual happens in a story, the audience tends to fixate on it, ruining their suspension of disbelief and enjoyment of the work. The solution is to "hang a lampshade" on it - have a character point out how strange or unlikely it is. Once acknowledged in-character, the audience accepts it.^[1]

More generally, it refers to defusing an issue by mentioning it in passing, in a way that will cause the audience to subconsciously feel that it has now already been addressed, even if it was merely mentioned and not addressed at all. The concept itself is discussed by fictional characters discussing possible suspenseful scenes in the 200 (Stargate SG-1 episode). Some characters discuss the feasibility of "lampshading" in Thank You for Smoking.

The web comic Order of the Stick hangs many lampshades on implausibilities of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons and other role-playing games. One issue literally hangs a lampshade on the act of lampshade hanging itself^[2].

This concept is also utilized in political circles.