Tropescilloscope: Lampshade Hanging

Pointing out something within the story, to strengthen the audience's Willing Suspension of Disbelief. (read more at tvtropes.org)

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