The Hilarious Shaun Of The Dead Meme Explained | Screen Rant
Edgar Wright’s zombie comedy is hailed as one of the funniest films in recent memory, so it’s no surprise the movie has spawned a hilarious meme – here’s the Shaun Of The Dead meme explained. A very British take on the zombie apocalypse, Shaun Of The Dead stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as slacker BFFs Shaun and Ed who wake up after a night of binge-drinking to find London overrun with hordes of the undead. The horror-comedy follows the pair as they set out to rescue Shaun’s mum Barbara (Penelope Wilton) and his newly ex-girlfriend Liz (Kate Ashfield), all while battling both brain-splitting hangovers and brain-hungry zombies.
It’s an affectionate and hilarious homage to the zombie genre throughout, from its title (which riffs on George A. Romero’s Dawn Of The Dead) to its avoidance of the “Z” word and unabashed gore. Shaun Of The Dead is positively brimming with funny dialogue too, like the oft-repeated and foreshadowy “You’ve got red on you” and the excellent “Who died and made you f***ing king of the zombies?”.
One of the most memorable quotes to come out of Shaun Of The Dead is uttered by Simon Pegg’s Shaun early on in the story in a scene in which he and Frost’s Ed try to decide on the best course of action to take. After weighing up a few different options they decide to steal their roommate’s car, rescue Shaun’s mum, kill his infected stepdad Philip (Bill Nighy), rescue Liz and then “Go to the Winchester, have a nice cold pint, and wait for all this to blow over” – the Winchester being their local pub and their survival plan being the most British thing imaginable.
The Winchester quote quickly became a popular Shaun Of The Dead meme. Otherwise known as “The Winchester Plan” meme, it’s used as a response to a crappy situation that makes people want to bury their heads in the sand until it goes away. It’s proved to be a pretty flexible meme too, and Shaun’s legendary Winchester quote has been easily inserted into scenes from Game Of Thrones (when Harrag suggests an alternative to helping Theon rescue Yara in season 7) or Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge Of The Sith (when Jedi youngling Sors Bandeam asks Anakin Skywalker what to do when Palpatine’s clone troopers are approaching).
Shaun Of The Dead’s Winchester meme has enjoyed a resurgence of late thanks to several recent situations like Brexit or the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, the meme became so popular during the pandemic that Simon Pegg and Nick Frost thought it best to release a PSA advising against the meme’s advice and imploring people to stay home and wait for it all to blow over rather than heading to their nearest pub.
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