Comments on: Shaun Of The Dead [So, What’s The Plan?] https://www.thestorydepartment.com/shaun-of-the-dead/ Story. Screenplay. Sale. Mon, 09 Nov 2020 03:44:24 +0000 hourly 1 By: Karel Segers https://www.thestorydepartment.com/shaun-of-the-dead/#comment-336187 Sat, 17 Dec 2016 00:33:01 +0000 https://thestorydepartment.com/?p=233656#comment-336187 I really like that take on it. Liz does indeed go through a journey of herself.

But Shaun grows in a bigger way. Initially he doesn’t do shit. At the end, he is proactive.

Initially, he doesn’t do what he promises. At the end, he stands by what he says.

Small proof: first time he goes to Liz he SAYS he’ll climb up to the flat. Second time, he DOES it.

In the final act, he is totally in control, does what he promises, and Liz respects him for it. That’s why she stays with him.

]]> By: Truculent Sheep https://www.thestorydepartment.com/shaun-of-the-dead/#comment-336185 Fri, 16 Dec 2016 23:59:02 +0000 https://thestorydepartment.com/?p=233656#comment-336185 The thing about Sean is that he sucks throughout the film, but he is very lucky. Sadly this doesn’t rub off on the characters around him. But part of the film’s genius is to show how all the middle class ideals Sean hasn’t achieved turn out to be illusory, or shallow – be it the career-driven housemate who dies in the shower, the young middle class couple who turn out to be thoroughly crap (half of whom is also a thoroughly loathsome, embittered loser), the stable middle aged couple whose relationship is built on wishful thinking or an inability to express feelings, or the whole notion of the hero itself – in the end, the army rolls in to save the day. As for Sean, well, at least he tried. But he’s no Daryl Dixon.

The real journey is that undertaken by Sean’s girlfriend. She learns that while Sean sucks, he does love her, and that’s all that really matters. Her own middle class yearnings are challenged by this – she realises the value of Sean but also his gormless, loser friend, Ed. After all, what happens at the end of the film? She changes the decor, having since given up trying to change the man, and lets his (now undead) mate Ed live in the shed. And she’s finally happy. Apart from a romzomcom and a horror film, SoD is also a rich and clever social satire.

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