The film, Shaun of the dead, is a British zombie comedy produced in 2004. The film was written by Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright and directed by Wright himself. The main actors in the film were Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Bill Nighy while the main actress was Kate Ashfiled. This films main idea is courage and love. Courage comes in where Shaun (Nick Frost) does not allow anything or anyone, including the dead, to stand between him and the two most important women in his life (Wright17). The idea of love is seen where he, Shaun, does everything in his power to protect his mother, Barbara (Penelope Wilton) and girlfriend, Liz (Kate Ashfield). Though electronics store employee who seems hapless and a loser of sorts, his true character is revealed when the crisis of zombies faces the whole of England. Together with his trusted best friend and roommate, Ed (Nick Frost), they have to prove themselves men by rescuing the people they care about before they are eaten by zombies. They gather the courage and face the crisis head on (Wright 25).
Shaun of the dead is a fantasy, fiction and comedy about zombies. Zombies make an uprising in England. Zombies are half dead people. The living becomes zombies by being bitten by other zombies. The characters reacted differently to their new reality which included zombies. For example, before the zombie invasion, Shaun’s life has no direction whatsoever. His colleagues show him no respect, his girlfriend is dissatisfied and his housemate berates him. In fact, before the invasion, his girlfriend breaks up with him (Christie, 29). Nevertheless, when the reality of zombies hit him, he becomes more aggressive and courageous. In his attempt to save his mother and his girlfriend, his character changes completely from the laid back lazy person to a person who is more active and caring. Ed’s character also changes. He becomes vengeful against Pete and crashes his car. The characters that have not been bitten become sneaky. Yvonne, together with other survivors devises a plan to sneak away from the zombies (Christie, 39).
After the discovery of zombies, people treat each other differently. For example, Liz becomes more affectionate towards Shaun. The ones who have been bitten like Philip are also treated differently since the survivors fear them. The social structure cannot be said to have remained intact after the zombie attack. Shaun of the dead is a film that shows how disturbances in the normal social order can affect a society. It changed in many ways. First, those who were not bitten thus did not become zombies become more affectionate towards each other. Their love grows amongst each other. They appreciate each other more. This is evident more so in the relationship between Shaun and Liz. This couple even gets married after the whole ordeal (Romero, 32).
Most characters changed for the better. This is more evident in Shaun and Liz. Another character that changes for the better is Yvonne. She becomes more appreciative and less judgmental towards Shaun. She even saves him. Ed’s character however remains the same. Yvonne is a character that can be said to also remain the same after the whole ordeal. The two characters that can be said to have remained the same are Shaun and Liz. Barbara is the character that sacrifices her for the good of other characters. She does this especially for her son Shaun who she saves by revealing herself to the zombies to save him. Though her end is sad because it is Shaun that shoots her, her deed is admirable.
Shaun ended up becoming the hero of the story. He manages to save his girlfriend who he had set to save. Another hero in Shaun of the dead is Yvonne who, together with Shaun, manages to save others and themselves. Though not all survive, their heroic deeds are evident in the fact that they survive. The moral failure of the story is Pete who after being bitten goes ahead and bites Ed. Ed is a friend to him. Another moral failure is Shaun himself who shoots his mother because she has been bitten thus has become a zombie.
Works Cited
Wright, Edgar, Simon Pegg, Kate Ashfield, Lucy Davis, Nick Frost, Dylan Moran, Bill Nighy, David M. Dunlap, Daniel Mudford, and Peter Woodhead. Shaun of the Dead. Universal City, CA N.p., n.d. Print.
Christie, Deborah, and Sarah J. Lauro. Better Off Dead: The Evolution of the Zombie As Post-Human. New York: Fordham University Press, 2011. Print.
Romero, George A, Simon Baker, John Leguizamo, Dennis Hopper, Asia Argento, Robert Joy, Miroslaw Baszak, Reinhold Heil, and Johnny Klimek. Land of the Dead. Universal City, CA N.p., n.d. Print.
Shaun Of The Dead Trailer." YouTube. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Dec. 2013.
