As timeless as the day it first aired in 1985, The Golden Girls was a sitcom that showcased the different perspectives of four women of a certain age as they tackled love, careers, and friendship living together in Miami. The refreshing approach the show took to the main cast’s “golden years,” mainly that it wasn’t the stagnant period other television programs made it out to be, meant that Dorothy, Blanche, Rose, and Sophia weren’t shackled with the usual corny jokes about aging.
With the immense comedic talent of Bea Arthur, Rue McClanahan, Betty White, and Estelle Getty, there was never a dull moment for seven seasons. Between Dorothy’s withering comebacks, Rose’s ditzy stories St. Olaf stories, Blanche’s vivacious banter, and Sophia’s thorny pragmatism, there was a lot of material for memes. Here are the 10 most hilarious memes inspired by the Golden Girls that are pure comedic gold!
Aging Like A Banana
Rose may not have the wit of Dorothy or the candor of Blanche, but she has her own particular brand of wisdom. She often uses anecdotes from her hometown of St. Olaf to illustrate life lessons, and, while her quaint stories may seem hokey to some, they often do shed some sort of quirky light on problems involving the other girls.
Dorothy often makes fun of Rose for being “simple”,", but that doesn’t mean her simplistic observations don’t have merit. Getting old doesn’t have to mean stopping pursuits you had when you were young, and it doesn’t mean you’ve outlived your usefulness. While getting old may mean bad news for a banana, it can still be used for banana bread.
Feeling Cute
Despite Blanche often being given credit as the most stylish of the girls, Dorothy often created some of the most iconic looks on the show. Despite being the tallest of the four, she continued to wear long sack dresses and coats with shoulder pads and was never afraid to appear intimidating to men with her carefully coordinated silhouette.
In one notable episode, Blanche holds a reception for her “Hunka Hunka Burnin’ Love” Elvis fan club at the house, where, among the memorabilia the girls gets to gawk over, is a half-eaten pork chop bone that The King left on his plate in Vegas. Dorothy ridicules the group for their obsession with the “artifact” and is immediately expelled from the club.
Cookies Are Done
A common pattern of jokes in the series involved a setup between Dorothy and Rose. Dorothy would make a statement or remark and Rose would parrot it with a question to the extreme vexation of Dorothy. She would snap back with something incredibly snarky, which would go over Rose’s head but get a big reaction from the audience.
It would have been amusing to hear the girl’s exchanges about topics of today. No doubt they’d have something to say about smartphones, social media, and search engines. If the show were still around today, Rose would have an uplifting Instagram account, and Dorothy would rant on Tumblr.
Spanish Fly
One does not simply expect Rose to ask an intelligent question. Often, she would harass Dorothy with all sorts of inane queries as though Dorothy might as well be Google. Rose’s lovable ditziness differentiated her from the rest of her roommates and made for some of the shows most hilarious moments of humor.
Combining Rose’s penchant for putting her foot in her mouth and a classic Boromir ring meme might seem odd at first, but can you ever have too much of a good thing? Both are indelible parts of pop culture now.
You Can Lead A Herring To Water…
Rose’s contributions to the ladies lives comes in a variety of ways. From her amusing St. Olaf stories to her steadfast friendship and odd recipes, she is an irreplaceable part of her roommate’s existence. Her advice may not always be the best, but she gives it without judgment, and often without provocation.
Often Dorothy must be the one to let Rose down gently as it were, where the polite rebuffs of her solicitations are framed in such a way as to be mistaken for sarcasm. But it never stops Rose from trying, continuously throwing out odd sayings from her hometown that never seem to apply to anything in a practical way.
Deadpool And The Golden Girls
While some fans weren’t prepared for Deadpool’s obsession with the Golden Girls and Bea Arthur, can we blame him? The comics and the films broadcast his extreme affection for Bea in a variety of ways; from having him wear t-shirts bearing her face, to having him name his two katanas after her (one pommel says “Bea” and the other “Arthur”).
Comic book movies these days get great emotional dividends from fans if they can connect with their pop culture references, and nowhere are there more than in the Deadpool films. We’re just sad Bea wasn’t around to see them.
The Golden Early Years
While it’s true that Blanche, Dorothy, Rose, and Sophia only decided to live together once they met in Florida and answered Blanche’s ad for roommates, we like to think that they’d have been good friends even if they’d met earlier. In fact, if they ever rebooted the show, we can imagine some studio executives thinking it should take place when they were much younger.
The success of the series was largely based on the demographic to which it catered. By showing the ups and downs of four women of a certain age, it was inclusive for a group of people that often didn’t see themselves represented realistically on television. Besides, there were a lot of adult themes and humor in the series that would have to be removed for a younger version, unless showrunners took their cues from Big Mouth.
May The 4th Be With You
It recent years, The Golden Girls have taken on an almost mythical presence in pop culture. Their strength and resilience through the trials and tribulations of their “golden years” have made them patron saints of positivism; sassy role models to emulate when times are hard. Each of them has their own unique way of viewing the world, and their different perspectives help keep each other open-minded.
Blanche believes in living life to the fullest and with gusto, while Dorothy is much more prudent and grounded. Rose believes in the best in people and feels self-sacrifice is the best way to let your friends know you care about them. Sophia believes in doing what she wants, when she wants, and doesn’t back down from her convictions. May the 4 be with you!
Bea Calm
Whenever there was a problem the girls couldn’t solve, they hashed it out over some cheesecake. No conundrum was too big or too small for a cheesecake war council, and many of the show’s greatest comedic moments happened between mouthfuls of dessert. Occasionally, the girls weren’t able to keep their calm, and the cheesecake ended up on the floor or the walls around them.
Dorothy often led these cheesecake roundtables, though her capacity for sitting through more of Rose’s hokey stories of Blanche’s sexual escapades was limited. Dorothy was capable of some of the greatest meltdowns on the show, especially when she’d reached her limit for stupidity.
Oscar Wilde And Blanche
Sometimes certain quotes are timeless, and the witty and often scathing commentary of Oscar Wilde from the 19th century can be applied to countless topics in our society today. His satirical words take on new meaning when you apply them to your favorite fictional television heroines, such as the inimitable Blanche Deveraux, who is never shy about sharing her feelings concerning society or a woman’s place in it.
We can completely imagine Blanche saying, “Crying is for plain women. Pretty women go shopping,” before promptly taking herself to the mall and maxing out the credit card of some man who wronged her. The fact that the words were actually written by Oscar Wilde only add to their appeal.
