Meaning
What does Shut Up About The Sun mean?
Shut up about the Sun is a memorable quote uttered by the character of Gabe Lewis in the U.S sitcom series The Office.
The scene featuring the quote, aside from arguably being one of the most iconic moments of Gabe in the series, has become a template for various historically-themed memes online. These memes usually mock the skeptical approach of scientists’ beliefs about the Sun that was typical before the Age of Enlightenment.
Origin
What's the origin of Shut Up About The Sun?
The Office is an American mockumentary sitcom television series that depicts the everyday work lives of office employees in the Scranton, Pennsylvania branch of the fictional Dunder Mifflin Paper Company.
The meme is featured in the series in Season 7 Episode 25, when members of the office establish a search committee in order to find the perfect fit for the vacant position of regional manager. Gabe is part of the committee, who actively tries to sabotage the character Andy Bernard during his interview because of a personal quarrel.
After a series of failed attempts on confusing Andy with-cross questions, Gabe snaps on Andy for sharing too many random (but accurate) fun-facts about the Sun. He starts yelling “shut up about the sun” viciously, but then realizes that he only made himself look bad. After all, he was the one asking Andy about his knowledge on the Sun.
Spread & Usage
How did Shut Up About The Sun spread?
The scene was uploaded by multiple channels on YouTube since its commercial debut in 2011, many of them generating multiple-million views. Shut up about the sun is an iconic scene that is fondly cited by fans of The Office, both in real life and on the board r/DunderMifflin.
The template is also commonly used on r/HistoryMemes. In 2019, user 88rising_ posted a meme about Gabe impersonating the Catholic Church, scolding Galileo for his scientific research about the Sun.
External resources
- Reddit.com – r/DunderMifflin
- Fandom.com – Dunderpedia: The Office Wiki