The Laundry and Taxes meme is everywhere, all at once
Everything Everywhere All At Once, a smash hit that grossed over $100 million at the global box office, won seven Oscar awards including the Academy Award for Best Picture. However, even as we marvel at its cinematic brilliance, it has also become an instant hit on social media with its iconic dialogue turning into a vast array of memes.
In the film, Michelle Yeoh, who became became the first Asian woman to win an Academy Award for Best Actress, plays an exhausted Chinese laundromat owner embroiled in a battle with an inter-dimensional supervillain -- her daughter.
In a scene in the film, the main character Evelyn's consciousness embodies a version of herself in another universe where she is a movie star in which she and her husband Waymond never married. In the universe, she is talking to that universe's version of Waymond outside a theatre, with Waymond telling her that in another life he would have been happy just "doing laundry and taxes" with her, which is exactly the thing they happen to do in the primary universe.
"In another life, I would have really liked just doing laundry and taxes with you." 🧾🤍 pic.twitter.com/Zk02FODBvb
— Everything Everywhere (@allatoncemovie) February 22, 2023
Online, the catchphrase gained recognition as one of the most iconic lines from the film and has been used in various memes, often by being inserted into screencaps from other films or used as a simple reaction image and GIF.
The line started first started gaining online recognition in May 2022 when Twitter user @uhhmmily tweeted an 'It's Always WYD' joke using the dialogue:
it’s always “wyd” and never “in another life, i would have been happy doing laundry and taxes with you”
— em 🍓 (@uhhmmily) May 14, 2022
Soon, the Internet took control and since its sweep at the Academy Awards, the film and its memorable line has now grown in popularity exponentially. Here's some of our favourites:
In The Mood For Laundry & Taxes (In The Mood For Love)
Something something laundry and taxes pic.twitter.com/gUd2K7hi2B
— Tom Broome-Jones (@TBroomey) March 27, 2023
The Laundry & Taxes of Inisherin (The Banshees of Inisherin)
I just don't want to do laundry and taxes with ye no more pic.twitter.com/IPGStqTNNP
— Cian 🇮🇪 (@cianindublin) March 25, 2023
The Taxman and LaundRiddler (The Batman)
The Lord of the Laundry: Return of the Taxes (The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King)
Laundrybag (Fleabag)
'in another life i would've loved doing laundry and taxes with you' pic.twitter.com/sQ6ih25PdA
— ume (@briosm0m) March 26, 2023
Tax Wars: The Revenge of the Laundry (Star Wars: The Revenge of the Sith)
IN ANOTHER LIFE I WOULD HAVE LOVED DOING LAUNDRY AND TAXES WITH YOU pic.twitter.com/8y6JMWKMh9
— Janel Comeau (@VeryBadLlama) March 27, 2023
Laundry Things (Stranger Things)
Steve Harrington literally said, "In another life, I would have really liked just doing laundry and taxes with you" pic.twitter.com/dq1hW9vcOm
— for the record (@NoraSim_21) March 26, 2023
Laundry vs Taxes (Godzilla vs Kong)
‘In another life, I would’ve really liked just doing laundry and taxes with you’ pic.twitter.com/NyhZ3XFAAK
— Dr Sean Travers (@seanjetravers) March 26, 2023
Om Shanti Laundry (Om Shanti Om)
my personal “In another life, I would have really liked just doing laundry and taxes with you.” pic.twitter.com/sYhuTU5syq
— s (@yoongienthusias) March 23, 2023
And a bit more of Bollywood...
“In another life, I would have really liked just doing laundry and taxes with you”pic.twitter.com/BSHEJqkOZz
— peanut.⁷ (@_doldrums__) March 26, 2023
And of course, Indian Laundry & Taxes
In India GST is applicable on dry cleaning services. So it is possible to do laundry and taxes together very easily.
— Zidinchenko (@sidin) March 27, 2023