Summary: Maternity was the theme this week, as Mother's Day was frantically and guiltily celebrated over much of the world and the sitcom How I Met Your Mother finally met its mother, in the form of Cristin Milioti. Also, Angelina Jolie, arguably the world's most famous mother, eulogised her own mother as she recounted her own decision to undergo a double mastectomy, to avoid the breast cancer her mother had died of.
For the week of May 12 to May 18, the 25 most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from the report of the 5,000 most trafficked pages* were:
This perennial contender for the Great American Novel and eternal junior high school homework assignment reached the top this week, most likely from users looking for the Baz Luhrmann film.
The second Sunday in May (that's May 12 to all you ingrates who forgot) is far and away the most popular time of year to celebrate Mother's Day, and, even as the day fell, panicked college students in all participating countries rushed to their computers to see if they'd blown it.
Angelina Jolie clearly did the world a service when she announced that she had undergone this potentially humiliating procedure to avoid the breast cancer her mother had died of. After her disclosure, more than half a million users came to Wikipedia to learn more about it, potentially saving their own or their loved ones' lives.
The top-ranked movie of the weekend has earned $84 million in four days in the US. Despite this, its distributors are debating whether to call it a disappointment. Such is the way of Hollywood these days.
Although Baz Luhrmann's 3D, hip-hop-infused, orgiastic take on the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel (see above) fell 52% in its second week, it gained nearly 100,000 views on Wikipedia.
The kitschiest exercise in human unity ever devised, that 800 million people across a continent love to hate to love, was televised this week from its spiritual homeland, Sweden.
Slightly freaky sex symbol. Serial homewrecker. Oscar-winning thespian. UN ambassador. Domestic goddess. This gal's public image has had almost as many makeovers as Madonna's in half the time. Now she's earned public attention and admiration once again for daring to "come out" about her double mastectomy, which has brought much-needed exposure to a taboo subject.
The 12th most popular article on Wikipedia between 2010 and 2012 makes a reappearance in the top 25 as the show's season finale, which finally revealed who the titular mother was to be.
This list is derived from the WP:5000 report. It excludes the Wikipedia main page (and "wiki"), non-article pages, and anomalous entries (such as DDoS attacks or likely automated views). Please feel free to discuss any removal on the talk page if you wish. Standard removals this week include:
Cat anatomy: explanation still unknown for its continuing high view counts
