Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2016-01-20/Traffic report

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Traffic report

Danse Macabre

The ancient allegory of the

The Eagles's Glenn Frey, this list, on which Death has always been a welcome guest, has taken on the pall of the dance itself. Bereavement is also often seen as a shared emotion; justifiably or not, we seek to share in the grief of others as if it were our own, whether it be Celine Dion, who lost two loved ones in the space of three days, or Iman, who lost a husband, or Duncan Jones
, who lost a father. We feel the need to work through the grief of loss by understanding, and remembering.

For the full top-25 list, see

WP:TOP25. See this section for an explanation of any exclusions. For a list of the most edited articles of the week, see here
.

As prepared by Serendipodous, for the week of 10 to 16 January 2016, the 25 most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from the report of the most viewed pages, were:

Rank Article Class Views Image Notes
1 David Bowie Featured Article 11,772,266
Contrary to popular belief, chameleons do not change colour to match their surroundings; they change colour to reflect their mood and their relationships with others. From the moment that David Robert Jones changed his name to David Bowie, he proved himself chameleonic in the true sense. His career was a kaleidoscope of reinventions; not just of music and appearance but of persona, profession and gender identity, each time anticipating the reactions of his audience, and usually forcing them to catch up with him. Fiercely intelligent and unafraid to show it, he also anticipated the effects of technological change, releasing
VEVO
views ever recorded, but also, incidentally, the first ever eight-figure weekly Wikipedia viewcount.
2 Alan Rickman C-class 4,863,327
This week saw the unexpected passing of two beloved British cultural icons, and had Alan Rickman died at any other time, he doubtless would have claimed the top spot. While Rickman may not have had Bowie's cross-generational hold (he came to stardom relatively late in life, at 42, as
Sense and Sensibility
.
3 Iman (model) C-class 2,515,227
Rock stars aren't exactly known for successful, stable romantic relationships, and yet this Somali model was by all accounts happily married to David Bowie for nearly 25 years.
4 The Revenant (2015 film) C-class 2,186,969
Oscar
nominations.
5 Duncan Jones Start-class 1,939,421
How do you rebel when your dad's David Bowie? Well if you're Duncan Zowie Haywood Jones and your dad insists on calling you "Zowie Bowie", you stick to the most determinedly normal parts of your name and become a successful mainstream Hollywood filmmaker. Already lauded for his thoughtful science fiction story Moon, Jones will release the biggest film of his career this year, the adaptation of the massively popular video game franchise Warcraft. While there is never an opportune time to lose a loved one, for Jones, it's hard to imagine a less opportune time than now.
6 Steven Avery Start-class 1,535,415 Down from #1 and 2 million views last week. Avery is an American prisoner who is the subject of the popular new Netflix documentary series Making a Murderer which was released on December 18. (Episode 1 is available free on YouTube.) Avery served 18 years in prison, from 1985–2003, after being framed by the local police for a sexual assault he plainly did not commit. During his subsequent civil lawsuit for compensation, during a period of explosive depositions, he was charged with the murder of a local photographer, and later convicted. I am in the midst of watching this show and highly recommend it, as does a large swath of the internet. Interestingly, his Wikipedia article was created on November 11, 2005, a few days after his arrest for the murder charge.
7 Charles Perrault Start-class 1,320,925
Under the name
Red Riding Hood. He got a well-deserved Google Doodle
for his 388th birthday on 12 January.
8 Star Wars: The Force Awakens C-class 1,254,180
The reignition of the Star Wars franchise crossed the elite $1 billion worldwide milestone this week.
9 Leonardo DiCaprio Good Article 1,224,706
After pushing himself about as far as he can reasonably be expected to go in The Revenant (see #4), the popular actor is building up steam for an Oscar win after a Golden Globe and a handful of critics' awards.
10
Angela Bowie
Start-class 1,169,212 In a strange quirk of fate that could only happen nowadays, David Bowie's first wife and mother of Duncan Jones (see #5) heard of her ex-husband's death while on the current series of
Celebrity Big Brother
.