Straight Outta Connecticut

It's a long way from the leafy bowers of Greenwich, Connecticut to the concrete barrens of Compton, California, but the viewers of this week's top ten were drawn to both places, as the unexpected success of the film Straight Outta Compton brought minds back to the explosive era prior to the 1992 Los Angeles riots, while the quiet death of former football star Frank Gifford reminded us that we all suffer loss, however pleasant our surroundings.

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 August 9 to 15, the 10 most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from the report of the most viewed pages, were:

Rank	Article	Views	Notes
1	Frank Gifford	1,526,838	The death at the age of 84 of this onetime New York Giants running back, who in later life was arguably more famous for being married to TV presenter Kathie Lee Gifford, has hit America surprisingly hard. His topping of the list may be partly down to timing (his death was announced the day after last week's list was published), but it does show the affection in which Americans held him.
2	Sundar Pichai	1,330,770	Amid great fanfare, the product chief at Google Inc. was announced as the successor to Larry Page as the company's CEO, which of course was of great interest to en.wikipedia's Indian contingent. The Indian Express even ran an article about a resulting edit war on his Wiki page concerning exactly where he went to school. More broadly though, his ascension was seen by many in light of Google's recent company-wide rebrand as Alphabet Inc., and whether the company can ever truly move beyond its advertising-based business model.
3	Kathie Lee Gifford	1,041,793	The popular US breakfast television host received an outpouring of sympathy from the public in the wake of the death of her husband of nearly two decades, Frank Gifford. She and her husband shared the same birthday, which, in a poignant touch, fell just a week after his death.
4	N.W.A	825,100	Straight Outta Compton, the biopic of the short-lived but electrifying hip-hop group, whose members included Easy-E, Dr. Dre, and Ice Cube (pictured), was released on August 14 to superb reviews and blockbuster business- its $56 million opening weekend gross was higher than those for Terminator Genisys and Pixels combined. It's interesting to note that African Americans make up just 12% of the US population, and films aimed specifically at that market, like those of Tyler Perry, are considered hits if they reach those numbers after their entire runs. That shows the breadth of this movie's appeal across racial lines. That the film's story chimed so well with recent events in America likely also played a role.
5	Straight Outta Compton (2015 film)	812,153	See above.
6	Easy-E	794,115	The founding member of N.W.A., whose death from AIDS at the age of just 31 forms the emotional climax of the film Straight Outta Compton, was naturally the most searched member of the group following the film's release.
7	Fantastic Four (2015 film)	785,279	So yeah. This movie happened. As I've said many times, movies get on this list for two reasons: box office and controversy. Straight Outta Compton was lucky enough to have both; this one? Well, it looks like I have my work cut out explaining the controversy because whatever's pushing this movie up the chart, it sure ain't the box office. But be warned: this is gonna get complicated. By now you're probably aware that the latest attempt to make a film franchise out of Marvel Comics' Fantastic Four title is one of the biggest box office bombs in recent years. And if you're wondering why, it's because no one wanted to make it in the first place. The contract that Marvel signed with 20th Century Fox back in 1994 includes a sunset clause ensuring that if Fox does not make use of the property within a certain amount of time, Marvel can take the rights back. Yes, this movie is, in essence, a $120 million contractual obligation. When Marvel signed their contract they were close to bankruptcy; now they're a major competitor in the film industry and a subdivision of the gargantuan Disney corporation. Fox isn't keen to hand an advantage to its rival. And "rival" is putting it mildly. Marvel cancelled the Fantastic Four comic rather than give Fox the rights to any new characters, and has even banned the introduction of new characters into the X-Men series, which Fox also owns the rights to. Since rising to prominence, Marvel Studios has managed to claw back the rights to most of its characters, as other companies have proven inept at adapting them to the screen. Even Sony, who owns the rights to Spider-Man, agreed to go Dutch on a Marvel-made reboot of the character after The Amazing Spider-Man and its sequel both failed. Fox remains the only major hold-out, and expectations that the film's abysmal performance will lead the team back to the Marvel fold have been spiralling in recent days, up to and including a change.org petition. That's probably unlikely. Most pundits agree that Fox will burn before it gives up, and a sequel is still planned.
8	Donald Trump	601,785	Ah, what did Donald do this week? Finding out why the bombastic real estate developer, media personality and, until he gets bored, current Republican US Presidential frontrunner is on this list is always preceded by a mixture of queasy terror and Christmas-like anticipation. In fact, What Did Donald Do? would make a very good title for the reality show he's undoubtedly going to sign up for once he finally gets booted out the race. This week largely focused on his feud with Fox News presenter Megyn Kelly, whom he suggested had "blood coming out of her wherever" after she grilled him on women's issues during the Republican debate. He then went on to backtrack in the most condescending way possible, saying that he "cherishes" women, and sounding like Torvald from A Doll's House. Kelly has apparently taken time off to spend with the husband and kids, leading some to speculate that Trump got her fired. Another choice Trump quote this week? How about "I’m a whiner, and I keep whining and whining until I win," as spoken to CNN host Chris Cuomo, leading a writer for the Christian Science Monitor to ponder if that may be his superpower.
9	Dr. Dre	596,881	Far and away the most successful talent to emerge from N.W.A., Dr Dre would go on to shepherd talents such as Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Xzibit, 50 Cent, and Kendrick Lamar, and ultimately become the richest man in hip hop, after Apple Inc.'s purchase of his company Beats Electronics earned him $620 million. He has wondered in the past if people have forgotten him; well the release of Straight Outta Compton has put that fear to rest. The soundtrack for Straight Outta Compton is Dre's first album in 16 years, and opened at #2 at the US chart amid critical acclaim.
10	A. P. J. Abdul Kalam	551,440	The sustained surge of views this scientist and reluctant politician received upon his death on 25 July at the age of 83 is merely a reflection of the regard in which he was held by his fellow Indians. A Muslim in a predominantly Hindu country, he rose to the very top of the political ladder, first as a developer of India's missile and nuclear programs, and then as President. Despite adhering to Islam, he considered himself an Indian and drew much inspiration from his country's Hindu heritage. As a result, his one term as President was one of the most popular in his country's history. A lifelong advocate of technology, he believed that India could become a developed country through embracing and expanding its knowledge base.

Straight Outta Connecticut

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