Meryl Streep's Shocked Oscars Face Is Perfect

Sunday night was a big night for Meryl Streep, and not just because she was celebrating her 20th Oscar nomination. The night began and ended with this living legend, just as it should. During Jimmy Kimmel's opening monologue, she received a standing ovation, and at the end of the show, she deserved another — all because of her face. Streep's expression during the Best Picture mix-up is so amazing that it's already all over Twitter, and it's definitely one of the best parts of that whole ordeal.

Of course, basically everyone was shocked when it was confirmed that Moonlight actually won Best Picture instead of La La Land, especially the casts of both movies (and poor Warren Beatty, who got caught in the middle when he and Faye Dunaway accidentally announced the incorrect win). But as the photos from Sunday night show, no one was as shocked as Meryl Streep was as she sat in the audience, witnessing it all... although there is a chance she was just acting. I hear she's pretty good at it, after all.

I've always known this woman was a national treasure, and now, we have one more piece of evidence backing it up. I mean, just look at this:

I've never seen shock like that before, even on my own face as I watched the Best Picture debacle unfold on my TV myself. But being that this was a first in Oscars history — and Streep herself has been a huge part of that history — I can't blame her for being completely baffled. The rest of us just watch the show every year; Streep attends and has won awards from the Academy. It had to be jarring for her to see a mistake like that being made!

And on that note, this tweet uses Streep's face to illustrate a pretty good point, too:

Is there a way for us to institute a category for Best Oscars Reaction Face before the 2018 ceremony? If so, Streep has this one in the bag.

And then, like I said earlier, there's always that chance that Streep was acting. Moonlight was definitely a contender, so maybe the last minute switch wasn't actually surprising to her at all?

It's official: Streep (and her wildly expressive face) must be protected at all costs. Not only does the earth depend on it, but so does the Academy. You can't buy shock from the audience like that, folks!