The Audience's Perfect Reaction To #Envelopegate

Some internet is born great, some internet achieves greatness, and some internet has greatness thrust upon it. The Oscars generally gives good internet, but the Oscars Best Picture mix-up bumped the ceremony up to a whole new level online: it was wonderfully chaotic for the year's most important entertainment awards ceremony, one that normally runs like a well-oiled machine. And the picture of the audience during the Best picture mix-up was the actual best thing to come out of the moment that has become popularly known as Envelopegate.

Recap for those who missed it/were bathroom break-ing and whose roommates energetically shh-ed them on their return: Faye Dunaway was given the wrong envelope, containing the Best Actress card (which Emma Stone had won for her performance in La La Land) and proceeded to announce Stone's film as Best Picture. Everyone was onstage celebrating when La La Land producer Jordan Horowitz confirmed that the real winner was, in fact, Moonlight. Horowitz stressed that nope, this wasn't a joke.

Obviously, this was kind of sad for both the cast and crew behind La La Land and Moonlight, since the La La Land-ers got all excited in front of a huge audience only for the Oscar to be taken away and the Moonlight-ers got their thunder seriously stolen. But it did lead to one moment that has now been immortalized for the rest of time, because the Oscars makes for spellbinding internet. I present to you, this:

When do we ever get this? A totally unposed for celebrity photo moment? This is everything that Ellen 2014 Oscars selfie wanted to be — candid and unguarded. But that selfie was not candid. Selfies are not, if we're honest, ever all that candid. (Except for mine. I wake up scarlet of lip and with cheekbones you could cut yourself on, promise.) This photo, though. I want to tattoo Matt Damon's pantomime pirate eyebrows over my own, because they're that good. Yes, I will look eternally surprised, yes, I may unnerve small children, but I'll also resemble Matt Damon at his most natural, so who's winning now?

Also, you need to take a second to really luxuriate in the unexpected levels of surprise. Exhibit A: Industry insider and Oscar veteran Meryl Streep is completely astonished. Exhibit B: relative newcomer the Rock just looks like he's musing over whether that pack of bacon he opened a few days ago is still fresh enough for a post-ceremony fry up. Meanwhile, you can take the girl out of Freaks and Geeks, but you can't take Freaks and Geeks out of the girl; Busy Philipps' inexplicably guilty-looking gasp is a one-way ticket back to the episode where TV bad girl Kim Kelly and Lindsay Weir run over Millie's dog.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that this picture has something for everyone. Also, Michelle Williams at her most natural still looks like a Disney princess, and, if that isn't a reason to pay tribute and get a dramatically short haircut, I don't know what is.