While You Were Offline: Mr. Trump Goes to Europe to Spread Social Awkwardness

It wouldn't be a Thursday on the internet if folks weren't irrationally upset over something. The latest installment? A bunch of dudes who are mad that Austin's Alamo Drafthouse is planning a women-only screening of Wonder Woman on June 6. It shouldn't really be a surprise, because if there's one thing men have proven themselves to be throughout history, it's prone to childish overreactions whenever someone says something isn't for them. But let's not dwell on that ridiculous outcry. Instead, let's focus on this pitch-perfect response from the theater in question:

Ah. Sometimes there is good in the world. There's also, well, some bad. Here are all of the things you might have missed online from the past seven days. Don't shoot, we're just the messengers.

Awkward Papal Photos: Horror Edition

What Happened: It's the team-up everyone has been waiting for: President Donald Trump and the pope! Together, they fight crime! No, wait. That's not right. Together, they take really uncomfortable photos. Well, uncomfortable for them, but delightful for the internet.
What Really Happened: Last week, President Trump and his entourage headed to the Vatican to meet with Pope Francis.

Sounds like the meeting went better than the last time Trump and the pope had a run-in. Or did it? Photos from the meeting suggest it wasn't quite as sunny as Trump's tweet made it seem.

As news of Trump's visit hit mainstream media, though, Photoshop masters quickly turned images of the meeting into a horror-filled meme.

Considering the Trumps showed up looking like the Addams Family, it was only a matter of time before this happened. But the volume and frequency with which these Photoshops hit the internet was pretty remarkable, and for a while it seemed as though the only thing that would stop them was divine intervention. Once they did peter out, it was hard to determine which was the best, but this Shining-themed GIF might come out on top:

The Takeaway: Apparently, papal supremacy applies to the internet, too.

So, About That Picture of Trump with the Glowing Orb…

What Happened: President Trump also proved adept at providing the internet with meme-worthy material while in Saudi Arabia.
What Really Happened: Trump gave the internet a lot to riff on last week. In addition to the aforementioned pope photos, he also told an audience in Israel that he "just got back from the Middle East" and got repeatedly, visibly rebuffed by his wife. But none of those tidbits were as strange as this:

That, surprisingly, isn't a faked photo or one that's been altered in any way. That's actually a real thing that happened during Trump's trip. As could only be expected, Twitter was enamored with the visual:

Of course, the media was just as fascinated, both by the photo op and the online reaction. But perhaps the best, most surreal follow-up was this extended Twitter joke:

The Takeaway: Perhaps people shouldn't mock the orb too much. After all, they don't know its true power.

The Shake Down

What Happened: Completing a hat trick of providing meme-worthy content last week, Trump was photographed sharing a rather unpleasant handshake with the new president of France.
What Really Happened: Of all the meetings Trump had at this week's NATO summit, it was his first encounter with newly elected French president Emmanuel Macron that caught the internet's eye. Why? Well, watch this first.

OK, that was kind of weird. Twitter?

The handshake quickly became a thing. While surely no one involved wanted that strange moment to be a talking point, it was relatively innocuous compared to the other info that came out of Trump and Macron's meeting.

Really? That doesn't sound right.

Oh. So maybe that's why Macron seemingly avoided Trump when they saw each other later?

For something so critical, international politics really can seem like high school sometimes.

The Takeaway: Wait, did we say high school? It might be elementary.

Teachable Moments

What Happened: A potentially doctored school assignment created a new internet hero, who very deservedly got ice cream.
What Really Happened: For a brief moment let's forget politics and think about something genuinely silly and viral to close out this week, shall we? Here, this girl's review of her teacher's disciplinary actions should do nicely.

Now, before we go any further: Yes, the handwriting on the last two lines looks suspiciously different from the rest of the page, but don't harsh our need for happiness with your logic. This is great, even if it's a little fudged.

Unsurprisingly, almost everyone voted for ice cream, which led to the obvious conclusion.

Was it real? We'll never know, although that handwriting thing didn't really help its case. What matters is that the girl got her ice cream—either for her wonderful teacher feedback or for her willingness to be a prop to gain social media attention. Ice cream is important; everything else is futile. C'mon, it's the weekend—you should spend it with some ice cream too!
The Takeaway: Amongst those who were in favor of the ice cream option, The Man:

Drumstick Twitter, can't you be a little better at being subtle? Take a lesson from the Alamo Drafthouse!

CULTURE