Burn books and cheerleading and law school, oh my!
The highly anticipated music video for Ariana Grande’s hit single post-engagement break-off, “thank u, next,” was released today. Leading up to the video, the premiere accumulated a number of over 500,00 fans that waited patiently for the video to begin.
The song, which features an extremely catchy chorus and is all about self-love and empowerment, was brought to life with the help of four very popular movies: Bring It On (2000), Legally Blonde (2001), Mean Girls (2004) and 13 Going on 30 (2004).
Throughout the years, the movies have become fan favorites, each one featuring breakout stars and of course, extremely iconic movie lines such as, “that’s so fetch!” and “whoever said orange was the new pink was seriously disturbed.” Naturally, Ariana Grande recreated numerous classic scenes from each of the movies.
The music video kicks off with stars Colleen Ballinger (the real-life alter ego of Miranda Sings), Jonathan Bennett, Troye Sivan, Gabi Demartino and many more listing well-known rumors and jokes that have been spread about Ariana on social media before. They tell these rumors in the style of Mean Girls when the characters in the movie were asked about antagonist Regina George.
When the song starts, the video officially begins in the iconic bedroom of Regina George. Strutting a beautiful blonde wig, Grande sings about her past relationships while adding their pictures to the infamous burn book from the movie. Jonathan Bennett, who played Aaron Samuels in Mean Girls, makes an appearance as Ariana and the Plastics walk down the hall, all of the girls clad in pink. Victorious co-star Liz Gillies also joins Grande to play a perfect Cady Heron. The girls then proceeded to act out the popular Christmas talent show dance. The video gets this scene right down to the specifics from the dance moves to Regina’s cool mom, portrayed by Kris Jenner.
Photograph taken from Ariana Grande’s Instagram
Jumping into the world of Bring It On, Ariana is once more joined by yet another costar from Victorious, Matt Bennett, who appears with Grande as the two are playfully brushing their teeth. Then, in true Torrance Shipman style, Grande leads the cheerleading squad, which also features Victorious actress Daniella Monet against their rivalry team, the East Compton Clovers.
The world of cheerleaders falls away, and Jenna Rink took the stage. Grande, rocking a short hairstyle and carrying a dollhouse, sits longingly in front of a house before the scene is replaced with the popular entry of Elle Woods into law school.
Photograph taken from Ariana Grande’s Twitter
Jumping straight into the nail salon, Jennifer Coolidge revives her iconic role as Elle Wood’s nail tech, or in this case, Ariana’s nail tech. As the song pauses for an abrupt moment, Grande and Coolidge indulge into classic girl talk, very much so in the style of Elle Woods in Legally Blonde. When the music resumes, Ariana proceeds to teach the rest of the salon goers how to do the famous Elle Woods “bend and snap.” It is safe to say that Ariana is successfully bringing back the iconic pose, lining it up with the music.
Photograph taken from Ariana Grande’s Instagram
The video continued flashes between the four movies as the song came to an end. Going from Grande dressed in orange and running on a treadmill as Elle Woods, busting out a quick dance move as Jenna Rink, playfully tackling friends in the talent show as Regina George, and planting a kiss on Colleen Ballinger’s pregnant belly, the video officially ends in the wise words of Kris Jenner who shouts from the crowd, “thank u, next, b****!”
I think we can all agree that Ariana stunned as each and every single character that she portrayed in her video: Regina George, Jenna Rink, Torrance Shipman and Elle Woods.
Taking a break from the norm, Grande certainly gave fans a treat with this very special music video by deviating from the usual style of music videos.
The music video for “thank u, next,” was innovative, especially creative, and definitely one of the most iconic music videos of the year.
Want to watch the music video again? Check it out below!
