On Nov 30, singer Ariana Grande dropped her long-awaited “thank u, next” music video. Her video delivers revisited scenes of iconic movies that will make viewers nostalgic for early 2000’s teen movies. The four movies referenced in the video include Mean Girls, Bring It On, 13 Going On 30, and Legally Blonde.
The video starts out with an introduction to Grande similar to that of Queen Bee Regina George from Mean Girls. Appearances in this scene included one from YouTuber Colleen Ballinger who has been a long-time friend of Grande as well as YouTuber Gabi DeMartino who had previously sparked an outrage among fans of Ariana Grande over claims of her stealing Ariana Grande’s style. The Mean Girls sequence also captured many iconic moments from the movie such as the hall scene with the 4 girls and Jonathan Bennet who reprised his role as Aaron Samuels and the infamous Jingle Bell Rock scene with the “cool mom” role being rightfully given to none other than Kris Jenner.
The next movie reference in this video was an homage to the classic Bring It On. Ariana took over the role of popular girl Torrance Shipman, played by Kirsten Dunst in the movie, and she displayed her skills on the sidelines of the football field going up against the East Compton Clovers. Grande’s co-star, from the Nickelodeon show Victorious, Matt Bennet portrays Torrance’s love interest Cliff Pantone in the recreation of the angsty teeth-brushing competition.
Many of Grande’s previous co-stars from Victorious appeared in the video including Elizabeth Gillies, who played Jade on the show, taking over the role of Cady Heron and Daniella Monet, who played Trina Vega, as a Bring It On cheerleader.
There is an emotional shift during the bridge of the song. Here, Grande ditches the famous high ponytail for a more mature hairstyle whilst carrying a dollhouse. The dollhouse, red wrap dress, and dance move Ariana Grande performs in this scene is paying tribute to yet another favorite 2000s movie, 13 Going On 30. A more subtle reference is the bride in the background of this scene, who from behind looks suspiciously like Grande. This could be paying respect to her short-lived engagement to Pete Davidson.
The last film to be conquered in this epic music video is Legally Blonde. Ariana Grande is seen at Harvard, posing as Elle Woods. She later recreates the well-known salon scene- where she chats with Paulette who is played by Jennifer Coolidge in the video. Grande again references her most recent love interest, Pete Davidson, when talking to Coolidge saying “He was really cute…”. She also teaches the salon how to “bend and snap”, yet another reference to Legally Blonde.
This newly released video is catching the eye of many, as proven by the numerous parodies. Accompanied by the usual Instagram and Twitter videos, James Corden recently created a parody for this show deemed thank u, jeff. The increasingly popular spin-off is idolizing Jeff Goldblum, a guest star on The Late Late Night Show with James Corden. Rather than Ariana pointing out her past flames, he points out individual accomplishments and endearing qualities about Goldblum. Referencing his famous roles in The Fly, Jurassic Park, Independence Day and Thor: Ragnarok. He also states how charming and calling him the “complete package”.
Fans are loving the video as it set a YouTube record of being the most viewed video in a time frame of 24 hours reaching around 55 million views, with the viewer number growing by the second.
