Ariana Grande recently said she wrote her new album, petal, from a place of “unfiltered rage.” She definitely shows that off in the video for the title track, which may be a commentary on the singer’s relationship with the public, the music industry, or both.
In the clip, Ari is Pepper, an aspiring actress who shows up at an audition with dozens of other women. The first time she tries out, the old, ugly men judging her stamp her application with the words “Not Good Enough.” But she keeps coming back wearing multiple outfits, one of which seems to be a direct reference to Sandy’s “bad girl” fit in Grease.
Finally, the music stops and the men start telling her why what she’s doing isn’t working.
One says, “There’s something about you — you give off this feeling that is completely—” “It’s unmarketable!” barks another. “Unattractive,” says another. “Inauthentic,” adds another.
“The way you used to be, I miss that,” says the first man. “We miss the old you,” says another man. “Maybe you could go out and find her and give her another shot, huh?”
Then the first guy adds, “You should try singing tenor. Ten or 15 miles from here.”
“OK. Thank you,” says Ariana. She pulls out a chainsaw from a bag at her feet, starts it up, and slices and chops the men to death. As she emerges from the audition room soaked in blood, all the other women cheer, while the secretary says, “Good for you, b***!”
Next, Ari’s sitting in a Chinese restaurant, still covered in blood, opening a fortune cookie that says, “You bloom wherever you are planted.” The camera pulls back and we see that the whole thing was a movie.
As director Christian Breslauer congratulates Ari on her performance, she leaves the studio, stepping over a star on Hollywood Boulevard that reads “Pepper”; a flower grows out of a crack in the pavement.
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