- Oh yeah! Break that glass ceiling!
- I'll have to say, I like the original bronze
better than I like her version of it, because, again,
it looks like it's a porno.
♪ (ragtime intro) ♪
- ♪ You, you love it, how I move ♪ - That's really pretty.
- I've seen this. I've heard it.
- Haven't seen it, hadn't heard it.
- Is this Ariana Grande?
- ♪ ...believe God is a woman ♪
♪ And I, I feel it after midnight ♪ - Lots of just really good colors.
A little too much nudity for me.
- Looks like porn. - She's nude, but in a beautiful way.
- ♪ You'll believe God is a woman ♪ - "You'll believe God is a woman."
- ♪ I don't wanna waste no time ♪ - Wow.
- ♪ Ain't nobody else can relate ♪
- What are they picking on her for?
- ♪ Baby, lay me down and let's pray ♪ - And they're all bouncing off!
- ♪ You, you love it, how I move ♪ - She has an interesting voice.
- God, these images are all just so beautiful.
- ♪ ...God is a woman ♪
♪ And I... ♪ - God is a woman. Of course.
- That's getting it a little into blasphemy
as far as what I believe.
- ♪ It lingers, when we're done ♪ ♪ You'll believe God is a woman ♪
(bird screeching) (music stops)
- (laughs) - Uh-oh, gophers!
(bird screeching) - Ah, ha-ha!
- (chuckles)
- (laughs) Well, that's silly.
- ♪ I'll tell you all the things you should know ♪
- That is just amazing.
- That's pretty cool.
- ♪ And I can tell that you know I know how I want it, yeah ♪
- You know, I don't care too much for the song.
- Song isn't necessarily appealing to me.
- Very erotic, but beautiful cinematography.
- Beautiful.
- ♪ And he see the universe when I'm in company ♪
(loud thud) (music stops)
- Ooh. - (Ariana) I will strike down
upon thee with great vengeance
and furious anger. - That's not working for me.
- (Ariana) ...to poison and destroy
my sisters. - All right!
- (Ariana) And you will KNOW my name is the Lord
when I lay vengeance upon you.
- Whoa.
(glass shattering) - Oh yeah! Break that glass ceiling!
- There's some... powerful woman energy in this.
- Amazing. Just the-- ah, it's so gorgeous.
- ♪ God is a woman ♪ - Well, that point has been argued
in the past, that God's a woman.
- ♪ When all is said and done ♪ ♪ You'll believe God is a woman ♪
♪ You'll believe God ♪ ♪ God is a woman ♪
- Oh, that is a winning, winning video.
- ♪ It lingers, when we're done ♪ - (laughs) Oh my god.
They redid the Sistine Chapel.
- Oh, that was fantastic.
- Very beautifully done, but I just am totally
against the content. If you ever heard
of the Lord's Prayer, it says, "Our Father..."
It doesn't "Our Mother..."
- If one believes that you are created in the image of God, guess what?
I've always thought God was a woman.
- (FBE) So, we have some more things to show you in a second,
but that was the music video for "God is a Woman."
Do you know who the artist was?
- No, I don't.
- I don't know any young singers.
- I've seen her face, but I can't think of her name.
- (FBE) So, the song is by pop star Ariana Grande.
- Oh, that's Ariana Grande.
- I've heard her name, but I have no clue about her music.
- Is she the one who had the concert
in Manchester? I give her credit for going back
and having a concert to raise funds for the victims.
- (FBE) So, there is a lot of buzz surrounding the music video
and the various symbols and Easter eggs
that are found throughout the video. So, we're gonna show you
a few of those most talked about things now.
- Okay. - Easter eggs?
- Yeah, that's "The Thinker" by Rodin.
- I think it's magnificent. What a touch of genius.
- It represents, you know, men really making it hard
on women and resenting women big and power.
- So, some say this pose is reminiscent
of Auguste Rodin's statue, "The Thinker."
And in this scene, we see men throwing insults at Ariana.
- And they're bouncing right off of her!
- (FBE) What do you think about how she's using classic imagery
like this inside of a modern music video?
- It's brilliant, because she's hearing it,
but she doesn't have to take it in.
- There'll probably be a lot of people who don't even know
what these things are. I think it's a nice way
of introducing people to art.
- Of course, they show the neanderthal men.
They don't want a thinking woman in their lives.
- Artists are creating things. Because they're young
and inexperienced, they draw upon past artists,
putting their own twist on things to make it theirs.
- (FBE) Next one. - Oh, this is Romulus and Remus
sucking the teats.
- That's supposedly how Rome was founded.
- I'll have to say, I like the original bronze
better than I like her version of it, because, again,
it looks like it's a porno.
- There is something there that says that women
are the creators of Mother Earth. I like that.
- (FBE) Romulus and Remus were the mythical founders of Rome
and said to be raised by a she-wolf.
- Right. Fabulous reference.
- (FBE) Do you think her demographic would immediately understand
these types of historical references? - No, 'cause I don't think people
are that familiar with history.
- I'm not sure how much they learn about that anymore in school.
I can appreciate her making the effort to bring these cultural,
iconic things into her video.
- (FBE) The next one.
- Okay, that's the famous Michelangelo painting
on the Sistine Chapel.
- Yeah, I caught that right away. The Sistine Chapel.
- It's wonderful that she changed all the guys into women.
It's just perfect the way she did it, and the imagery is beautiful.
- These things were printed and made,
and the books were written all by men,
so she's saying we're entitled to be a part of that,
and we are a part of it, and we will be a part of it.
- (FBE) So, the video ends with a tribute to Michelangelo's
"Creation of Adam," a Biblical representation
of God giving life to the first man. But here, we see Grande
in the role of God creating the first woman.
Overall, what message or underlying theme
do you think Ariana was trying to convey
with these references? - We're pretty powerful.
Visually, it was stunning. But the underlying message
is really about, "Don't mess with us."
- I do not like what she's saying. It films well.
I just do not like the content.
- It's appropriate in utilizing this
to bring the female image to the forefront.
- I would call the female aspect of God.
You know, granting life to Eve.
But I would like to see it as an inspirational thing.
Like, I've given you all of this, and how glorious it is,
rather than just so much anger.
- (FBE) So, Ariana began her career as a child actor performing
in Broadway musicals. And then she became successful
on a hit TV show called "Victorious."
She released three studio albums, two of which have topped
the Billboard Top 200. - Wow.
- It all boils down to talent.
- (FBE) So, in a tweet sent to a fan, Ariana stated that the song
and the video we showed you deal with a lot
of sexual female empowerment and how women are literally everything
and the universe is inside of us. - Mm-hmm. I totally agree with that.
- (FBE) Ariana's getting a lot of praise for focusing
on women empowerment for this video.
But if this had come out
when you were growing up, do you think it would have
been met with this type of positive praise or backlash?
- Much more backlash. She'd have every church
in the nation saying, "Have nothing to do with that person."
It's changed enormously.
- Back then, this would not have happened.
It's obviously worlds apart from when I was growing up.
- There would have been a ton of feedback
from religious groups and how sacrilegious this is.
Opinions are now more accepted, more varied,
and I think it's good for our life.
- It probably never would've come up, number one,
because women were so suppressed, and we were told what to do,
and we did it, and we followed rules.
And that's the way it was, because that's what it was
for our mother and our grandmother and generationals--
you know, generationally backwards.
So, I don't think it ever would have even come out to be accepted.
- When I was growing up, women weren't allowed
to wear pants. Women were fighting for equality.
I marched for abortion rights. You know, we were always at it.
I don't think that whole fight for equality has come around yet.
It's still going on.
- (FBE) Finally, after listening to a little bit more about her music
and learning more about her, do you think you'll check out
more of her music and her new album that drops later this summer?
- No. I'm comfortable just with what I like.
- If she's gonna continue with this content,
I have no interest in following her whatsoever.
- I like her style, and it's possible
that I might be curious, yes. - Absolutely.
- Musically, I wouldn't check it out. Run of the mill, da da da da da.
It's nothing special musically.
- Well, I love this video. I'd like to watch this video again,
because I feel that graphically, there's just so much to absorb.
- I would, definitely. - Since I don't generally do that,
probably not. But I will be more interested in her.
It piques my interest in her, and I'm interested to know
if her work continues to be so introspective.
- I certainly would. I'm so happy that I got to see this. I mean it.
And I believe it's beautiful,
creates more excitement for our life.
- Thanks for watching this episode of Elders React.
Shoutout to Hannah Baker. - Hit the Subscribe button.
And a shoutout to Brianna Sanchez.
- A shoutout to all the Arianators for watching!
- Thanks for watching. Bye. - Hi, guys.
JC here, producer here at FBE. Thanks so much for watching
this episode of Elders React. Make sure to check us out
on Instagram. We're at @fbe.
Thanks, guys. Bye.