- 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.
