Halloween aside, the best thing to happen this weekend was the release of Ariana Grande’s latest album, Positions. I became a legitimate fan of Grande’s around the same time that Mac Miller passed away, and I respect Grande as an artist who is involved in the writing and production of her music. She uses the power of music and lyrical expression to work through tangible problems in her life to express emotions, fantasize about desires, or the complexities of relationships. These themes are evident in songs especially within her latest albums, Sweetener, Thank U, Next, and now Positions, as she has worked through the traumatic experiences of the Manchester shooting at her concert, and Miller’s death. This lyrical expression is amplified through the visual production of her music videos which often feature dramatic cinematography, visual effects to induce the sublime (the “Break Free” video directed by Chris Marrs Piliero still weirds me out), and a presence of sexuality that is celebrated, not exploited.
A key factor is of course the directors she has worked with in recent years, with one frequent collaborator being director Dave Meyers. He has been directing music videos for prominent artists since the late 90’s, and his credentials include video awards with Grande as well numerous others with Kendrick Lamar, Missy Elliot, Outkast, and more. It was Dave Meyers, along with The Little Homies, who directed Lamar’s video for Humble, which was awarded a Grammy for Best Music Video in 2017.
Meyers worked with Grande previously on her videos for the songs “No Tears Left to Cry,” and “God Is A Woman.” “God Is a Woman,” off the album Sweetener (2018), is one of Grande’s songs that has become synonymous with female empowerment as she positively expresses the desires she has and how she wants to make her partner feel. This assertion of self within the realm of sex specifically is powerful as women often battle a call to be submissive, especially within the most conservative and regressive beliefs held by some in our country. Grande throws that out the window, declaring herself as a sexual being without shame, and one who is willing to express the intimate experiences she is going to give her partner. In the videos Meyes explores the sublime of experiences like sex and human connection with a variety of otherworldly spaces, symbolising the lack of grounded reality and etheriality such experiences can potentially cause. This collaboration with Meyers under her designer belt set the stage for one of Grande’s most politically charged exploration of power within the ever changing realm of feminine sexual expression, “Positions.”
The video begins with dramatically angled camera shots advancing onto the exterior of what looks to be the White House. The camera zooms over the landscape until it closes in upon a window and brings us within the building into a conference room with a large table where many people are seated. At the head of the table is Ariana, who sings the opening lines, “Heaven sent you to me, and I’m just hoping I don’t repeat history” as we watch her sign papers and speak with those around her. The title alone “Positions” speaks to the bedroom, and throughout the song we hear her sing about a new love that inspires her in the chorus to be
“Switching the positions for you,
Cooking in the kitchen and I’m in the bedroom.
I’m in the Olympics way, I’m jumping through hoops,
Know my love infinite nothing I wouldn’t do,
That I won’t do, switching for you.”
Hearing the song alone it would seem the lyrics are speaking to the ways this new love has opened doors and made her want to pursue changing roles within their relationship, essentially a love song. Within the visual world Meyers introduces us to, her romantic lyrics become overlayed with sequences of Grande in her imagined presidency, sitting at one of the most famous desks within the Oval Office holding press conferences, signing papers, and gazing out the window in a white gown watching fireworks. As she sings about her switching positions the scenes dramatically swing to new visual spaces that show her in various presidential positions surrounded by diverse individuals she laughs, dances, and congratulates. Grande’s version of the presidency is role playing in more ways than one, as the physical location settings and wardrobe choices heighten a sense of nostalgia to evoke the romanticism of grand American presidents and traditions of our nation’s past. Most American’s however will realize that this presidential vision before us, even within the realm of memory and nostalgia, has never truly existed. The Presidency Grande acts out comes from the imagination of how America culturally has thought of the role, and in this way Grande explored a truly contemporaneous, subliminal political expression.
With the election four days away the possibility of the release date being coincidental is low and considering the imagery that Meyers and Grande presents I would argue it’s purposeful. More celebrities than ever are speaking out to endorse their candidates, or even to simply foster conversations about politics. One doing such is Halsey, who has had IG livestreams with Bernie Sanders the past month to discuss things such as the 1% tax, or Cardi B who frequently posts politically impassioned content. While Grande’s vision of the presidency is fictional, the sight of such a diverse group of people within our country’s capital building shows a hopeful future. Grande’s vision replaces our current leader’s authority with her own as a woman capable of asserting her autonomy within relationships and sex. This is a powerful statement given our president’s history of assault allegations, and overall disrespect and denigration of women throughout his life. Ultimately Positions refers to the positions of power women can hold. It is a reminder that a woman’s place is absolutely domestic, and it’s in the motherf***ing White House.