Brandy, Monica, Lonely Boy and Pussy Power: Ariana Grande’s Movie-Inspired Music Video Universe Expands With “The Boy Is Mine”

When last we left Ariana Grande, she was having her memory erased and sitting atop a table across from Evan Peters with a birthday cake between them. Both of these “we can’t be friends (wait for your love)” scenarios are, obviously, culled from other pop culture sources: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Sixteen Candles, respectively. Indeed, it seems Grande can scarcely conceive of making a music video that doesn’t have a film reference (or at least a music video reference, like “yes, and?” paying homage to Paula Abdul’s “Cold Hearted”). Her latest offering from Eternal Sunshine, “the boy is mine,” proves to be no exception to the rule. And this time, she’s veering out of Michel Gondry/Charlie Kaufman/John Hughes territory in favor of the Batman universe. Turning to none other than Catwoman for her inspiration. 

Because Batman isn’t Batman without being set in “Gotham” a.k.a. New York, Grande opens the video on a trash collector (“garbage man” is probably offensive now) picking up some of those signature black bags as he grumbles, “Yeah, yeah, yeah. This ain’t the first mayor that said he was gonna clean up this city. And he won’t be the last! How much you wanna bet this scumbag don’t make it two weeks?” At that moment, as he’s picking up the trash bags, a rat attacks him (“voiced” by Elizabeth Gillies, Grande’s former co-star on Victorious). And so, apart from a bit of shade at Eric Adams, it also sets up the story to focus on the object of Cat Enthusiast/Peaches’ (the same name Ariana is billed with in “we can’t be friends [wait for your love]”) desire: Mayor Max Starling. Played by none other than Penn Badgley. And while some might have written his career off as “over” once Gossip Girl ended in 2012 (just like the world probably did), the success of You (which premiered in 2018) has made him perhaps more associated with the psychopathic Joe Goldberg than the psychopathic Dan Humphrey (P.S. “Chuck Bass’” Empire Hotel makes a brief cameo in this video as well). Which is why it seems pointed on Grande’s part that she should be the one to take on the role of “creepy stalker” while Badgley instead plays the unwitting victim of her erotomania. And yet, she seems to know on some level that he’s not interested in her if she feels obliged to mix a love potion to get him to return her feelings. 

As she stares dreamily and somewhat diabolically (Grande’s acting range!) at her pink sparkly concoction (which probably looks a lot like the shower gel that Kristin Chenoweth gave her when she went backstage after a performance of Wicked starring the original cast), a commercial for Brighter Days Inc. plays in the background, tying together Grande’s “music video universe” for Eternal Sunshine. Said title also appearing as a neon sign outside Grande’s window (which some fans have taken to mean “eternal sunshine” will be the next single). The one that a stray cat crawls in through after Starling delivers his address on how to combat the rat problem. The report on his address to the city is delivered by none other than the OGs of titling a song “The Boy Is Mine,” Brandy and Monica. Their cameo is, needless to say, a momentous wet dream for pop culture enthusiasts everywhere. But it’s a cat enthusiast we’re dealing with in “the boy is mine,” which is apparently why, like Catwoman, she attracts one of the stray cats Max might have used to weaponize against the seemingly unstoppable rats of the city. And no, it’s not exactly great “PR” for NY that Grande presents its core “political issue” as how to prevent rats from taking over. But, ultimately, Grande isn’t really a New York resident anyway (the way no celebrity really is), so what does she care about painting it in an unfavorable, non-rat-infested light? Besides, she’s wielding rats for a creative reason: to, in turn, employ the symbol of a cat. Because, like the stereotype of a feline, Grande, within the context of the song, fancies herself as being “usually so unproblematic/So independent.” As she questions what’s causing her to go against her “nature,” the motive (another Grande song title) becomes, simply, “‘Cause the boy is mine.” Even if it means taking desperate, anti-independent measures to get him. 

After extracting as much of the potion (via a syringe) that the cat knocked over as she can from the floor, Peaches proceeds to go about her Michelle Pfeiffer-as-Selina Kyle sewing routine, only to come across with more of a Zoë Kravitz meets Anne Hathaway version of the cat costume. Let’s just say it’s impossible for anyone to accomplish what Pfeiffer did with the character. Though Grande does her best impression of the lithe anti-heroine as she cracks her whip and leaps through the sky on her way to Max’s place. Once she gets there, she traces a hole into the glass (one that, sadly, isn’t shaped like a heart) with her “claw,” gaining egress into the apartment as Max obliviously pours himself a drink and then goes to the bathroom to splash his face with cold water (evidently, the mark of someone who’s stressed). As he does so, director Christian Breslauer (who also worked with Grande on “we can’t be friends [wait for your love]”) gives us one of the most indelible images from the video as Grande slips her claw-hand through the crack of the door and then opens it further with the other hand to get a good peek (a peeping “Tomcat,” as it were). 

Alas, she isn’t as “stealth” as she thinks, for Max can sense some other “presence” and catches her skittering away out of the corner of his eye. Running out to pursue the intruder, he’s even more startled to find there’s a kinky Catwoman waiting for him on his bed. Suddenly, she’s not shy at all either, mimicking the gestures of a cat cleaning itself. When he tries to run away from her (as though comprehending that what he’s dealing with is a “crazy bitch” he can’t handle on his own), she employs her catlike reflexes to ensnare him by the foot with her whip. As she draws him closer to her, she sings the lyrics, “And I know it’s simply meant to be/And I, I take full accountability for all these years/Promise you I’m not usually/Like this, shit, it’s like news to me, to me/But I can’t ignore my heart, boy (the boy is mine).” And then, just as she’s about to administer her “love drug,” Max puts his hand up to stop her, as though suddenly coming to his senses about turning down Ariana Grande. As for “Peaches” dressed up as Catwoman, she’s in disbelief that Max might actually want her without the need of being under the influence of a magic potion. 

Thus, she lets her guard down long enough for him to remove her mask (and yes, in keeping with the theme of the video, she also sported a more Dangerous Woman-inspired type of cat mask for her debut live performance of the song on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon). When he does, it seems “the stars, they align” just as Peaches wanted them to, for Max tosses the potion aside, telling her with his eyes that there’s no need for such a thing now. He’s fallen under her spell “naturally.” 

A scene during the credits (because all movies based on a comic book have one, too) then shows that the couple’s relationship has progressed quite nicely since Peaches’ break-in. Filmed in wistful black and white, the pair sits together on the couch in a cat-filled apartment while what can only be described as “Woody Allen music” plays in the background (such is often the curse of things that pay tribute to an “old New York” feel). “Idyllic” though it may be, one can’t help but think that the next video from Grande will go back to shattering any delusions of romantic grandeur…especially if it’s the title track from Eternal Sunshine.