The Hideousness of the “Pretty Girls” Video

Although one may have had high hopes for a potentially empowering message in Britney Spears and Iggy Azalea’s “Pretty Girls” video, its birth into YouTube land has proven as disappointing and hollow as the single itself. As with any music video involving Iggy Azalea, it is a rip-off of something else, in this case 1988’s Earth Girls Are Easy.

While the plot of the video bears no strong resemblance to the world inhabited by Valerie Gail (Geena Davis), other than her 80s Southern California aesthetic, Britney and Iggy do their best to re-create the tacky alien motif of the original. Jumping around in a leopard print top with crimped hair and noticeable nails, Britney takes “alien” Iggy under her daft wing and teaches her the ways of the Valley Girl.

Together, they drive around in a Jeep trolling for seed, to borrow a phrase from Alec Baldwin in 30 Rock. Finding her perfect vacant counterpart, Britney takes pleasure in showing Iggy off to her friends. One scene takes pause from the song for a particularly awkward moment during which Iggy talks like a retard and uses a cell phone for the first time—which she transforms from an 80s behemoth into a modern day smartphone. Useful.

The vacuousness continues with more dance moves and Britney’s signature choreography solo toward the end. What does it all amount to? A bad time capsule.