Review, Recap: Christina Grimmie's Anybody's You music video | "It's always us, Jessica"

While we were left hanging with these words "Let your feet follow your heart" from the previous Snow White music video, Anybody's You picked up where Snow White left off.

Will Jessica, the lead character in a series of music videos from Christina Grimmie's Side A EP for what is called The Ballad of Jessica Blue, listen to her friend's advice?

In light of remembering and celebrating the music that she left in this world, her newest music video has been released. I have said this in my last post, I want to thank her family. We are extremely grateful that they had decided to share these videos with us. It's not easy to watch her, knowing that she's not physically here. We would not even get to hear her sing these songs LIVE. Yet, the life that she exudes through the screen makes me feel that she is ALIVE. I don't doubt though that she's way better off to be with our Lord in heaven.

Going into this, I had very high expectation because I really love the Snow White MV. Its depth and artistry are mind blowing. The quality is there even though they had limited budget. The choreography was surprisingly good. Overall, I think it deserved a 9/10 rating from me. So, I was hoping that Anybody's You would be able to top that or meet it at the very least.

Let's start our discussion. I hope I don't rain on your parade.

The first scene shows us that Jessica is reading a text from Luke (her boyfriend) while she's inside her car. "Sorry about tonight."

Before we go further in this music video, I want you to remember this particular line in the previous Snow White music video because of its possible significance: "There's nothing to give. I just think that he would be happier with someone else." Jessica was talking to her friend about Luke. This would make a LOT of sense and explain the fascinating symbolism or twist in the story near the end of Anybody's You music video.

Back to the next scene. She sees him with someone else. She starts to follow him. It is during this part that I figured what this whole music video could possibly be the: typical I-caught-my-boyfriend-cheating-on-me scenario. I thought, this sucked. I didn't think I would have interest in watching the video in its entirety. If that would really be the story that was going to unfold, it definitely is a huge let-down. A plot as cliche as that is certainly not my cup-of-tea. 

The Snow White mv didn't revolve around her romantic struggle. It is only a "part". So, for Anybody's You to put the spotlight on something that don't independently represent the essence of this series is very disappointing. An identity crisis is more than just the romance aspect of one's life.  

I wanted to look at it objectively. I decided to pass my judgment until the very end. I love the song. I was still hoping that something would redeem its quality. Considering that Christina's mind is not as shallow as this, I convinced myself that there might be a glimmer of hope. I'd greatly appreciate it.

At the beginning, they made it seem like Luke was cheating on her. That's the story that they want to put out there for the viewers. I couldn't help but roll my eyes. Three quarters into the video, nothing much happens. Shots alternate from her still following Luke until they reach the rooftop to her singing to the song.

On a brighter note, I love the two shots you see below. There's a haunting vibe that I got. 

The extreme close-up shots are quite eerie especially when she stares right at the screen and you get to see through her eyes.

Thankfully, the emotions she wanted to convey are evident on her face. This is exactly the same as in Snow White. It's one of the positive points in this video.

Again, like in Snow White, Christina obviously didn't lip sync. She literally sang the song. When she belted out those high notes, you could actually see it.

I love the shots of her on the stairs.  

I can't comment about the choreography in this video because there's not much and it really was not needed in the story. That's a good thing, I guess.

Now, back to Luke. He doesn't have a way out, unless he decides to jump off the roof. He is pretty much trapped. It was bound to happen from the start, to be honest. Eventually, Jessica gets to corner him. This is not the saving grace that I was waiting for, yet. 

Then, I would be smacked right to my face.

    

The epic twist is the fact that the face of the woman Luke is cheating Jessica with is actually Jessica's. She gets the shock of her life. "What?" she utters. She looks so confused.

This big revelation is open to interpretation. I'll offer mine. It's up to you if you think that it fits well with the story that we see in this video. It certainly is one of the best parts of this video. Forgive me if I get too excited and cerebral about that symbolism. I'm a writer. I can relate to those who have creative minds. I appreciate it so much when I see one.

I'm proud of Christina. This is what I was talking about. I knew that there's more depth to this than just a cheating boyfriend.

Regular viewers might have a harder time to understand. I saw some video reactions on YouTube. I think, they didn't get the relevance of the revelation on the whole premise of Christina's music video series as much as the writers, creative thinkers or artists out there. Somehow, I'm disappointed. At the same time, I feel good that I saw beyond this symbolism. It kind of confirms the wavelength that I have. 

So, the question is: why did Jessica saw herself on the woman that her boyfriend is supposedly cheating her with?

Remember what I mentioned earlier about this line: "There's nothing to give. I just think that he would be happier with someone else." from the Snow White music video?

He's not really cheating on her. It was all in her mind. She assumed that he's with someone who is a 'better' version of herself (hence she saw her face) and someone whom he could be happier with (hence a more put up woman).

The ones mentioned above give more depth and meaning to the whole music video. What I thought as a typical boyfriend cheating scenario has transcended into this mind blowing quality creative work. 

This alone made me reconsider that maybe, just maybe, the Anybody's You music video has redeemed itself and critically comes close to Snow White. I would not be surprised if it was Christina herself who thought about this idea. If she did, then, all the more reason that she's a huge lost in this world. 

The song ended with this shot below. Haunting is an understatement if we are to describe this.

My only other favorite part is the last scene where Jessica is with her grandmother. 

Grandma: "Jessica, what is it?"

Jessica: "I don't know. I know it's not my boyfriend. And I know that it's not my crap paying job. And it can't be my showcase on Friday 'cause everybody knows that I'm just gonna crash and burn with that too... so, it must be me, right?"

Grandma: "It's always us, Jessica. Always. Come with me."

Most of us, if not all, could relate to what she's dealing with. At one point in our lives, we went through that same phase. There was nothing wrong but ourselves.

Her grandmother is exactly the voice of reason in this video. She let her know that the very first thing to do is for Jessica to acknowledge that she's the problem herself and it's perfectly normal to feel that way.

"It's always us, Jessica."

I want to say that it broke my heart to see some tears on Christina's eyes. We didn't really see her cry ever when she was still living here. We always saw her as a bubbly, cheerful and funny girl who exuded good and positive energy. 

That's probably the part where we lost it and cried.

Her acting is decent. It makes me want to watch The Matchbreaker more. I am not sure when they plan to release that independent movie that she's in especially since her character is one of the leads. I am hoping that it's going to be this year but there's a chance that they will push it back until next year.

My last thoughts... I still think that Snow White is better than this in almost all aspects. I originally wanted to give it a dismal 4/10 rating. The brightest spot that I really appreciate here is that big reveal/twist. That, together with the wisdom coming from Jessica's grandmother will earn the Anybody's You music video a 6/10 rating from me. 

Anybody's You is a disappointment compared to Snow White. It isn't that bad though. It just so happens that the bar is set high because of how awesome Snow White was. A lot of the elements that contributed to that were not as present as in this music video. 

So, I'm not expecting much from Deception. It's the next music video to be released on the 25th. Hopefully, I will not end up giving it a rating below 5/10. Although the song Deception is what Christina considered as her 'baby', it's my least favorite among the four songs. 

Admittedly, I'm more excited about Without Him, other than the story of The Ballad of Jessica Blue series. I have faith that when that final curtain will close, it's going to end on a high note. For Christina's sake.

It's an honor to remember and celebrate one of Christina's legacies in this world. I'm sure that her music, her voice, her incredible talent are not left here. She brought them with her as she went home, up there, to our Lord.

Watch the music video here: