Never have I seen two people match each other’s freak in the way that Sabrina Carpenter and Jenna Ortega did in the music video for “Taste.” And this is coming from someone who has never really cared for Carpenter. But this music video? She’s created a fan out of me and I’m definitely going to look at everything that she has in her collection. Because not only were her vocals spot on, she used music to deliver an engaging story that was campy, queer, and deliciously fun. You don’t get that in music videos anymore. You get vibes, dancing, and people who honestly don’t look like they’re having fun. They’re just there. Sabrina Carpenter isn’t just there. She’s the moment and so is Jenna Ortega.
Watching their relationship blossom…
At the beginning of the music video, you can tell that Carpenter and Ortega do not like each other. There is a man that they are both vying for. And in this alternate reality they continuously kill each other in creative ways as a way to one up each other. But as the story progresses, they change. It’s no longer about getting the guy. Instead, they’ve realized that they have found someone that they can have fun with. Someone that challenges them. And by the end, I believe it’s love they’ve found with each other. The guy is out of the picture. And they finally see that what they’ve been needing has been right in front of them the whole time.
As a viewer, watching this relationship blossom between them in the span of 3 minutes and 18 seconds, it’s intoxicating. Movies that are 2 hours long don’t do as good of a job in demonstrating why two people should be together in the same way that “Taste” did. I want a spin-off after this music video. I want to see what adventures they go on with these two looking absolutely fabulous while conquering the world. Because they’re not fighting against each other anymore. Instead, they can fight together while looking like they are stepping off the set of Death Becomes Her with a side of Kill Bill, Psycho, and Scream. And I have no shame in saying that I hope writers (even fanfic writers) are inspired by the storytelling of obsession and self-discovery in “Taste.”
Then there’s that kiss…
Sabrina Carpenter and Jenna Ortega matched each other’s freak in a music video that felt fun, dramatic, campy, and queer AF. It wasn’t scared to submerge itself in storytelling that pushes past the heteronormativity of it all. Case in point: that kiss between the two women. The way that they seamlessly transitioned between Ortega kissing the guy and then kissing Carpenter, clearly shows that the passion and connection was between the women and not what that man. Ortega was thinking about Carpenter when kissing him. And it subverts expectations about what romance and obsession looks like, on a stage built by one of the biggest pop stars in the world and one of the most talked about actresses in Hollywood at the moment.
Ultimately, “Taste” was giving girly pop that was flirty fun while exploring the raw and unexpected nature of attraction. And it flipped the bird to the age ol’ narrative of two women fighting for a man’s affections while he just sits there with no wounds and claims the winner. He lost. And they won by finding each other.
Watch the video below:
What did you think about Sabrina Carpenter’s new video for “Taste”? Let us know in the comments below!
Queerly Not Straight posts Saturdays (or when I feel like it) with opinion pieces, listicals, reviews, and more focused on the LGBT community (and occasionally about the Latine community since I am Latine.) If you’re reading this somewhere outside of Fangirlish, it has been stolen without permission.
