After teasing fans with a brief glimpse at the futuristic Oblivia amusement park over the weekend, Katy Perry opened the gates to her space age fun zone on Monday morning (Feb. 21) in the video for her latest single, “Chained to the Rhythm.” Wearing a Judy Jetson-worthy white metallic dress and sporting bright pink hair, the clip opens with Perry walking though the gates of the happiest place on Earth, where cotton candy is served in portions the size of giant umbrellas.
The video was directed by Matthew Cullen (Jay Z, Taylor Swift) and filmed at Six Flags Magic Mountain in California in January. Like her 2017 Grammy Awards performance of the song, the video has a number of not-so-subtle hints at Perry’s feelings about the current political climate in the nation. The first taste is a ride called “The Great American Dream Drop,” in which a loving couple snuggle into a tiny house that gets swung around in the air and then violently plunged toward the ground. “So comfortable, we’re living in a bubble,” Perry sings amidst the menace-laced fun. “So comfortable, we cannot see the trouble.”
The tall white fence from her Grammys performance also makes a cameo (with the words “safe trip home” painted on it in blue), as a park visitor is catapulted over it. The dystopian park also has such other not-so-fun attractions as flaming glasses of blue “Inferno H2O,” a tainted liquid that makes patrons belch fire and a hamster wheel attractions that is impossible to keep up with and plenty of arrows pointing the pliant parkgoers in the right direction.
Near the end, Perry is swept up in a giant dance number after Skip Marley jumps out of a 3D movie to rap his cameo, featuring the warning shot lyrics: “Break down the walls to connect, inspire/ Up in your high place, liars/ Time is ticking for the empire.” The wake up call leads to the final shot: Perry’s worried face staring into the camera in a moment of fear-filled awakening.
Watch the video: