History YMMV / MenInBlack

* SignitureScene: The recruitment scene due to it being a moment that brings a lot of discussion amongst the viewers as to how smart it is at showing off why J was picked over the other candidates.

** The alien baby in the first film bears some resemblance to [[StarWars Kit Fisto]].

** The induction speech is creepier due to (possibly apocryphal) rumors that Will Smith was being taken in by the [[ChurchOfHappyology Church of Scientology]].

* CriticalResearchFailure: When Kay gives his speech about how "people are dumb" he cites examples of knew knowledge like the Earth no being the center of the universe or it not being flat as though such events led to disaster instead of aiding in the development of human civilization. In particular his comment about how "Five hundred years ago, everybody ''knew'' the Earth was flat," referring to the idea that UsefulNotes/ChristopherColumbus was the one who proved the Earth was round, which is a myth.

* GeniusBonus: The first film included a "practical joke by the Great Attractor". In RealLife, the Great Attractor is the name for a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Attractor strange gravitational anomaly]] with an apparent mass equal to tens of thousands of Milky Way galaxies.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Agent Elle, played by Creator/LindaFiorentino, never came back in the sequels. Her absence is explained by J claiming she wanted to go back to work at the morgue, and thus was neuralyzed by him[[note]]A terribly weak excuse after joining the MIB being stressed as a permanent life-changing decision which involves [[UnPerson your entire life being erased]] until you're old enough to be forced into retirement- the idea that L just "decided to leave" heavily undermines the speech Z gave J during his "suiting up" montage; still, the earlier scene with T already gave a HandWave with J just neuralyzing the other agent and trying to hook him up with a waitress[[/note]]. (Of course, when writing Elle, nobody had any idea that Fiorentino would be exceedingly hard to work with, thus [[McLeaned necessitating her departure]].) It could instead have been easily explained that she wanted to return to the morgue and MIB decided stationing an agent directly at the morgue under a new identity, in order to track potential cases was beneficial. There was no need for her to reappear but it would keep the supposed stakes of enlisting as MIB for life. Still, in the animated series she's still an agent, and her lack of presence in the live-action movies hasn't stopped fanfic writers from doing stories where she returns to MIB and becomes an agent once again.

** ''You know the difference between you and me? I make this look good.''

* CriticalResearchFailure: When Kay gives his speech about how "people are dumb" he cites examples of knew knowledge like the Earth no being the center of the universe or it not being flat as though such events led to disaster instead of aiding in the development of human civilization. In particular his comment about how Five hundred years ago, everybody ''knew'' the Earth was flat," referring to the idea that UsefulNotes/ChristopherColumbus was the one who proved the Earth was round, which is a myth.

*** The device itself was a [[ProductPlacement Sony]] [=MiniDisc=] player, one of the company's many failed attempts to get past the CD era.

* UglyCute: The guck-spitting alien squid baby that J helps deliver. He even remarks that it does look kinda cute.

* ValuesDissonance: While paranoia towards those with unchecked power was certainly present during the 90s, it seems unlikely that the first film would have been made in the 2010s without making the MIB far more morally ambiguous.

* {{Woolseyism}}: Edward's line about NYPD meaning he will "kNock Yo Punkass Down" was rather brilliantly rendered in the Danish translation as: "Nu Ydmyger Politimanden Dig" (Now the Policeman Humiliates You).

** Lenny Vinito (The Bowling-Ball Head Alien) went on to play the human among the aliens on ABC's ''Series/TheNeighbors.''

* SpiritualAdaptation: [[https://youtu.be/f5PDKbumRmI?t=505 This video]] argues that the first ''Men in Black'' video is probably the closest we're going to get to a third movie in the original ''Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}}'' series, especially since the [[Film/Ghostbusters2016 actual]] third ''Ghostbusters'' movie ended up being a reboot... or at least, until ''Ghostbusters 2020'' was announced as a continuation from the original two films.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: The tests Jay participated in to qualify for MIB. Were Zed and Kay giving the candidates a SecretTestOfCharacter that Jay passed by thinking differently and deviating from what they expected, or were they straight tests and Jay passed due to his impressive physical showing against the alien earlier in the film that Kay was impressed by? The novel sides with the former interpretation, even saying Jay's choice to shoot little Tiffany on the firing range was right.

* OneSceneWonder: Jeebs, Frank the Pug and the Worms in the first movie (though they show up briefly in three different scenes). Positive response led to them all returning for the animated series and the sequel.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: The "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiBLgEx6svA Men in Black]]" EndingTheme by Creator/WillSmith is a [[EarWorm wonderfully catchy song]].

** Frank the dog is also a real-life ugly cute pudge.

* SpiritualAdaptation: [[https://youtu.be/f5PDKbumRmI?t=505 This video]] argues that the first ''Men in Black'' video is probably the closest we're going to get to a third movie in the original ''Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}}'' series, especially since the [[Film/Ghostbusters2016 actual]] third ''Ghostbusters'' movie ended up being a reboot... or at least, until [[Film/Ghostbusters2016 the actual 3rd]] ''Ghostbusters'' movie was announced.

* SpiritualAdaptation: [[https://youtu.be/f5PDKbumRmI?t=505 This video]] argues that the first ''Men in Black'' video is probably the closest we're going to get to a third movie in the original ''Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}}'' series, especially since the [[Film/Ghostbusters2016 actual]] third ''Ghostbusters'' movie ended up being a reboot...or at least, until [[Film/Ghostbusters2016 the actual 3rd]] ''Ghostbusters'' movie was announced.

** That said, the concern isn't simply unchecked power that makes people nervous - in fact, it has more to do with distrust in the government - both in their capabilities, and how much of what they do is in the best interests of the people. For example, in ''Film/IronMan2'', Tony Stark is seen as doing the right thing, by resisting government oversight or control - despite the fact he's basically wanting to use incredibly powerful, and advanced military hardware - domestically and internationally, as he sees fit. Incidentally this same view is likely what lead to the MIB films' AdaptationalHeroism from the comics. Despite having the same lack of oversight or government control - in effect, being above the US Government, the only change required was doing things for the good of the people, instead of just what's good for the government. Another, albeit less pronounced example, is in the original ''Ghostbusters'' film - while the EPA guy ''did'' ultimately do something stupid ''and'' dangerous, his character was painted as a bad guy from the second he had the ''nerve'' to want to inspect the unlicensed nuclear power source a bunch of former professors installed in the middle of Manhattan.

** Lenny Vinito(The Bowling-Ball Head Alien) went on to play the human among the aliens on ABC's ''Series/TheNeighbors.''

* SpiritualAdaptation: [[https://youtu.be/f5PDKbumRmI?t=505 This video]] argues that the first ''Men in Black'' video is probably the closest we're going to get to a third movie in the original ''Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}}'' series, especially since the [[Film/Ghostbusters2016 actual]] third ''Ghostbusters'' movie ended up being a reboot...or at least, until [[Film/Ghostbusters3 the actual 3rd]] ''Ghostbusters'' movie was announced.
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Agent Elle, played by Linda Fiorentino, never came back in the sequels. Her absence is explained by J claiming she wanted to go back to work at the morgue, and thus was neuralyzed by him[[note]]A terribly weak excuse after joining the MIB being stressed as a permanent life-changing decision which involves [[UnPerson your entire life being erased]] until you're old enough to be forced into retirement- the idea that L just "decided to leave" heavily undermines the speech Z gave J during his "suiting up" montage; still, the earlier scene with T already gave a HandWave with J just neuralyzing the other agent and trying to hook him up with a waitress[[/note]]. (Of course, when writing Elle, nobody had any idea that Fiorentino would be exceedingly hard to work with, thus [[McLeaned necessitating her departure]].) It could instead have been easily explained that she wanted to return to the morgue and MIB decided stationing an agent directly at the morgue under a new identity, in order to track potential cases was beneficial. There was no need for her to reappear but it would keep the supposed stakes of enlisting as MIB for life. Still, in the animated series she's still an agent, and her lack of presence in the live-action movies hasn't stopped fanfic writers from doing stories where she returns to MIB and becomes an agent once again.

** That said, the concern isn't simply unchecked power that makes people nervous - in fact, it has more to do with distrust in the government - both in their capabilities, and how much of what they do is in the best interests of the people. For example, in ''Iron Man 2'', Tony Stark is seen as doing the right thing, by resisting government oversight or control - despite the fact he's basically wanting to use incredibly powerful, and advanced military hardware - domestically and internationally, as he sees fit. Incidentally this same view is likely what lead to the MIB films' AdaptationalHeroism from the comics. Despite having the same lack of oversight or government control - in effect, being above the US Government, the only change required was doing things for the good of the people, instead of just what's good for the government. Another, albeit less pronounced example, is in the original ''Ghostbusters'' film - while the EPA guy ''did'' ultimately do something stupid ''and'' dangerous, his character was painted as a bad guy from the second he had the ''nerve'' to want to inspect the unlicensed nuclear power source a bunch of former professors installed in the middle of Manhattan.
* Main/{{Woolseyism}}: Edward's line about NYPD meaning he will "kNock Yo Punkass Down" was rather brilliantly rendered in the Danish translation as: "Nu Ydmyger Politimanden Dig" (Now the Policeman Humiliates You).

* SpiritualAdaptation: [[https://youtu.be/f5PDKbumRmI?t=505 This video]] argues that the first ''Men in Black'' video is probably the closest we're going to get to a third movie in the original ''Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}}'' series, especially since the [[Film/Ghostbusters2016 actual]] third ''Ghostbusters'' movie ended up being a reboot...or at least, [[Film/Ghostbusters3 the actual 3rd]] ''Ghostbusters'' movie was announced.

* SpiritualAdaptation: [[https://youtu.be/f5PDKbumRmI?t=505 This video]] argues that the first ''Men in Black'' video is probably the closest we're going to get to a third movie in the original ''Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}}'' series, especially since the [[Film/Ghostbusters2016 actual]] third ''Ghostbusters'' movie ended up being a reboot.

*** Bonus in that the candidate is named [[TheLosers Jake]] [[ChrisEvans Jensen]].

** Speaking of Captain America, six years after this movie, Creator/MarvelComics character Isaiah Bradley, an African-American who went by that alias, was introduced.

* SugarWiki/SoCoolItsAwesome
* WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs
* WinTheCrowd: Reading the comics would make you drop the movies.