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First film

Fridge Brilliance

  • On a meta level, the casting for J and K is perfect; who better to play the anonymous MiB agents than a Mr. Smith and a Mr. Jones?
  • The entrance tests James and the soldiers/sailors/marines/etc. were given had different reasons for being used than those that are apparent:
    • The first one, where they have to fill out a multiple choice exam, is being able to think outside the box and perhaps even a willingness to break assumed rules. The candidates are sitting down on chairs that, while comfortable, provided no place to write down answers. J broke the assumed rule of "do not touch the table" and thought out of the box, grabbing the table and moving it so that he can write without having to twist himself.
      • Not only that, the only way to take the test is to "make a scene". J makes an awful lot of noise dragging the table over to his chair. Thing is, MIB agents don't need to be afraid of making a scene- they have neuralyzers, devices specifically designed to erase the memories of civilians who come across an incident of extraterrestrial activity. They can make as much noise as they want without fear of being exposed!
      • Additionally, grabbing the table shows that he's willing to cooperate with others, since he asks them "Wanna get in on this?", seeing that they're also struggling to write. He doesn't mindlessly play by his own rules, he cares about other people's interests, as well.
    • The second one, the shooting range:
      • This test isn't really about target practice, it's about critical thinking and tolerance. All the other candidates shoot indiscriminately at the alien targets, judging them as hostile just from their looks. James didn't do that; he took the time to actually look at what they were doing and deemed them to be inoffensive activities, but when he looked at Little Tiffany he noticed that she was legitimately suspicious and out-of-place. Not only would an agent be expected to carefully assess a situation before escalating things to violence, but since many aliens in the series are able to disguise themselves as humans and may do so illegally, being able to tell an alien in disguise apart from a real human by picking up on small details of their appearance and behavior is critical. According to Word of God, J was actually correct about her being the dangerous one.
      • The start of the second movie demonstrates why this is all necessary as well, when a gung-ho agent provokes a really large, really dangerous alien worm, and it causes chaos in New York's subway system. And T is explicitly stated to be a Marine Corps veteran who joined MiB to be a hero, which is not what the job is about.
      • Another possibility, since J seemed confused by the "aliens" setup and fired a single blind shot, is that he didn't mean to hit the little girl, who was simply included as an "innocent" target you weren't supposed to hit. However, he redeemed himself by coming up with a totally spontaneous plausible-sounding lie, an essential skill of an MiB.
    • This is capped off by Zed's line after the shooting test: "Gentlemen, congratulations! You're everything we've come to expect from years of government training. And now if you'll just follow me, we have one more test to administer: an eye exam." In this case, a willingness to take things at face-value and do what's expected of them, whereas J is willing to question his assumptions. A nice, subtle little "up yours" from Zed at the soldier-boys.
    • This extends even before the official tests. The question of whether they know why they're being recruited is a way of seeing whether they're even willing to admit when they don't know anything or if they'll simply fumble around trying to look special.
    • It even extends to their attire. J wears a bright red jacket that makes him stand out from the other candidates who are in their muted dress uniforms. He's not concerned with fitting in with what's expected or following proper social protocols.
    • It's entirely possible that the other 'candidates' weren't candidates at all, but simply part of the show to evaluate James. As a police detective, James has exactly the skill set the MiB are looking for, and has already displayed at least some of the tenacity an MiB agent needs for the job. The whole 'test' was for show; they knew James was their man and just needed to confirm it (by evaluating his ability to assess a situation rapidly, think outside the box, and not be intimidated—useful skills for both a police officer and a Man In Black).
  • Zed is perfectly honest about the tests focusing on "motor skills, concentration, and stamina." The above examples relate to the first two; K knows J can handle the stamina part because he chased an alien with superhuman agility all the way up a high building on foot, rendering a third test superfluous.
  • Tying into the above fridge brilliance - of course Edwards would be the best candidate of the group for MiB. MiB isn't a military organization, they're basically a customs and police service, trained to enforce laws, investigate breaches of those laws, and resolve tense situations peacefully and quietly. Violence is a last resort, to be used when a peaceful resolution is no longer possible. Military personnel (save for the military police) are just not suited for that kind of work, but Edwards, being a New York cop, is.
  • The scene with Reggie is already meant to establish that something really, really bad is about to happen, but there's even more clues to just how bad than what K mentions. J getting thrown around is meant to be funny, but think about how Reggie reacts to it. Anyone could tell J has no clue what he's doing, and from what K says, Reggie doesn't seem to be stupid. You'd think someone about to become a father would be a little more concerned that the person delivering the baby was grossly unqualified, but he almost completely ignores it, and keeps focusing on getting K off his back. Shows just how truly desperate and paranoid he was.
  • In the first film, as Jay and Kay speak to Beatrice, she offers lemonade to them, but Jay grimaces while drinking it, not-so-subtly spitting it back into the glass. But the lemonade's bad because the Edgar bug ate all the sugar. Or as an alternative odds are there was too much sugar, since Edgar drank more than what the human body was supposed to handle. When someone is traumatized by an experience they can't quite comprehend, they often repeat the same habits they did in during the event as a form of Muscle Memory.
  • Going from killing witnesses in the comics to neuralyzing them in the movies doesn't make sense just because of Adaptational Heroism. Eventually someone in the comics would notice all those people disappearing.
    • The usage of the neuralyzer to erase memories also fits in perfectly with real-life stories about alien encounters and abductions. The films show that neuralyzers are not 100% effective, the subject may retain some vague memories of what happened, even subconsciously. This fits in perfectly with abduction cases; people see a UFO or an alien, and then suddenly it's several hours later when they come to their senses with no idea what happened, but over time they begin to remember and may have strange dreams or hazy recollections of it.
  • In the first film, Frank says of the Arquillian galaxy, "Just because something is important doesn't mean it isn't very, very small." The MacGuffin in both subsequent movies, the Light of Zartha and the Arcnet, end up being baubles also about the size of the jewel in which the galaxy is contained.
    • "Size doesn't matter" is a recurring theme in the first film. Heck, the very first scene follows a dragonfly as it buzzes along, until finally it's squished. And then there's the Noisy Cricket, the bouncy ball that caused the 1977 blackout, K defeating the bug by being eaten by it, etc.
  • K mentions it's company policy that agents have to have biyearly CAT scans every six months. With aliens that can perfectly mimic human appearances and influence someone's mind, not to mention the stresses of living a lonely, isolated life where you regularly deal with hostile alien lifeforms and occasionally have to save the Earth from annihilation, the psychological integrity of an agent is a legitimate concern.
  • The machine that "burns off" fingerprints doesn't actually burn them off, it causes the cells on the targeted area to join together to create a clean, smooth surface. The heat is an unfortunate byproduct of the process.

Fridge Horror

  • The neuralyzers:
    • Assuming they can wipe out entire memories, someone's entire personality, life decisions, changes, thoughts, plans could be obliterated and the victim would essentially be a blank slate who could be manipulated by the user. Now imagine if someone less honorable got their hands on the devices. It may be why they're so aggressive with it (and other tech) in the first place in terms of using it (flashie thingie) or keeping it a secret. Allowing anyone not MIB (and limiting how many field agents have one) to even having an inkling of the sort of technological advantage the organization has could be very very very dangerous.
      • Then again, the MIB seem to be able to adjust how much of the memories they want to wipe out. I mean, Laurel Weaver (Linda Fiorentino's character) is implied to be neuralyzed on a semi-regular basis due to her continuously encountering alien corpses in the morgue, yet every time she's neuralyzed, she'll always be back to being a coroner no matter what.
    • Mixed with Fridge Tear Jerker; You will never remember your experiences in MIB if you survive long enough to retire. All those times you had, all those fun adventures you went on, and all those agents and friendly aliens you meet in your travels will be like they never happened. Could explain why K and the other older agents are so closed off. It was to lessen the emotional anguish they and their alien friends would have once they inevitably retire. Literally the only way you would remember these friendly extraterrestrial faces without being forced back into The Masquerade is death.
    • The neuralyzer is straight out of the comic, though there it is more of a general purpose hypnosis beam. It's used for questionings and memory erasure...and by Agent K to brainwash a middle schooler into going on a shooting spree a la Charles Whitman when he hits 19.
  • Again with the neuralyzers; J is worried that overuse of the flashy thing could cause brain cancer. Imagine the effect it could have on an epileptic person.
    • The third movie makes this worse, since it's implied that chronic or extended exposure to the neuralyzer ("I might have cooked him too long") can result in very severe brain damage. Maybe J wasn't so far off with the "brain cancer" comment...
  • The ending, where we find out our entire universe is just a marble being played with by a HUGE alien is scary enough, but what happens if he accidentally breaks our marble someday?

Fridge Logic


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