Men in Black Theme of Foreignness and "The Other"

Unless you're Dobie Gray, you know what it's like to feel you're out of the mainstream. Maybe you wear the "wrong" clothes or have the "wrong" group of friends. Maybe you can't play sports to save your life or you're a conservative person in a liberal school. Maybe you're a Yankees fan in Boston.

Worse, maybe you've never seen a single episode of Game of Thrones.

Being seen as different can be depressing and demoralizing, but when you're turned into the "Other," it can be downright dangerous. An Other is someone who's seen by a group as different in some fundamental way that puts them outside the group, and this can make them targets of violence and harassment. Skin color, religion, social class, immigration status, and sexual orientation are often used to define Otherness, although a group can use just about anything to close ranks around people who are just like them and exclude anyone who isn't.

In science fiction, Otherness is often symbolized by extraterrestrials. Instead of being a different race or hailing from another culture, the Other is a totally different species. Men in Black's attitude about Otherness is hard to pin down because it's a comedy; it doesn't take an explicit stand on intolerance. Some of the movie's aliens are truly scary and dangerous to the human race. Others are refugees from other galaxies who just want to work and raise families on a peaceful, secure planet.

The filmmakers must have had a crystal ball on this one; even though MiB was released 20 years ago, it speaks right to our modern anxieties. As the world gets smaller, diversity has become the defining national and global issue of our time, whether it's about immigration, race and culture, religion, or sexual orientation and gender identity.

So, Generation Z-ers, are tentacles and antennae going to be the new black? Probably not. But you're still gonna get to live in a time where your experience of the world will be expanded more than you can imagine. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, will be to make sure everyone feels safe in it.

1. Do any of the aliens not qualify as Others given the definition above? What does this tell you about this theme in the film?
2. Are there any human characters you would describe as an Other? If not, then why do you suppose this is the case?
3. On the observation screen, we see a bunch famous people who are aliens—politicians, actors, celebrity personalities. Were the filmmakers just parodying these folks? Was there a deeper meaning?

Jay had qualities of the Other when he was a member of the NYPD, but by the end of the film, he finds his place in the Men in Black.

Having the aliens wear human costumes is a criticism of how our society deals with Otherness, i.e. making them conform to our rigid standards of race, culture, number of limbs, and snout length.