New York City

Despite a brief business trip to Arizona, Men in Black sets its story exclusively in New York City. We know what you're thinking, "Yeah, but isn't every story set there?" and you're right. A lot of films, novels, and graphic novels inhabit the five boroughs. As the tag line for the police film Naked City said, there are eight million stories out there.

Men in Black doesn't take place in New York because it wants to be like every other movie or poke fun at taxicab drivers for being otherworldly odd. To the film's credit, it shows incredible restraint by only making that easy joke twice. Instead, the film puts its story here because the city's qualities and history heighten our understanding and appreciation of the film's themes.

In the "Metamorphosis of Men in Black" feature, Director Barry Sonnenfeld noted that original script took place in many different locations, but he decided to restrain the story to one place as he thought, "If there are aliens on this planet where they would feel most comfortable is New York. Who could argue with that?

The Melting Pot

New York City's importance to the film stems from its history as an immigration hub. Throughout its history, millions of immigrants from across the globe came to America through this city, from Irish workers escaping the Great Famine to Russian Jews seeking refuge from pogroms. Chinese, Mexicans, Italians, and Greeks, to name but a few, have travelled from their native countries to call New York home.

In fact, "between 1892 and 1954, more than twelve million immigrants entered the United States through the portal of Ellis Island" (source). After the passing of the Hart-Celler Act of 1965, millions more would come to the city to dramatically transform its population into the late 20th century (source).

Today, "as many as 800 languages are spoken throughout [its] five boroughs and about 36% of the population is foreign born" (source). The city's nicknamed "The Melting Pot," as hundreds of cultures have come together to form a community like a tasty multi-cheese fondue.

This backdrop of immigration to New York City is played up in Men in Black. As Kay tells Jay,

KAY: At any given time, there are around 1,500 aliens on the planet, most of them right here in Manhattan. And most of them are decent enough. They're just trying to make a living.

These aliens come to New York for a variety of reasons. Reggie settles to raise a family. Rosenberg's seeking refuge from the Bugs, because the Earth is considered an apolitical zone for aliens. Meanwhile, the worms want to live the comfy life, which for them culminates in the glories of the American office breakroom. Some come for less than wholesome reasons like the Bug or Jake Jeebs, and that can be true of immigration as well (see The Godfather Part II for a riveting yet even-handed fictional example).

Like real-life immigrant counterparts, the aliens are also important contributors to culture, playing important roles in the development of technology and politics to the arts. The film jokes that microwave ovens and Velcro were alien inventions, and MiB's observation screen outs several artists and politicians as extraterrestrials, including Steven Spielberg, Danny DeVito and Newt Gingrich. (We've always suspected that Spielberg was a little more than human.)

Now let's be clear. Men in Black is a comedy and isn't using its setting to deeply explore immigration in the United States or trying to analyze the cultural relations of a melting pot. Instead, the film uses its setting celebrate New York's immigration heritage in a comedic and playful way; the city's a microcosm that ultimate melting pot: the United States.

In Plain Sight

New York City's architecture is used to visually support the film's theme that things are not always what they seem. As Sonnenfeld noted, "You look at this building and you go, 'I don't know what this is or why it's there. This is what you're telling me but it can't be.' The great thing about New York is you walk around and you see buildings and things and you don't understand why they are there and you laugh about it."

Within this mindset, Sonnenfeld highlights some of New York's architectural curiosities and presents them as hiding secrets in plain sight. For example, the Men in Black headquarters is housed in the vent room of the Holland Tunnel. You might think it just pumps air into the Holland Tunnel, but go below the surface, and you'll find a transit terminal for extraterrestrial beings.

Then there are the observation towers at Flushing Meadow Park—ostensibly part of the 1964 World's Fair, which showcased the technology of the up-and-coming space age, but in reality parking spots for UFOs. As Kay tells Jay, "Why else would we hold it in Queens?" Why else indeed?

Finally, there's the Guggenheim Museum, designed by the famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Technically, it's an art museum, but with a top wider than its base and cylindrical layers, it looks like something an ancient alien race might have plopped down on Fifth Avenue and forgot about. Taking a look at some of the exhibits, you might think so, too.

The building doesn't house an alien god or transform into a giant robot, but Jay climbs up the building when trying to collar the runaway criminal. At the top, the criminal reveals its extraterrestrial nature to Jay, even though he doesn't know what to make of it at first. It's in keeping with the theme of things not always being what they seem.

The Slick, the Stylish, and the Sixties

The Men in Black headquarters incorporates both of the above motifs. Production Designer Bo Welch said that he viewed the headquarters "as a sort of an alien Ellis Island terminal," and we see this when Jay's first being shown around the office. Extraterrestrials are seen going through customs, stating the duration of their stay and declaring what fruits or vegetables they brought with them. One poor slug suffered a three-hour delay in customs after a trip of 17 trillion miles. So typical of spaceliners these days.

Welch also designed the headquarters to infuse World's Fair architecture with 60s-type architecture. He included circles everywhere, from the big, bright light fixtures to the bubble textures on the wall. Objects we'd typically consider square, such as Zed's office walls and the observation screen, are instead rounded and transparent. Same goes for the slick pod-like chairs. Also, a slick science fiction metal color palette for all.

Like the New York architecture in the movie, the result here is a setting that feels odd and alien yet has its own inviting charm. After all, is there anything more alien-feeling than the 1960s? We don't think so.