Character Analysis
We'd label Jay's (a.k.a. Agent J) story in Men in Black as "coming of age lite"—all the heady flavoring of a Bildungsroman with none of the calorie-heavy adolescence angst. What we mean is that it isn't a coming-of-age story in the classic sense. Jay's already an adult when we meet him, so he can't transition from childhood to adulthood.
Plus, the whole story takes place over two days.
But not all coming-of-age stories require a protagonist to grow like Pip in Great Expectations. These stories also focus on the moral and psychological transformations of their characters, showing the point when the protagonist learns some truth that matures his understanding about himself or the world. And sometimes these transformations can take place within a very short amount of time, such as a three-day romp through New York City or even Saturday morning detention.
Jay falls into this latter category. He's already an adult, but he grows within the Men in Black agency to find the place where he belongs in the world, learning who he is in the process.
Touching stuff, right?
First Impressions Are the Most Important
When we first meet Jay, he's already a competent guy, an NYPD cop. He chases down a perp who's got supernatural athletic ability, and although his evening takes a pretty strange turn, he doesn't lose his wits when seeing a man use eyeball gills, a weapon disintegrate, and Jeebs grow back a recently decapitated head. Any one of which would send us into Daffy fits.
Still, Jay's a young guy and he has some less mature qualities that will provide the foundation of the coming of age story to follow. Jay doesn't know much about how the world works—although, in fairness, very few people know that extraterrestrials co-mingle with Manhattanites—and like a teenage rebel, he also has a real problem with authority figures. We see this when Jay turns in his report to his superior officer:
OFFICER: "The perpetrator then blinked two sets of eyelids." You mean blinked with both eyes?
JAY: No, sir, he blinked one set, then he blinked a completely different set.
BEAT COP: You know, like high beams and low beams.
OFFICER: Was that before or after he drew the weapon that you claim evaporated into a million pieces?
JAY: After, sir.
The way Jay says, "After, sir," tells us he isn't happy having his aptitude questioned. The scene only gets more tense when the beat cop chimes in with his opinion:
OFFICER: And why is it that none of the other officers saw either of these events?
JAY: Some of the other officers are soggy around the midsection. I guess that's why they weren't able to keep up.
BEAT COP: What is your problem?
JAY: My problem is you being all up in my damn face. That's my problem.
While the beat cop may not be Jay's superior officer, he does act superior to him, and that's an attitude Jay can't stand. Not coincidentally, the Bug will have a similar attitude when it comes to humanity in general.
Jay's attitude towards his NYPD associates echoes the relationship he'll have with Zed later in the film. For example, when Zed tells him he misheard Rosenberg, Jay tersely responds, "Look, whatever, man. I know what I heard." It also might be worth pointing out that all of the authority figures in Jay's life, from Kay to Zed, the beat cop to the superior officer, are all much older than Jay. The fact that everyone calls him by nicknames such as "kid," "slick," and, in one awkward case, "tiger," probably doesn't help much.
School's in Session
After impressing Kay with his ability to chase down the cephalopoid, Jay's invited to take part in a test for the position of the next Men in Black agent. The other potential recruits include members of the Marines, Air Force, Navy SEALs, and Army Rangers.
At first glance, it appears as though Jay's bumbling through the tests, but we have a theory that he's passing with flying colors. Why's that? Let's consider the tests. The first test is a paper test, but the recruits are sitting in this pod-like chairs with no solid surface to write on. Jay's the only one with ingenuity to use the table in the middle of the room. Points deducted for scooting the table in the most obnoxious way possible, though.
Then in the shooting gallery, Jay shows creativity and observation skills in fumbling for an excuse as to why he shot poor little Tiffany. We're willing to bet he's the only one who noticed those books were on quantum physics; in a job where everything is not as it seems, even the smallest hint that something's amiss could potentially save your life— or the entire Earth.
Jay shows creativity, observation, and a willingness to do what's necessary to achieve his goals, all skills that we imagine the Men in Black would value over blind obedience. While there's nothing explicitly said in the film to confirm this, that's our story and we're sticking to it.
Either way, Jay passes and joins the Men in Black. He becomes Kay's partner, and school's officially in session. The older agent teaches him the skills and knowledge he'll need to do the job properly. For example, how to approach people who've encountered an alien: "Give her time to get the wrong impression. Makes things a lot smoother." And how to research strange happenings: the supermarket tabloids actually have the "best investigative reporting on the planet."
Jay's time with Kay also presents several challenges, some of which Jay succeeds at, some of which he fails, but all of which teach him about how the world really works. For example, Jay succeeds at delivering Reggie's child, and he solves the riddle of Rosenberg's final words, realizing that the Galaxy is on Orion the cat's collar. Both cases teach him how inventive and flexible he'll have to be to approach this weird new world.
His failures stem from his inexperience and youthful impatience. After seeing the Edgar Bug kill the tow guy, Jay tries to shoot him with the Noisy Cricket, but the blast and recoil are insane and draw the attention of the crowd. Kay scolds him for the obvious display, but Jay claims they don't have time for the conspiracy routine with the Earth in mortal danger. Kay responds:
KAY: There's always an alien battle cruiser or a Corellian death ray or an intergalactic plague that's about to wipe out life on this miserable little planet. The only way these people get on with their happy lives is they do not know about it.
Harsh.
But when Jay looks around at the distressed faces in the crowd, he realizes that Kay's right. His inexperience has led him to view the situation as extreme and in need of extreme measures to solve, but as it turns out, this is just a typical day on the job. As we'll see, the lesson is that you still need to stop and think even when a literal doomsday clock is ticking right in front of you.
Final Exams
When the bug kidnaps Laurel and steals the Galaxy, it's finals time. Jay has to put the skills and knowledge he's learned over the last two-day crunch into play and prove he's worthy of being a man in black.
Kay and Zed are desperately trying to figure out how the Bug plans to escape Earth, but it's Jay who solves the problem, realizing it plans to use the UFOs still at Flushing Meadows Park from the 1964 World's Fair.
During the battle with the Bug, Kay tells Jay to keep it on Earth before taunting the giant alien into eating him. This leaves Jay alone for the first time in the film; he's got to solve the problem without his mentor's support. Initially, he rushes in and tries to fight the Bug mano-a-mandible but is quickly overpowered. We know not to underestimate Jay—he's a creative guy.
Slowing down to think, Jay realizes the Bug adores the insects of our planet:
JAY: Big bad bug got a bit of a soft spot, huh? See, what I can't understand is why you gotta come down here bringing all this ruckus, snatching up galaxies and everything. My attitude is, don't start nothing won't be nothing.
Jay gives this little speech while stomping on cockroaches and making the bug very upset. It gives Kay just enough time to retrieve his weapon and blast the bug from the inside out.
Graduation
Having passed his final test, Jay graduates to a full-fledged Men in Black agent, but Kay has a surprise for him. The big reveal: He hasn't been training Jay as a partner but as a replacement. Kay's just plain tired of having to do stuff like blast his way out of alien guts. Makes sense.
Jay protests, "I cannot do this job by myself." But Kay simply hands him the neuralyzer, a tool he promised to give him earlier in the film "when [he] grew up." Turns out he wasn't being dismissive; he was foreshadowing his plans all along. The neuralyzer acts as a kind of diploma, a symbol that Jay's passed his test. In a distinctly Kay-like way, he zaps Kay:
KAY: See you around, Jay.
JAY: No, you won't.
In the next scene, we see that Jay's indeed come into his own through the agency. He's sporting a black suit with a mandarin collar and wrap-around sunglasses. The personal fashion statement shows us that Jay's become comfortable enough in his role to add some of his own style.
When his new partner, Laurel, now Agent L, relays their new assignment, Jay shows he's learned his way around the greater galaxy by knowing that Dennis Rodman is from Solaxium 9. He's officially transitioned from the student to teacher.
Not too shabby, seeing as he's only been on the job for, what, three days? It took us that long to figure out how the leveling system worked in Dark Souls. Git gud or die tryin', right?
Jay's Timeline