Six Damn Fine Degrees #140: Men in Black (1997)

Welcome to Six Damn Fine Degrees. These instalments will be inspired by the idea of six degrees of separation in the loosest sense. The only rule: it connects – in some way – to the previous instalment. So come join us on our weekly foray into interconnectedness!

We’re not hosting an intergalactic kegger down here! ~Zed

Science fiction is the perfect vehicle to satirize our society’s mores, as Douglas Adams’ completely brilliant Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy so beautifully illustrates. The genre allows us to explore concepts in such a way, it affords us just enough distance to be able to laugh at ourselves. Even grandiose concepts such as the meaning of life and the universe, or the end of the world, become subjects to poke fun at.

In our last few Six Degrees posts, the end was nigh. But, depending on who you ask, perhaps the end is always nigh. In the incomparable Hitchhiker’s Guide, it is because of an intergalactic highway. Earth, you know, is rather in the way. In Men in Black, the earth could be destroyed because a galaxy resides on it. That galaxy has to be kept from the bad guys, and so it ought to be eliminated. And, if necessary, probably the entire planet with it. Sorry.

In the movie, aliens are all around us. And not the human kind, either. Alien aliens. From outer space. Some of them are celebrities. Your neighbours. Your maths teacher. And honestly, considering the news lately, I have very little doubt about quite a few politicians. This conceit does not work out as it did in They Live! (1988), where a secret and malicious alien cabal is trying to take over the world. These are basically intergalactic immigrants, coming to earth for many different reasons. For work, to escape from a dangerous environment, or to start a family. Most of them are just ordinary peo… um… entities wanting to live their life in peace. Inevitably there are some, however, who are bent on destruction. As is customary with such conceits, this reality has to be kept a strict secret from the human population as, apparently, people would freak out. Which would not be very surprising, when the earth seems to constantly be on the cusp of annihilation.

Its two protagonists are a very youthful Will Smith (no one ever wonder how, even now, he looks so young?) and Tommy Lee Jones (no one has any doubts about him, right?), playing two agents working on a mysterious force, tasked with enforcing earth’s rules within its expanding alien population. This elite squad is continually occupied with preventing us from being rather casually, and terminally, erased. And so all lies in the hands of a team of secret agents, yet again.

What I enjoy about Men in Black, even though I have seen it so many times that I could probably recite it by heart, is that it knows how silly it really is. It has no real plot to speak of, and we don’t care. It has one-liners, jokes, charismatic actors and some really, really great creature design.

Now, in comparison to Hitchhikers Guide, Men in Black isn’t quite satire. It’s not sharp enough for that, nor does it have the luxury of possibly alienating its audience, it being an expensive blockbuster actioner, and all. What it does do, is have a poke at our sensibilities around a subject that has monopolized the public debate for decades. Considering how old this film is, when we look at politics and current events, especially in the last few years, it almost seems too on the nose. Taking into account that lately, we have also had to contend with people who appear to be convinced movies such as They Live! are essentially what is quite literally happening in the world, MiB turns out to be mostly harmless. But, no matter, we could do with a few laughs. Douglas Adams would undoubtedly have had a field day with our current affairs. And although I sometimes wonder what he would have made of all of it, we would surely be well advised to remember where our towel is at all times.