Timeline for Was anyone other than Edwards actually being considered for admission to the Men in Black?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
14 events
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| Jun 29, 2018 at 12:13 | comment | added | Flater |
@bgvaughan it's abundantly obvious that it was made physically difficult to actually complete it. I fully agree that the uncomfortable chairs were part of the test. But that doesn't prove that the interview process was a sham. The uncomfortability test would apply both when testing all applicants, or only J. There's little point in testing the candidates' marksmanship, but it was important to consider the targets. The shooting test does not actually test marksmanship, but attention to detail under pressure. This also does not prove that the interview process was(n't) a sham.
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| Jun 29, 2018 at 12:09 | comment | added | Flater | I think you're conflating the writers exagerating a movie scene with K manipulating the hiring process. The other applicants are rigid, not because they are in-universe actors, but because they are the exact opposite of J. Their differences are contrasted sharply. That's just good cinematopgrahy. We also don't know if Z actually waited for J. Maybe he was already doing the introduction, but paused when J entered. Since we only see things from J's point of view, we can't know that. You also can't assume wheter MIB would or would not refuse someone who shows up late, since it's never confirmed. | |
| Dec 3, 2017 at 22:17 | comment | added | Irishpanda | They were neuralyzed because they had been brought to MiB headquarters, and had also seen J, who they were going to hire. Can't have anyone remembering that he exists. | |
| Dec 3, 2017 at 16:12 | comment | added | PlasmaHH | If they were just part of a test setup, why were their memories erased? | |
| Dec 3, 2017 at 9:08 | comment | added | quetzalcoatl | "They were both set dressing and the first test." - yup.. that could easily be a test for giving in under perr or society pressure | |
| Dec 2, 2017 at 1:06 | comment | added | computercarguy | "You're everything we've come to expect from years of government training.", is still very apt. The soldiers were performing as they thought they were expected to perform. Given the right cues, even a highly regimented soldier will "stray" and behave creatively. Had Zed been less uptight himself, that could have potentially given the interviewees (in the real world) some slack. Then again, group interviews tend to be very tense, and everyone is trying to outdo everyone else. To a soldier, that can mean "be more of a soldier than the other soldiers," especially in this kind of setting. | |
| Dec 2, 2017 at 1:00 | comment | added | computercarguy | @Nelson, the Army doesn't dissuade creative thinking, they just have a very regimented way of handling things. When I was in, I was able to suggest things, but it had to go up the chain of command before it could be implemented. One of the first things we were told in Basic is that every command should be questioned with "is this a legal command" before it is carried out, so "without question" is wrong, but understandably so. Also, Vietnam was run by politicians, who never should have been involved in running the war. If it was run by Generals, it would have been very much different. | |
| Dec 1, 2017 at 17:22 | comment | added | bgvaughan | My interpretation was always that J was the only real test subject, and that both Z and K implicitly agreed that J had passed this test; Z still had misgivings about J's insubordinate attitude, but K's certainty decided the matter. It was quite obvious the apparent tests were not the real tests. The content of the written test isn't even mentioned, but it's abundantly obvious that it was made physically difficult to actually complete it. There's little point in testing the candidates' marksmanship, but it was important to consider the targets. Only J even attempted the real tests. | |
| Dec 1, 2017 at 15:53 | comment | added | Irishpanda | Exactly. MiB has experience with this, and Zed's attitude towards them makes it seem pretty clear that he doesn't consider them to really be viable recruits to start with. | |
| Dec 1, 2017 at 15:31 | comment | added | Nelson | It's not from the movie, but a soldier's training involves him performing without question. There is no room for creative thinking in the army, not that they are oppressed, but that the logistics make it impossible for everyone in it to know all the details. Of course, things can go very wrong still (Vietnam War). | |
| Dec 1, 2017 at 15:24 | comment | added | Irishpanda | I've added a quote that I believe supports my view, I will poke around the novelization when I get home to see if I can find more concrete details. | |
| Dec 1, 2017 at 15:24 | history | edited | Irishpanda | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
added 145 characters in body
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| Dec 1, 2017 at 14:57 | comment | added | jpmc26 | I have to pose the same question as I did on the other answer: do you have any sources to back it up? | |
| Dec 1, 2017 at 14:41 | history | answered | Irishpanda | CC BY-SA 3.0 |