INS Division 6

also known as; the Men in Black

I chose to write about the movie “Men in Black”, because it has always fascinated me with its incorporation of the idea of the existence of extraterrestrials. Also, it was one of the scariest VHS tapes (I thought as a 7 year old) we owned that I was allowed to watch, which has always stuck with me.

The plot follows two agents working for a top secret organization, who monitor alien lifeforms living on Earth cloaking their existence from ordinary people. After the opening scene the movie begins with the recruitment of character James Edwards (later known as “agent Jay”), to replace agent Kay’s retired partner. The main plot is to stop an alien known as the “Bug” species, an over-sized cockroach-like creature, who is threatening the the safety of Earth and possibly the entire galaxy. Aside from the witty humour and running gag that almost everyone you know may be an alien (celebreties, politicians…), the most memorable moments from the film, are the great one-liners and the gadgets used. The most famous of these gadgets is probably the “Neurolyzer,” in short, it erases memories; programmable for long or short term effects.  My other favourite weapon in the film is the Noisy Cricket, both for its fire power, and comedic purposes.

 “I feel like ima break this damn thing!” —J

There’s no question that the franchise has sparked interests in possible technologies and the existence of out of this world life. There are countless blogs and pages out there dedicated to proving the actual existence of MiB, and the actual existence of aliens.  One entertaining page about alien sightings and influences here.

The futuristic technologies of this movie always seemed a bit far fetched to me. From the secret layer, to the weapons, to the cars, and even the fact that the ordinary people were completely oblivious to what was really going on. But to paraphrase Kay, I suppose they have a point when he says it would only cause panic and chaos. Though some of the science behind some  of the ideas are fairly sound, we’re just not there yet (article). And it’s not like this was the only alien sci-fi movie out there, the 90’s were full of them. For example, some Star Trek films, Star Wars I, Predator 2, Aliens 3, Independence Day, Mars Attacks!, and so on…  Because the movie took place in the present (1997), I never believed that the technology used in the movie could be a present or even a near future reality. Not that I wouldn’t be totally stoked to actually see the stuff in real life. 

Now more about the characters: aside from some of the poor or cheesy acting from some of them, I think that where the writers and director were coming from seemed pretty believeable. In the sense that, the MiB characters all seem like dry, serious, boring, hard working people, who’s personalities may have been transformed into these traits because of their recrutment into the MiB in the first place. No contact with outsiders, their existence erased, risking their lives for the sake of those who don’t even know they exist; it seems like a hard life. It particularily shows in Kay, obviously showing signs of regret by leaving his wife for the job at the end of the movie. And it doesn’t faze me at all that Jay fits in to the whole operation without so much as double-take. Maybe with all the reported UFO sightings in the world, theories, and even movies and stories about extraterrestrials embeded into our culture and lives, that he was honestly not fazed by the idea that they are real and living among us (only in the movie of course… right?).

What would it be like to actually encounter aliens in this day and age? Would we take the news as lightly as Jay or even the Coroner? Or no? Though some of the technology in the film arguably already exist, I don’t personally think that the general public is ready for it either. Just like Kay said to Jay when he asked the question. People in general are not smart, and it would only cause panic, so maybe it isn’t such a bad idea to have the MiB looking out for us. For now at least.

“No, Elvis is not dead. He just went home” —K

MiB related memes: meme 1, meme 2, meme 3, meme 4, meme 5

The author of The Virtual Self: How Our Digital Lives Are Altering The World Around Us, Nora Young, volunteers herself to self tracking technologies to get an inside look and experience on how they feel, may influence others, and how she is being digitally tracked. She covers a wide variety of concerns with being online, such as privacy concerns, our different identities, freedoms and sharing opportunities, legalities and data ownership, addictions or compulsive behaviours, and augmented memories.

Though her writing style is unique and easy to follow, I cannot help myself from twitching every time she is repetitive, which happens often. She often refers to data mapping, being delinked, and has inventive ways of saying ‘digital self’, ‘extended self’, ‘online doppelganger’, ‘augmented self’, ‘digital doubles,’ and so on, that are just unnecessary because she repeats her questions and statements to begin with.  She also seems to feel the need to “welcome” the readers a few times into worlds that I thought I already new existed and was apart of. They are welcomes such as, “welcome to your new digital self” (p. 78), and “welcome to the booming world of data visualization” (p. 145), that add to the repetitive nature.

She does take some facts and statistics from different corporations such as Google and Apple, and discusses some past faults that sites like Netflix and the Internet Movie Database have made in the past, but it’s still the same questions being asked as before, just address to different companies, especially on the subject of these businesses tracking users; like the iPhone tracking system she discussed halfway through the book. How much information about us is really out there? Who’s tracking it? Who has access to it? How can we avoid digital footprints? These are superfluous questions that are never fully answered. The companies and other users surely can track our posts and behaviours? And perhaps marketers? Or even the public? But maybe I’m being too harsh. Maybe questions like these cannot always be entirely answered. But isn’t that the whole point of Netflix? To track our likes and dislikes to better our choice selections, suggestions and movie watching experiences? Reading through this section was what irked me the most about her redundancies. I presumed that certain brands like Netflix come with certain expectations, so it is no surprise to me that they track like they do. I wanted to hear more in depth research done about what the owners do with the information in secret; the stuff they do that is not on the surface of assumptions.

The reading of this book, however, was not all bad. It made me more appreciative of some of the extra laws—though sometimes there don’t seem to be enough—we have here in British Columbia to protect our personal privacy compared to some privacy laws—or lack there of—in some American states that do little for their citizens. It also gave me the sense that I am not alone, wondering these same questions, and that I’m not the only one guilty of having the same bad habits in respect to the online world either Young has herself or the people she talks about. There has got to be more done about creating new laws about what companies can get away with online because what may be in place doesn’t seem like enough. Like Young says, there has to be “a more robust way to protect my data than ticking ‘I agree’ to a document I barely understand…” (p 176).

We want to run our lives and our bodies like machines. But we have developed too many technologies too fast so we don’t know how to use them effectively as well as being aware of their consequences. We want to be “seen” and “heard” so badly, that we’ll blog and tweet endlessly for a simple acknowledgement of view counts or likes. We also want our devices to be our “out-board” brains and do the remembering for us.  What kind of consequences does this augmented memory system really have on us? What role does this digital tracking have on us and other societies?

The way we interact with each other is changing rapidly. We generate huge amounts of data of ourselves on social media; where we’ve been, what we ate, who we are with, what we think, what we buy, our workouts, and so on. What is it that we are choosing to report? I was still expecting her to have more answers. I wanted to know more about everybody’s consequences of online actions, and what sort of implications there might be on a more global scale. We have limitations as physical beings, but fewer limitations in having virtual knowledge and presences in the online world. Which reality would we rather live in? And with all social media has done for us, what does it really do other than fill our need for attention and news sharing? Why is it so addicting for some?