Men in Black Power Quotes

How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from Men in Black.

Quote #1

KAY: Must have been for an assassination. Who's the target?

JEEBS: I don't know. I don't know!

KAY: All right. That's confiscated, and I want you on the next transport off this rock or I'm gonna shoot you where it don't grow back.

Doesn't Kay have to read Jeebs his Miranda warning? Isn't there any due process before confiscating Jeebs's property and deporting him? Nope. The Men in Black have free rein to govern the extraterrestrials on Earth as they see fit.

Quote #2

EDGAR BUG: You know, I've noticed an infestation here. Everywhere I look, in fact, nothing but undeveloped, unevolved barely conscious pond scum totally convinced of their own superiority as they scurry about their short, pointless lives.

EXTERMINATOR: Well, yeah. Don't you want to get rid of them?

EDGAR BUG: In the worst way.

In some ways, the Bug's power is similar to the Men in Black's. It doesn't answer to anybody. The difference is that it's only got one way of expressing it: killing people who get in its way.

Quote #3

KAY: A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals, and you know it. Fifteen hundred years ago, everybody knew the Earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago, everybody knew the Earth was flat. And 15 minutes ago, you knew that people were alone on this planet. Imagine what you'll knew tomorrow.

Should the government use its power to protect its people from the worst of themselves? Are we really so dumb and panicky that we can't be trusted to self-govern? People who oppose "big government" often use this argument—that the government doesn't trust people to make decisions about what to feed their kids or whether to buy health insurance or how much money to save.