I feel like nobody talks about this but remember Jayโs โjob interviewโ in the original Men in Black movie? Sure, they play it for comedy, heโs a smartass cop surrounded by all these elite military graduates. But he was also literally the only one in the room smart enough to bring the table over so he had something to write on. And he offers it to the other guys too!
And in the shooting test, on the surface it just seems like a goofy joke when he shoots the little girl cutout in the head, but look at the way he responded to the situation.
The test starts immediately without any warning, we can see that everyone is caught off guard. The other candidates immediately open fire on what they perceive to be threats, but Jay takes a second to assess the situation. He sees he isnโt in any immediate danger, and in a handful of seconds heโs able to scope out several minor details about the targets and hit one with a near-perfect headshot. Jay showed he was an innovative, quick thinker with situational awareness, attention to detail and high-level marksmanship skills, and they never say it outright but I think thatโs probably why Zed picked him. (Zed never actually says anything negative about Jayโs performance, just that he has a problem with authority.)
This is highly underrated writing but, then again, this is also the movie where Tommy Lee Jones saysย โA person is smart. Peopleย are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals and you know it. Fifteen hundred years ago, everybody knew Earth was the centre of the universe. Five hundred years ago, everybody knew the Earth was flat and 15 minutes ago, you knew humans were alone on this planet. Imagine what youโll know tomorrow.โ