I use this scene to explain implicit bias to people. his first instinct is to assume the aliens are violent and the girl is innocent, but instead of acting on those assumptions he takes time to recognize his bias, look at the situation again, and then act. 

I watched this with my dad when I was fairly young, and I remember thinking that this was why he got chosen; before he even really knew what was going on, he didn’t assume that aliens were dangerous monsters.

I love pointing this out: the novelization confirms, yes, he was 100% right in his assessment there

The calmer you are, the clearer you can think.

Compliments on your appearance are cool‚ but when someone compliments you as a person, the way your mind works‚ the way you carry yourself‚ your laugh, how peaceful your energy feels, and how genuine your heart is – those are top tier compliments...they just hit different.