4. Obsessive Memorabilia Collecting Is Vital To The Worlds Survival
One of the interesting wrinkles to the world of Pacific Rim is the fact that when the Jaegers begin to beat back the kaiju (those giant critters threatening our peace), society begins to view them through a pop culture lens reserved for mitigated threats. They become toys and merchandise, and essentially occupy the same space their imaginary brethren hold in our world. Charlie Days Dr. Newt Geizler has taken that preoccupation with the beasts to another level, and made a career out of their study; adopting the collectors joy of an addled kid who wants every last piece of material related to his obsession. In the film, this pays off when his biological study of the monsters threatens to reveal pivotal information and he ends up heading off to find black market organ-harvester, Hannibal Chau. There are multiple elements of Pacific Rim that pay tribute to a wanton love of monsters and genre-mythology, but the interior of Chaus personal workshopliterally crawling with all manner of biological trophies from the kaijuare the strangest, oddest ode Ive ever seen to that idea of full-time hobby collectors. If theres a part of you thats ever felt the need to clarify the difference between figurine and action-figure, or even action-figure and doll, or waved your hand to dismiss piles of comics and discarded props, seeing Perlmans Chau and Days Geizler find a vital, tide-turning use for their fan boy compulsions will surely cheer your heart.