Fighting Monsters

One reason Pacific Rim seems to resonate so around here may be that we have monsters attacking us regularly.
Our monsters don't have bodies, they aren't trying to wipe us out to prepare the way for a new civilization, (at least, we don't think so), but they are just as deadly as any kaiju.
I tend to think of the storms that regularly threaten Oklahoma as monsters.  High damaging winds their foul breath, tornadoes for teeth and claws, they lay waste to our homes with no regard for us at all.  All we can do is hunker down and wait them out, or try to get out of their way.  Just like the people in Pacific Rim do when the kaiju attack. 
Jaegers might not be so effective against tornadoes, since tornadoes routinely throw objects around that one would assume were stationary.  The one in '99 even pulled pavement up off the streets it crossed.  Some houses were so thoroughly gone that even the slabs were no longer there.  I am sure that happened in a few cases this time as well. 
Still, the movie makes us all feel better because it shows humans fighting back against the monsters.  We do this with technology and warnings, but if something like the Jaegers could defend us against tornadoes, you can bet someone here would find a way to build some. 
Every time we have seen Pacific Rim at the Warren IMAX, the theater is either full almost immediately, or fills up fairly quickly after we are seated.  Everyone cheers when the Kaiju are defeated.  I don't think you'll find too many kaiju fans among the denizens of Moore, OK.  We have known too much destruction to cheer for monsters.  Yet, the tornadoes have their groupies.  Storm chasers, who seek to collect data and understand the storms, much like Newt.  They really admire the power of these storms, but don't really care to actually be IN one.  Not when they meet it face to face.

We also have our very serious scientists, like Hermann, who work both for the government and for private companies, studying the data from every possible angle, trying to find a way to understand these storms better in order to defeat them. Would that they were as easy to defeat as the kaiju.  Oh, I know, the kaiju almost destroyed the earth, but they could be traced to a single source.  Our monsters often seem to come out of almost nowhere.  They can strike anywhere, though they have their favorite haunts.  (Perhaps they hate country music, and that's why they target Oklahoma so much.  After all, LOTS of country stars have come out of here, and Toby Keith grew up in Moore.  Played football at Moore High School.)

There are even a few like Hannibal Chau here, who profit off what the monster leaves behind.  There are those who salvage destroyed homes, seeking the re-useable materials that they can sell.  Often they have permission from the city and the property owners, sometimes they do not.  We also have fly-by-night contractors who come out of the woodwork after storms trying to get people who don't need it to replace roofs or build shelters. Now, all of us need shelters, but it is better by far to sit on the waiting list of a reputable company that has been here for the long haul than to go with some jerk who shows up at your door with a slick sales pitch.

There is no real equivalent to Stacker Pentecost and his Rangers here.  Closest we can come are our professional storm chasers and meteorologists who keep eyes on the storms and give us enough warning to get under cover.  For most of us, Gary England is the one we trust to give us the best information.  We've all been through a LOT of storms with Gary, he knows what he's looking at, and rarely loses his cool.  Val Castor is the storm chaser to trust.  He's been through a lot of big ones, too.  I believe he would LOVE to have something like a Jaeger to meet those storms with.  He'd fight them to the death, no question.  He's seen too much of the damage they can do.  He and his crew stop to help people when they come along behind the tornadoes.  They make sure to do what they can until the local authorities show up.  Most of the storm chasers do, actually.  The ones who are dangerous are the ones treating these monsters like a tourist attraction.  "Tornado tours" are very popular, alas, and the number of vehicles out chasing makes it dangerous for the ones who are SUPPOSED to be out there giving warnings and collecting needed data.  Traffic jams on narrow country roads with tornadoes spawning are very, very dangerous.

Back to the movie.  It was so very satisfying every time one of the Jaegers smashed the kaiju around.  Helped us purge a little of the frustration we have with our own monster fight.  This story touches us in a very vulnerable place right now.  We are still recovering from our last kaiju attack.  Evidence of it is visible as you enter and leave the theater.  We really needed something like this movie to entertain us and also help us psychologically fight back. 
Mr. Del Toro, your beautifully crafted masterpiece is very much loved by many of us here.  We needed it, and now is the perfect time for it.  I know you never really thought about our storms as monsters when you were working on it, but for us, it strikes a chord that resonates very deeply.  Thank you so much for making this film.  Thanks for getting it to us now, because it has helped a lot.  In my case, anyway.  I have my own Gipsy Danger figure standing watch over my desk as I type.  Reminds me of our fighting spirit here in Oklahoma.  We get the snot kicked out of us, and yet we stand up, dust ourselves off, and rebuild, and keep fighting.  We always will. 
This film speaks to the frightened child in each of us and says that yes, we can fight the monsters, and we may take some pretty bad hits, but we CAN win.  We have to keep trying.
If you live in Oklahoma and you have not seen Pacific Rim yet, you need to.  See how it makes you feel.  Bet it makes you feel good.  

Here is Gipsy, standing watch for me.