Gavriil Ilizarov

"Materialists" is supposed be a non-traditional romcom, even though it still boils down to a choice between pretty boy Chris Evans and pretty boy Pedro Pascal (Pity the poor woman forced to make that decision!), but we are not here to discuss the age old dilemma of love over money. We're here to talk about a minor subplot: leg extension surgery.

If the movie is to be believed (and real life, alas, seems to agree): all (ALL!) women are looking for someone tall. But not all men are blessed with height genes (especially us Jews), so apparently there is now a procedure: leg lengthening surgery. Your bones are broken and then extended up to six inches, for a cool price of $200,000. (Again, if the movie is to be believed. We feel kinda icky trying to verify that information.)

So what does this somewhat-handsomely-mustached gentleman on the left with a hard-to-pronounce name gave to do with this? Well, Gavriil Ilizarov invented leg extension surgery! Inspired by an expandable horse harness, he created an apparatus designed to heal and extend broken bones. The Soviet establishment considered him a quack (being Jewish obviously didn't help)... until the contraption actually worked.

Now, Ilizarov probably did not intend his invention to be used for cosmetic purposes (after all, one would have to break the other leg!), yet here we are. So, for just $200,000...

Love over money, "Materialists" concluded? Or was it money over love?