Throwback Thursday: Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009)

Movie sequels have a tenuous reputation. Some are worthy of the reputation created by their predecessors, others are nothing but an unnecessary retread of what came before.

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian premiered in 2009. In the sequel to Night at the Museum (2006), the audience is taken on another journey with Larry Dailey (Ben Stiller). When his friends Jedediah (Owen Wilson) and Octavius (Steve Coogan) are shipped to the Smithsonian Museum in Washington D.C. by mistake, Larry has to find a way to return them to New York City. Along the way, he is helped by new pals Amelia Earhart (Amy Adams) and old Teddy Roosevelt (the late Robin Williams).

I liked this movie. It has the charm of the original with enough buildup to keep the overall narrative going. What makes it stand out from the first film is the subtle history lesson that the audience may or may not be aware of.

Do I recommend it? Yes.

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Thoughts On Statue Removal & Ending Racism

The first step in solving a problem is admitting that there is one to begin with. But that is sometimes easier said than done.

The United States has had a problem called racism for 400 years. Politically and culturally, we have done some work to write the wrongs of the past. But that work is only a drop in the bucket compared to what has yet to be done.

It is nearly a month since George Floyd was murdered. Since then, Americans have protested his unnecessary death and the structural racism that is part of this country’s DNA.

Across the nation, there have been calls to remove statues and rename buildings that memorialize those who were responsible for the enslavement and subjugation of Americans of color. In my neck of the woods (aka New York City), the Teddy Roosevelt statue that greets visitors to the American Museum of Natural History will soon be non-existent.

Some say that this is going too far. There are other ways to redeem our past other than tearing down these monuments to history. If we take down statues of men like Robert E. Lee, we must take down statues of our Founding Fathers, who also owned slaves.

Warning: This video contains adult language.

As Ticked Off Vic says, there is a difference between Robert E. Lee and our Founding Fathers. While these were men of their time, there is a marked difference between their actions. The fact is statues and images speak volumes in ways that words cannot touch. If we are to move forward as a country, we must face up to our past and take some of these statues down. If we don’t, we will never be able to move forward as a nation.