Night at the Museum (Smithsonian )

Geoff, aka HOH (Head of the House) and I sat through this horrid movie on Memorial Day. The first one was cute, filled with historical licences and inaccuracies, but his one was much worse. The father, who was a deadbeat failed inventor in the first movie, is now a successful entrepreneur on the verge of a major contract with
Walmart. His friends at the Natural History Museum are being shipped off to the "Federal Archives" for permanent storage, and both the exhibits, his old boss and his son berate him for not having the time for the exhibits in his life. In one scene, he is having Chinese takeout with his son, who notices that there is more food than needed for two, and is upset that his dad has to work through dinner with an associate- basically telling him that his job as nightwatchman was the cool one. Then once the action moves to the Smithsonian, which was NOT used to advantage, the introduction of the Amelia Earhart character made my skin crawl. She was unlikeable enough in real life, and was not as good a pilot as the press, in collusion with Miss Earhart and her father, portrayed her. The actress who played this part overacted to such a' degree that I wanted to walk out. What a horrid rewriting of history. The depicting of the Tuskegee Airmen was simply disgraceful- it had them saluting Amelia, for making it possible for them to be pilots. What a crock of PC nonsense, and insulting to some of our greatest and bravest men in uniform. Then there is the depiction of George Custer- he is more focused on his hair and then claims he is a coward. Sacajawea gets to put him in his place. A brave man is now merely a girly man. The list goes on. In the end, the lead sells his company so that he can be a nightwatchman again, and make his son happy.

Personal responsibility is a total wash, as is honor and courage. What a horrid movie to take the rug rats, especially boys, to see.

Geoff's take:

Radical Feminism at its worst!

General Custer portrayed as a girlie man, who even said he didn't deserve his stars, because he was a coward? Sacajawea jumping in to save the day? The Wright Brothers saying that the idea of a woman flying a plane was preposterous?

"Butchering History" might be a more appropriate subtitle.

The real General Custer was wreckless, often foolhardy, but he was also a West Point Graduate, he was respected by his troops and fellow officers, and in his own day he was certainly not regarded as a coward. No man who rises to the rank of Major General could ever be a coward.

The Wright family practically invented Women's Liberation. Susan Wright was a mathematical genius, and she was the one who inspired her sons to become inventors in the first place. It's likely that niether Susan Wright, nor her daughter Catherine would have suffered Miss Earhart lightly.

As for the Tuskegee Airmen, who were more properly known in their own time as the Lone Eagles, these men were among the best pilots of their day, and it was their own skills as pilots that earned them their place in history, not the pioneering exploits of Amelia Earhart.