[Night at the Museum is rated PG for mild action, language and brief rude humor.]
Larry Daley has a mess on his hand. It's called history.
Larry is the hapless new security guard for the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. What he doesn't know when he takes the job is that history comes alive at night in the museum... literally. And the problem is, history is full of conflict and he's right in the middle of it.
The Ancient Romans don't get along with the folks from the American Wild West. The North and the South are still fighting the Civil War every night. And the Huns don't seem to get along with anyone.
[Warning: Mild spoilers follow.]
He tries to follow the instructions of the old security guards who maintained order in the museum at night by a combination of isolation, threat of force, and pitting one faction against the other. This imposed structure worked, but it didn't resolve anything. It simply forestalled the inevitable.
Finally Larry realizes that peace will not come through threat of violence or separation, but through unity of purpose and reconciliation. What divides history, it turns out, is not nearly as important as what can unite us.
Further, Larry finds those who are purported by his predecesors to be dangerous and his enemies turn out to be his greatest allies.
Now, I don't want to make too much about what is, in fact, light family comic fare, but there is this important message underneath. And the vision is very familiar for those who have read the Bible.
The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. - Isaiah 11:6Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. - Romans 12:21
It is very appropriate that this movie was number one in the box office over a weekend which celebrated the life of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. King, too, dreamed of a peaceable kingdom. King, too, understood that separation and threats of violence were not a sustainable way to maintain order. King, too, knew that reconciliation and peace were not just a good thing, they were a necessary thing for our mutual survival.
And what does this peaceable kingdom look like? Well, if it's anything like the ending of Night at the Museum, it's going to be one heck of a party. Don't you want to be at a party like that? Are you willing to be on the planning committee? There's a lot to do before we start lining up the caterers.
