The topic of Latin in the movies has come up a number of times in the group, from horror movies to "2012" to "The Passion of the Christ." It makes one wonder where screenwriters go to find translators and elocution coaches. Given Mel Gibson's strong Catholic background, I suspect that he used Catholic clergy. It may be that they were not even aware of any other standard for the pronunciation of Latin than what they learned in the seminary.
I would also like to add a comment on the depiction of torture in the movies, a topic which sprang up tangentially to the original discussion.
I draw a distinction in my own mind between movies like "Saw" and "Hostel" and Mel Gibson movies like "The Passion of the Christ" and "Apocalypto," even though both groups depict torture graphically. The distinction to me is that the stories in "Saw" and "Hostel" have no basis in reality. They are pure fictions, with weak -- even silly -- plots cobbled together for the sole purpose of showing people being killed in frightening ways. Indeed, the "Final Destination" series of movies throws in an even sillier supernatural element in order to be able to show people being killed in a variety of different, horrifying ways. Such movies are produced purely to appeal to the most uncivilized parts of our psyches.
At the same time, however, cruelty does exist in our world. It is generally caused by those who feel that they have some sort of "natural" right to unchallenged power over others, often justified by those who think they have a better understanding of what "god" wishes, and abetted by people ranging from the indifferent to the sadistic. To me, the depiction of cruelty and suffering is not of itself bad, so long as it calls up sympathy for those who suffer and makes clear the arrogance of those who cause the suffering. It is a far more offensive thing to me personally to see on the screen scenes of people being killed without blood, without suffering, just falling down in contorted positions -- killed by the enthusiastic "good guys." Such movies dull our sense of empathy, and for that reason are just as offensive to me as the pandering to our latent sadism that I see in "Saw" or "Hostel."
