MovieChat Forums > National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007) Discussion > Pluralism

Pluralism

posted 13 years ago by sbaker777
1 reply | jump to latest

I know this is nitpicking at it's worst form but... the saying, "The debt that all men pay", is uttered more than once by Ben and Patrick Gates when trying to figure out the key to the Playfair cipher and by Thomas Gates when telling his son, Charles, the key. But in the diary, it is written, "The debt that all men pays". So, that's two mistakes. First by saying men, plural, you need to say pay, singular. I know... nit picky, but what all of the Gates say isn't what's written in the dairy, but is grammatically correct.
Second: when Ben is trying to get Abigail to at least run an infrared scan on the missing Booth Diary page, he says that she can have the Boston Tea Tables. In reply, she says, "Both of them?" What part of tables, plural, did she not hear?
OK, English Teachers, where am I going wrong? No replies from the peanut gallery. I love this movie and I'm not picking it apart for ANY reason... just a couple of things I noticed, so save your sarcasm for your dog, or wife, or whomever you deem your best friend.

[–] sir rooke 9 years ago

(1) My guess would be that since the diary is very old, it could be written in a "vernacular". Like in the second 'Pirates of the Caribbean' film, the characters use such "vernacular", e.g. in discussing pronunciation of the word "kraken", one character says, "It's a mythological creature! I can calls it what I wants!"
Tia Dalma says things about Davey Jones like, "Him never stop loving her" & "the key he keep with him at all times."

(2) I don't think she doesn't hear the plural, she's just surprised that he would give up both (they must be very valuable or historic) and is reiterating that surprise.