do protestant churches typically have the stations of the cross around the interior of the church?

Most protestant churches have empty crosses (emphasizing Christ’s triumph over the cross) displayed prominently. There is a new movement called “seeker sensitive” that tries to curb this process in order to make church less objectionable to “seekers”, but that is by no means a mainline protestant stance (nor do all “seeker sensitive” churches not have crosses displayed).

that seems to me to be a stronger indicator that in Catholicism (which does) it is very important that every bit of Christ's pain/insult/torture are supposed to be meditated upon on each or most visits...

Perhaps the point is this: it could be argued that Catholics tend to emphasize Christ’s suffering the cross more than the resurrection. If so, this is a subtle difference, as both faiths would agree theologically that both suffering and resurrection were necessary for the redemption of man. In that case the protestants can probably learn a lot about respect for the cross, as we’ve often sanitized it’s meaning into that of jewelry and a pretty paintings. OTOH, the Catholics would do well do remember that the crucifixion was not the end of the matter and that the resurrection confirmed Jesus’ victory over death. In the end, it is difficult to balance everything into proper perspective, and thanks to this movie many protestants are waking to the fact of just how much Christ suffered for our sins. Like I said, I haven't seen the movie yet, but the response of my friends has been universal on this point. We all know Christ suffered for us, but it's become to matter-of-fact and something we accept as a notion without understanding the true consequence.