How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from 12 Monkeys.
Quote #4
GOINES: Do you know what "crazy" is? Crazy is majority rules. Yeah. Take germs for example.
COLE: Germs?
GOINES: Uh-huh. In the 18th century, no such thing. Nada. Nothing. No one ever imagined such a thing! No sane person anyway. Along comes this doctor. Uh, uh—Semmelweis! Semmelweis. Semmelweis comes along, and he's trying to convince people, other doctors mainly, that there are these teeny-tiny invisible bad things called germs that get into your body and make you sick. He's trying to get doctors to wash their hands. What is this guy? Crazy?
Goines may be crazy, but he makes a salient point here. Sanity is based on a culture's predominate view of reality. In the 18th century, no one knew about germs or cells, so speaking of living organisms you couldn't see would seem cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs. But that doesn't mean germs and other single-celled organisms didn't exist back then; we just didn't know better before Semmelweis. So Cole could be the Semmelweis of his generation…or he could just be cuckoo.
Quote #5
RAILLY: "In a season of great pestilence, there are omens and divinations. And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth forever and ever." Revelations.
In the 14th century, according to the accounts of local officials of that time, this man appeared suddenly in the village of Wyle near Stonehenge in April of 1362. Using unfamiliar words and speaking in a strange accent, the man made dire prognostications about a pestilence, which he said would wipe out humanity in approximately 600 years.
First, how lucky was Cole that he was sent back to World War I, a mistake of only one hundred years? This quote suggests those future scientists can hit pretty wide of the mark.
Second, consider this quote in relation to the Goines one. In the medieval past, diseases were thought to be the retribution of a wrathful God, and any sane person would agree with that statement. Reality also undoubtedly consisted of angels, omens, and divinations. To not believe in these things would have been "mentally divergent" of the norm. In our modern era, it is quite the opposite.
Given this, is it possible Cole is just ahead of the curve?
Quote #6
MAN WITH RASPY VOICE: You can't hide from them, Bob. I said, you can't hide from them. No, sir, ol' Bob. Don't even try. They hear everything. They got that tracking device on ya. They can find you anywhere, anytime! It's in the tooth. Right, Bob? But I fooled 'em, old buddy. [Cackles and shows a mouth with missing and rotting teeth.]
COLE: They don't have to spy on me. I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing. [Takes Railly to a wall with graffiti.] You see? Here it is again. Here, follow this paint trail. Here. It's here. See?
RAILLY: It's so awful! I—
The man with the raspy voice may be a fellow time-traveler, but let's assume for a moment that he's just a mentally ill man. The film goes to great lengths to show him and several like him to be homeless, sickly, and living dangerous lives in our modern urban societies. Far from receiving help from society, they are outcast and ignored. Just a little bit of social commentary to go with your questions of sanity.