How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from 12 Monkeys.
Quote #7
FLETCHER: No way he could possibly know that. Kathryn. You're a rational person. You're a trained psychiatrist. You know the difference between what's real and what's not.
RAILLY: And what we say is the truth is what everybody accepts. Right, Owen? Psychiatry—it's the latest religion. We decide what's right and wrong. We decide who's crazy or not. I'm in trouble here. I'm losing my faith.
The connections just keep coming. Is what we believe about reality today just as faulty and prone to being disproven as the angels and beasts and vials of pestilence from Revelations? If so, could Cole's picture of reality be closer to the truth? Railly is starting to think so, and she also thinks that's a crazy thing to think.
Quote #8
GOINES: Here's my theory on that. When I was institutionalized, my brain was studied inexhaustibly in the guise of mental health. I was interrogated, I was x-rayed, I was examined thoroughly. Then they took everything about me and put it into a computer where they created a model of my mind. Yes! Using that model, they managed to generate every thought I could possibly have in the next, say, ten years, which they then filtered through a probability matrix of some kind to determine everything I was gonna do in that period.
This film doesn't like to give easy answers when it comes to its story or themes. But it does toss a few softballs for us now and again. For example, this quote lets us know that Goines is verifiably insane. End of story. Full stop. Period.
Quote #9
COLE: I don't know whether you're there or not. Maybe you just clean carpets. If you do, you're lucky. You're gonna live a long, happy life. But if you other guys are out there, if you're picking this up, forget about the Army of the 12 Monkeys. They didn't do it. It was a mistake. Someone else did it. The Army of the 12 Monkeys is just a bunch of dumb kids playin' revolutionaries. Listen, I've done my job. I did what you wanted. Good luck. I'm not coming back.
In the end, 12 Monkeys doesn't provide a definitive answer to the question of Cole's mental state. Instead, the film presents its audience with convincing evidence for both readings—whether you see him as insane or the bearer of inconceivable truths. This quote from the film's conclusion suggests that even Cole can't say one way or the other by the end.
The best we can do is remember the lessons learned from the Great Edward v. Jacob Debate of 2009: be civil in your discussions and remember that some questions will never have satisfying answers.