How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from 12 Monkeys.
Quote #4
COLE: This is a place for crazy people. I'm not crazy.
DR. FLETCHER: We don't use that term, "crazy," Mr. Cole.
COLE: You've got some real nuts here. I know some things that you don't know. It's gonna be very difficult for you to understand it.
[Cole rises. The orderlies stop him.]
COLE: Hey! I'm not gonna hurt anyone.
PSYCHITRIST: All right.
Notice how the psychiatrists of the '90s are arranged in a manner similar to the scientists of 2035. Likewise, Cole is seated by himself, singled out and alone.
In both cases, the group has social power over the individual, and it wields that power to effectively construct the individual's goals. When it comes to the power relations of society, it's as if the movie is shrugging its shoulders and saying, "Same stuff, different day."
Quote #5
COLE: You can't help him.
RAILLY: Oh, Jesus. James, you killed him!
COLE: All I see are dead people. Come on. Come on.
RAILLY: You never had a gun before.
COLE: I have one now. Come on. Come on!
As we mentioned previously, Cole's power comes from his strength. It's an effective weapon against individuals because most of us aren't built like, well, Bruce Willis.
But nowhere in the film is Cole able to use his strength against people who represent the institutions of social power, such as psychiatrists, scientists, or law enforcement. When he tries, like the time he took on the orderlies, he fails.
Quote #6
DR. GOINES: But, alas, I am burdened. For with all this excess of public attention and cacophony of praise there comes great responsibility. Now I don't have to tell you all that the dangers of science are a timeworn threat. From Prometheus stealin' fire from the gods—to the Cold War era of the Dr. Strangelove terror. But never before—to fear the power we have at hand.
We haven't gotten to science yet, but the film definitely argues that science wields more power over our societies than it should these days. Case in point, the dystopian future is run by a panel of scientists that genetically spliced themselves with the Supreme Court and a bad case of hording in some mad experiment.
In this quote, Dr. Goines' is making the Uncle Ben argument: "With great power comes great responsibility." We'll see how this pans out later.