Subject:  12 monkeys
Date:  Fri, 7 Aug 1998 02:26:27 +0200
From: "Muhammed"

Hi there,

i really enjoyed your homepage and maybe it helped me more in understanding what i'm try to get, i'm hooked on 12 monkey and one thing still really trouble me, and  i can't make sense out of it at all. it's teh scene at the airport when DR. railly says to James cole "I remember you like that " ( with the wig and the moustache) how could that be? was she a young girl too  at teh airport when james got gunned down too? just like young james saw himself getting shot? But that can't be too she would remember the accident... i'm so confues and lost

 can you please help on this, maybe some thoery or a low down?

Thanks you

waiting for your reply

Muhammed--

I've taken another look at the film 12 Monkeys, and found the line you referenced; I think I have an explanation.

Although it is not easy to make out the dialogue in that section, it seems that Dr. Railly does say, "I remember you like this."  She goes on to say that it seems that she's always known him.

I've a notion that this must be indicating something that I think could not be so:  that Dr. Railly subconsciously remembers events which happened in a previous time line.  It is, from a certain view, not so far-fetched.  After all, Dr. Railly's work on the Cassandra Complex caused her to study many individuals in history whom she viewed as crackpots (she would have said they were mentally unbalanced) who were actually time travelers; and through her relationship with James Cole, she has found herself at the hub of these time travel events.  For most of the world, the time line is repeating in precisely the same pattern with each trip made into the past; but for her, almost every trip made by anyone into the past has altered her reality.  The "prophet" who appeared in England warning of the future pestilence appears in her notes; the "soldier" who "forgot how to speak French" becomes part of her work.  She meets Cole on three of his trips to the past--which we have seen are multiplied by other trips, each a bit different.  For her, reality has changed with almost every return trip made by any traveler.  We might expect her to be confused about reality; the idea that she has deja-vous, remembering things which haven't happened yet, is very appealing.

But I think it suggests something which doesn't wash.  For Cole, these multiple trips create a sequential timeline for him, although it is different from the normal chronology.  But for Railly, no matter how many times she passes through the same dates on the calendar, it is always the first time for her.  She cannot remember events from the previous timeline, because they have in effect been erased by the new history.

That, at any rate, is my position.  I'd be interested in your thoughts.

I should also mention that I've recently become aware of an excellent and growing 12 Monkeys web site by Chris Pollard, which links to a number of other related sites and has a fair amount of information in its own right.

I hope this helps.