K-PAX (2001)

Jeff Bridges: Dr. Mark Powell

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Quotes 

• Dr. Mark Powell : How do you know right from wrong?

  Prot : Every being in the universe knows right from wrong, Mark.

• Dr. Mark Powell : What if I were to tell you that according to a man who lived on our planet, named Einstein, that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light?

  Prot : I would say that you misread Einstein, Dr. Powell. May I call you Mark? You see Mark, what Einstein actually said was that nothing can accelerate to the speed of light because its mass would become infinite. Einstein said nothing about entities already traveling at the speed of light or faster, at tachyon speeds.

• Dr. Mark Powell : Uh, how is it that being a visitor from space, that you, uh, you look so much like me or, or anyone else from Earth?

  Prot : Why is a soap bubble round?

  Dr. Mark Powell : "Why is a soap bubble round?"

  Prot : You know, for an educated person, Mark, you repeat things quite a bit. Are you aware of that? A soap bubble is round because it is the most energy-efficient configuration. Similarly, on your planet I look like you. On K-PAX I look like a K-PAXian.

  Dr. Mark Powell : Prot, why did you want to come to our planet?

  Prot : Well, I've been here many times before. But what brought me here first? I don't know. Pure curiosity, I guess. I'd never been to a Class BA-3 planet before.

  Dr. Mark Powell : Class BA-3?

  Prot : Early stage of evolution. Future uncertain.

• Prot : You know what I've learned about your planet? There's enough life on Earth to fill 50 planets. Plants, animals, people, fungi, viruses, all jostling to find their place, bouncing off each other, feeding off each other. Connected.

  Dr. Mark Powell : You don't have that kind of connection on K-PAX?

  Prot : Nobody wants, nobody needs. On K-PAX, when I'm gone, nobody misses me. There would be no reason to. And yet I sense that when I leave here... I will be missed. Yes. Strange feeling.

• Dr. Mark Powell : Could you tell me a bit about your boyhood on K-PAX? Where were you born? You were, uh, born, right? K-Paxians have babies?

  Prot : Oh, yes. Much like on Earth, but unlike you humans, the reproductive process is, uh, quite unpleasant for us.

  Dr. Mark Powell : Could you compare the effect to something that I might understand. Like a toothache...?

  Prot : It's more like having your nuts in a vise, except we feel it all over. And to make matters worse, the sensation is associated with something like your nausea accompanied by a very bad smell. The moment of climax is like being kicked in the stomach and then falling into a pool of mot droppings.

  Dr. Mark Powell : Mot droppings?

  Prot : A mot is a being much like your skunk only far more potent.

  Dr. Mark Powell : Uh, if it's such a terrible experience, uh, how do you reproduce?

  Prot : As carefully as possible.

• Dr. Mark Powell : I'd like to begin by asking you... if you know why you're here.

  Prot : Of course. You think I'm crazy.

  Dr. Mark Powell : I prefer the term "ill". Do you think you are... ill?

  Prot : A little homesick, perhaps.

  Dr. Mark Powell : Really? Where is home?

  Prot : K-PAX.

  Dr. Mark Powell : K-PAX?

  Prot : Capital "K," hyphen, capitals "P-A-X." K-PAX is a planet. But don't worry. I'm not going to leap out of your chest.

  Dr. Mark Powell : I'm not worried. It's just that I'm only familiar with nine planets.

  Prot : Well, actually, there are ten, but that doesn't matter. I'm not from your solar system. K-PAX is about 1,000 of your light-years away from here in what you would call your constellation Lyra.

• Dr. Mark Powell : It's one thing to take an interest in your fellow patients. It's quite another to make you think that you can cure them.

  Prot : You seem overly upset, Mark. To borrow a phrase from Navarro: You need to chill. For your information: All beings have the capacity to cure themselves, Mark. This is something we've known on K-PAX for millions of years.

  Dr. Mark Powell : Listen to me: On this planet: I'm a doctor, you're a patient.

  Prot : Doctor, patient: Curious human distinction.

  Dr. Mark Powell : It's not your job to cure Howie, or Ernie, or anyone else, it's mine

  Prot : Then, why haven't you cured them, yet?

  Prot : Oh, by the way, here are the answers to the questions you asked me. I hope they meet your satisfaction.

• Dr. Mark Powell : What happened?

  Ernie : My good friend Howie... he, he just about strangled me to death.

  Dr. Mark Powell : What?

  Ernie : Son of a bitch I love him!

• Dr. Mark Powell : Have a seat.

  Prot : "Have a seat." What a curious expression.

• Dr. Chakraborty : He most definitely has a sensitivity to white light, but I think it's his range that you'll find interesting.

  Dr. Mark Powell : What am I looking at?

  Dr. Chakraborty : Uh, he can detect light at a wavelength of up to 300 to 400 angstroms. Ultraviolet. Of course, Prot's explanation is that due to his planet's peculiar quality of light caused by its two suns, K-PAXians are used to light conditions much like our twilight most of the time.

  Dr. Mark Powell : Whoa, w-wait, wait a minute. Uh, Chuck, I didn't think human beings could see ultraviolet light.

  Dr. Chakraborty : We can't.

• Dr. Mark Powell : What would you say if I told you I think you're as human as I am?

  Prot : I would say you're in need of a thorazine drip, Doctor.

• Dr. Mark Powell : Oh, the 6:15 was late. Didn't leave the station till 6:30. Should have caught the nearest beam of light.

• Dr. Mark Powell : You know, maybe what's wrong with him is that he is.

  Claudia Villars : Is what?

  Dr. Mark Powell : From the planet K-PAX.

• Prot : I've been to 64 planets within our galaxy. Earth is the only one of your species, homo sapiens, that I visited so far.

  Dr. Mark Powell : When did you arrive on Earth?

  Prot : 4 years and 9 months ago.

  Dr. Mark Powell : So that makes you how old?

  Prot : In Earth terms, 337 years old. I aged about seven getting here traveling at about 6 multiples of c. But, really, Marko, it only seemed like an instant.

  Claudia Villars : I'd say access 1 psychosis NOS.

  Dr. Mark Powell : That's glib to call him a psychotic. That's a wastebasket diagnosis.

  Claudia Villars : Well, he believes he traveled here from another planet. What's your diagnosis, jet lag?

  Dr. Mark Powell : Well, how come he didn't respond to the Haldol?

  Claudia Villars : Haldol can make you more psychotic. It's rare but it does happen.

  Dr. Mark Powell : Look. I'm not saying that medication can't be a helpful tool to help somebody like this. But you can't...

  Claudia Villars : In the meantime, we have 10 new transfers to take care of.

  Dr. Mark Powell : Maybe, what's wrong with him, is that he is.

  Claudia Villars : [interrupting]  Is what?

  Dr. Mark Powell : ...from the planet K-PAX.

• Dr. Chakraborty : He arrived at Bellevue a month ago. Suspicion of hallucinogenic but he was found negative for substances of any kind. His EKG and his blood value are all normal. There's no sign of concussion, no brain tumor, no temporal lobe epilepsy, & no indication of organic abnormality whatsoever. However, after one month, his amnesia and his delusion are persistent. He claims to be not human; a visitor from another planet.

  Dr. Mark Powell : They administered Thorazine on this guy for three weeks at 300 milligrams a day and he was unresponsive? How can you be unresponsive with 300 milligrams of Thorazine, it's impossible.

  Dr. Chakraborty : That's why they sent him to you.

  Dr. Mark Powell : Terrific.No ID, no missing persons report matching his description. What's this?

  Dr. Chakraborty : He had it on him.

  Dr. Chakraborty : Let's hope that extraterrestrials qualify for MedicAid.

• Dr. Mark Powell : Well, let's hope extraterrestrials qualify for Medicaid.