An examination of the infamous and commonly exaggerated “What a passionate person” scene, in both English and French. (Note: The original Japanese dialogue matches the English translation almost exactly, so I won’t bother addressing it.)
In the English version, the professor is obviously calm while speaking about Lysandre. His sentences all end in periods…
…until he starts talking to you about your journey. Now we’ve got exclamations!
It’s amazing how many people read Lysandre’s hate speech perfectly fine, but as soon as Platane says “What a passionate person,” they resolve to not read ANY of his dialogue past this point for the rest of the game. I’ve seen so many make fun of him and portray him as gushing unabashedly over Lysandre and his views, so I was very surprised when I got to this part of the game and was able to see what actually happened. Oh! Not only is the professor so calm, but he’s quick to strongly imply that you probably shouldn’t take Lysandre’s views to heart and supplants them with something wholesome. Where was this in fandom??
I, personally, was given the impression of a scientist making an analytical observation, stating Lysandre’s demeanor and pondering on the motive. Lysandre IS passionate. Where is the lie? Platane is at no point agreeing with the hate speech, and is clearly telling you that you don’t have to agree, either. And then he seems much more concerned about YOU, the player, and how you’re doing.
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I can’t deny that the French version seems to be much more in line with the fan portrayal…at first. Here he is jazzed as all get out over Lysandre –
“What fire, what passion! What an orator! There is such heat that emerges from him! Like a blaze! I imagine that it’s the pride of his lineage that speaks.”
‘What an orator’? Yes, French!Platane does seem suspiciously in Lysandre’s corner. But then he IMMEDIATELY turns it around and is just as emphatic in speaking against him.
“But the words of Monsieur Lysandre actually only express his point of view, not necessarily THE truth. Bah!” The ‘Bah!’ at the end cracks me up every time. I can’t help imagining him doing a dismissive hand wave.
“Screw what Lysandre says. BAH!” ( ≡︶ ^ ︶≡)ノ
Sycamore earned that reputation (and then degenerated into comedy) because he says that in reference to the horrible almost discriminatory and eugenistic sounding speech Lysandre just gave and everyone agrees it was better if he said nothing at all.
When the game came out there was a lot of negative reactions to that scene and Sycamore’s popularity took a hit. It was funny how for a while there was less fanart than when he was first shown in press.
Oh, there was never any question that people were reacting to Platane having a positive demeanor in the wake of an abhorrent subject. The problem is that people don't take the time to understand WHY it happened in the first place. (And I disagree that he shouldn't have said anything; it's a subtle insight to part of his character. As I said in my original post, "Platane is at no point agreeing with the hate speech, and is clearly telling you that you don't have to agree, either.")
I think it just goes to show how little the audience understood the overarching themes of the characters, and whether that's more the fault of the writers or the viewers is...debatable. Lysandre and Platane were written with personalities that are supposed to be polar opposites to each other. Lysandre is negativity, destruction, cynicism, and a loss of faith in humanity, and he wants to eliminate everything that doesn't suit his personal tastes. Platane is positivity, love of life, open-minded acceptance, and faith in humankind, and he encourages people to have and treasure diverse experiences.
It is very unfortunate that so many people have perceived Platane's wholesome outlooks on life as foolishness, when that was not the authors' intent at all. (Please keep in mind that the game and its story are predominantly intended for a VERY young target demographic.) If Platane had reacted to Lysandre's speech with, "Wow, what a crazy bastard; you ought to go beat the fear of Arceus into that guy before he does something stupid," it would have gone against what his character is meant to stand for in the context of the story. He politely looked at the bright side of things because he's a POSITIVE person...but later on he does express that he had been hoping Lysandre would choose to be a better person on his own and since that didn't happen, he now laments not having interfered. While this may seem terribly naiive (though it definitely happens plenty in real life) to a self-satisfied older audience, it's supposed to show that hope and faith in people are strong aspects of Platane’s character. It’s meant to be virtuous, not idiocy, though plenty argue that those are the same thing.
In summary, you certainly don't have to agree with Professor Platane's choices, but I hope you can understand that there was an intentional thematic purpose for him to behave the way he did.
