Alexander 's students are taught to think for themselves .
`` Unlike his conservative friend David Philby ( Mark Addy ) , Alexander would rather do pure research than work in the world of business , claiming that he wants to teach his students to think indpendently and be unique - he alludes to every man they encounter un the street wearing the same bowler hat thereby maintaining the status quo , and says that his goal is that his students should `` '' throw their bowler hats away '' '' . ''
The Time Machine -LRB-2002 film-RRB-