Constructions workers, or people in business: who is right in this scene? The teacher, or Rodney Dangerfield?
Leaving this here in the hope that it will save someone else 3 literal minutes of trying to parse the title 🫣
#grammarisyourfriend
I am in construction (not manufacturing) and own my own business. Truth is, they are both right.
Rodney is right because there are a huge number of variables that the prof’s equation is ignoring. Also, it is generally a good idea to know what you are manufacturing and work to produce that product as efficiently as possible. The professor is sort of putting the cart before the horse by building a factory with no product.
That said, we are in a learning environment and seemingly in a lower-level class. You have to strip away real-world variables to teach the lessons at hand. The professor is right not to include corrupt politicians and mafia folk, it’s too much when you are trying to start with the basics. But he should’ve had the class decide on a product - he said it himself, it could be anything - and then build up from there.
Mafia payoffs are a 300 level course.
The professor seems to understand the difference between the full complexity of the real world and a limited educational exercise with a manageable scope. Mr. Melon does not understand this and seems to only be able to engage with the real world at full complexity. The professor is completely open about the fact that he’s running an artificial scenario with a limited focus. Mr. Melon just lobs confounds at it repeatedly. I will have to say that the professor is in the right here.
But because the professor has a british accent, glasses, and a bow tie, he’s coded as an elitist prick. And Mr. Lemon’s vernacular, colorful clothing, and casual style is supposed to contrast with this in a classic “book smart” versus “street smart” trope. In fact the entire movie is built on this premise: real world wealth and popular appeal help Mr. Lemon triumph over age, social hierarchy, institutional rules and many other obstacles to achieve social success and the attention of eligible young women. Therefore, in the language of the film, Mr. Lemon is most obviously “right.”
I wrote this mainly to reassure myself that I was not in fact having a stroke while reading the OP’s title.