On Getting It (And Not)

There is a pronounced difference between getting it and not. There are people about whom we say, in affirmation, “She just gets it,” and there are others of us who spend our days in a constant state of not-getting-it.

The superiority of one character’s moral and intellectual clarity over another character’s in television in films is never expressed more clearly than: “You just don’t get it, do you?”

But what does getting it amount to?

Probably more than accurately grasping the facts of the matter at hand. Probably something closer to acting right, which assumes an appropriate grasp of the facts.

The route from not getting it to getting it runs through acts more than thoughts.