Grumbel and Alameda Daily Noose Tackle Oscar® Controversy Head On

The Alameda Daily Noose and I understand that there has been some controversy swirling around our hard-hitting coverage of this year's Oscars®. Although the careless reader might mistake our put-downs of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for mean-spirited attacks on upstanding members of our community, anyone with the slightest knowledge of the movie business knows that a fair number of those Hollywood big shots don't even live in Alameda.

Even if all of the Academy members were Right-Thinking Alamedans, our would-be critics would still need to educate themselves on the fine line between constructive criticism and a personal attack. Now, when people are clearly and obviously wrong on an issue, like the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences were about this year's best picture, then to rub their ignorant faces in it is harsh but constructive criticism. On the other hand, if your gut tells you that you or somebody else you admire is right on an issue, then anyone who nit-picks that person's so-called facts or quote-unquote reasoning is making a vicious personal attack. Why, that's so simple that even the knuckle-dragging cretins who hand out the Oscars® could understand it!