If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front

    If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front follows the story of Daniel McGowan. A previous member of the Earth Liberation Front who was on trial at the time for arson connected to the ELF. The courts also labelled him as a domestic terrorist in the eyes of the United States government thus bearing the question: should someone be considered a domestic terrorist if their actions never harmed or killed anyone and never had any intentions to harm or kill anyone. The arson committed by the ELF was aimed at protecting all life, natural and human life.

    In the documentary Daniel mentions how after 9/11 the United States used the word "terrorist" very leisurely and threw it on anyone or anything that went against their agenda. It became the new scare word, as "communist" was the scare word of the mid 20th century. However, the word terrorist has a very different way of interpretation. People who sympathize with the ELF and Daniel would not consider him a terrorist. I don't consider him a terrorist, I consider him as someone who was defending his own interests and protecting the environment around him. However, since his actions came in direct confrontation with the state and went against the status quo by being against the corporations who exploit the environment, he is seen as a terrorist in the eyes of the state.

    A brief moment of comic relief appears in the documentary however. While explaining the charges against him by the government, Daniel is wearing a shirt with former President George H.W. Bush's face on it, captioned "International Terrorist." I found this particular scene amusing because I totally agree with the shirt. We see a man who is convicted of being a domestic terrorist by the United States government during the Presidency of Bush, and yet he is wearing a shirt calling Bush a terrorist. I admired Daniel's outfit during that scene a lot, and I totally agreed with the shirt. Bush and his father helped start the war on terror, and as a result they lay with the blood of millions on their hands, yet the one getting charged as a terrorist was the person who harmed nobody.