On Wednesday night, I took a trip to the Cornell Cinema to view Marshall Curry’s film, “If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front.” Curry’s film presented the acts of violence that the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) committed, and gave insight into its members’ backgrounds and daily lives, revealing the complexity of the individuals involved. Curry elicited mixed emotions from his audience— several fellow Rose Scholars and I discussed how we constantly flip-flopped between sentiments of sympathy for ELF members and outrage for the destruction they caused.

Curry’s film challenged the audience to define terrorism — what should be considered terrorism, and who should be considered a terrorist. In a Q&A after the film, Curry admitted that he, himself, was initially shocked by the prospect of labeling ELF members as terrorists — how could we possibly equate these environmentalists (whose mission is to protect the earth and cause no human harm) with those who have killed thousands of civilians? Curry raised the question: If we define any act of instilling fear as an act of terrorism, then can we label anyone that instills terror in others (even an imaginary monster) as a terrorist?