The documentary If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front follows the story of Daniel McGowan, a man accused and eventually convicted of several large arson attacks. Mr. McGowan and the other members of the extremist environmental group called the Earth Liberation Front set fire to businesses which they thought were harmful to the environment. Mr. McGowan and his accomplices deliberately did not kill or injure anyone. They were only interested in destroying property.

My main takeaway from the documentary was the issues with using violence in an attempt to bring about social change. Instead of focusing attention onto the issues and promoting change, the violent actions of the criminals focused attention onto themselves. While the documentary touched upon relevant environmental issues its principle focus was issues of criminal law and Mr. McGowan’s legal defense. Unlike other environmental documentaries I have watched, this documentary did not move or motivate me to learn more about environmental issues. Instead, it left me more interested in the interpretation of criminal law in this case. To me, this shows that the actions of the criminals were not effective at accomplishing their goals.

Also interesting is the choice by Mr. McGowan and his accomplices of using fire to promote environmental issues. Large fires like the ones shown in the documentary are harmful to the environment and release pollutants into the atmosphere. Additionally, by burning down structures that would be rebuild, the group only increased demand for lumber. Based on my recollection of the documentary none of the victimized businesses where permanently shut down further showing the ineffectiveness of using arson to promote social change.

I believe that the group would have been more effective by using the political process. Given the large demonstrations happening there was clearly fairly widespread support among citizens for environmental reforms. If efforts were focused on political reforms it is possible that results would have been achieved.