by Timmy and Jennifer
“
Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits
drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add 'within the limits
of the law' because law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it
violates the rights of the individual. “
Thomas Jefferson
It
was 3 years ago in 2011, “ If a Tree Falls” directed by Marshall Curry and Sam
Cullman, produced a documentary movie to reveal the significance impact of
deforestation. Throughout the 85-minute film many issues about the environment
were raised, specifically the way human beings contribute to the destruction of
our environment. The film documents Daniel Mcgowan and his associates who were
tired of the demolition of Mother Nature by: burning timber companies, horse
slaughterhouses, stolen goods, etc. The United States government arrested
Daniel and thirteen other ELF affiliates “Earth Liberation Front” to bring the
group to an end. Daniel was judged as a terrorist even though it is factually
the contrary. In the documentary, Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman used several
forms of technical arrangements to show the issues; sequences of their life
before the film and after; the interviews with the Daniel and other activists,
the progression and juxtaposition of what eventually happened, the footages of
incidents, and credible proofs such as the conversation of Daniel.
Considering
that our week topic was “ Myths and Ideologies” “ If a Tree Falls ” was
perfectly reliable to the theme, Daniel Mcgowan put himself out there, fighting
for his beliefs and Ideologies. Environmentalism is all about supporting nature
and Daniel used the film to expose his ideologies and set an example to the
rest of us. The most important lesson from the movie is that we must fight for
what we believe in. This “myth”/ Story that Daniel told, helps us raise
questions and rethink our personal limits in terms of eco-activism. We learned
in class that it does not take much to become a activist, and anyone can be a
environmental hero! “ If a Tree Falls ” demonstrates the flaws in our so called
democratic society; a system based on the idea that cooperation is
necessary to achieve our goals. It seems to be
perfectly impossible but nearly practicable for human to produce. As long we
try, as long as Daniel, and his colleagues make the effort; that’s what is
important.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQdejn_RxBQ]
As
this short documentary “The Human Footprint” about our impact on the planet
says “Each person should be aware that each
action they takes has a profound effect on the environment in the long run, and
steps should be taken so we can reduce this footprint.”
The
movie, Daniel Mcgowan and his associates make efforts to change devastating
practices that we do everyday and apply another method of doing things: whether
simply by deciding to protest, these are their way of living nearly perfectly.
As creatures we must and it is our responsibility to change the world, and
this, start at home! “If a Tree Falls” inspired to show that, we hold the power
to make a difference, take a step a time, small or big.
[ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpkBht9_uqI
]
“L’Erruer boréale”
The Documentary film “L’Erreur boréale” was directed and
filmed by Richard Desjardins and Robert Monderie. The film took place in Quebec
and was released during the year of 1999. The directors of the film were
environmental activist and included many interviews of themselves, workers, and
related officials to the tree industry. The film presented its ideologies in a
very one sided point of view leaving the audience with a strong message about
deforestation and its atrocity to our environment. The birds eye view from the
planes and the many clips of high tech machinery chopping trees showed the
large amount of forest cut down across northern parts of Quebec. Richard
Desjardins Interviewed workers, they explained how much the logging has changed
since when they were younger. In our society there are consumers and producers,
the more we consume the more producers will produce. Environmentalists and
industrialist are opposing ideologies because the industries want to exploit
the land while environmentalists want to preserve and respect it.
Léopaul Gaudreau was a minister of the environment who
explained how logging companies didn’t have rules against cutting wood only for
protection of water, where they can build roads, and place camps. When Richard
Desjardins realized the minister of environment had nothing to say about rules
on cutting trees he appeared at a DOMTAR press meeting in 1996 for answers and
was denied any. Richard Desjardins is committed to his environmental ideologies
and through this documentary film he displayed the importance of them because
even though forest are being claimed to be reforested they never grow back as
large or full as before.
The definition of environmentalist is “any person who
advocates or works to protect the air, water, animals, plants, and other
natural resources from pollution or its effects.”(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/environmentalist)
Mainstream media does not show us the destruction that industries have on the
environment. We must group together and protect our environment. Richard
Desjardins ideologies support that each person has the responsibility to
protect the environment that we inhabit because we only have one planet and it
can never be replaced to its original state. The one hour and eight minute film
has the power to make a big impact on many people in Quebec because it’s so
close yet so few are aware of deforestations monstrous affects on the
environment.
"people making a stand"
The documentary films “If A Tree Falls” and “L’Erreur
boréale” introduce different beliefs that people have towards the environment.
Both films giving non-bias presentations of what happened. In the film “ If A
Tree falls” there was protesting demonstrations, interviews of police officers,
and interviews of ELF members. The many points of view communicate the message
of the film while also giving both sides of the situation. Something to be
learnt from these films is that there are more important things to be focusing
on than the new gadget coming out, or when we can afford to go shopping again.
Our planet is in desperate need of our attention before all
the beautiful wildlife is destroyed. These films are persuading us to stop
conforming to society and make a stand for the ideologies we support, because
it is our right as inhabitants of a democratic society. L’Erreur boréale’s film
shots from planes show the large amount of forest being cut down by logging
companies in northern Quebec. Not many people realize how close to home some
issues are and these documentary films give a chance for
Us to see first hand the impact we have on the environment.
People use protesting as a manor of voicing beliefs and
being heard. Many peaceful protesting demonstrations have been terminated by
police force, leaving society limitations when it comes down to being heard.
Each and every person has a belief but writing angry letters or marching down
main road wont generate the change needed. Ask any person if they believe the
environment is important and yes will be the answer almost every time. Society
claims that ELF actions were Eco-Terrorism but what other choice did they have.
The ELF showed that there is a problem with the government that is claimed to
be “of the people” when we do not have the right to make progression as a
united nation. Throughout my life I have lived in a house surrounded by forest
and farms, and most my childhood exploring the surrounding wildlife. Traveling
to British Columbia and driving through the mountains opened my eyes to the
mass amount of logging. Through out the drive there was many logging trucks
passing by and skeletons of forest that were once so alive and wild. Our
country is beautiful, and without the support and protection of all its
inhabitants it will continue to become a burial ground of natural beauty.
“Perhaps the time has come to cease calling it the
'environmentalist' view, as though it were a lobbying effort outside the
mainstream of human activity, and to start calling it the real worldview. -Edward O. Wilson”(http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/environmentalism)
In conclusion, we all must learn not to rely on the media to inform us, but
rather get involved, inform ourselves and others around you. Living in a
democratic society gives the right to people to stand for what they believe. If
Demonstrations of peaceful protesting are the best option then we must proceed
in that manor. I want to support the environment, just as Richard Desjardins
and Daniel McGowan, but the real question is whether you would as well? If you
cherish the environment you do not have to make a documentary film to make a
difference, simply getting involved as a citizen and encouraging eco-friendly
lifestyles makes all the difference. Though music, media, and conversation
spread the word that Mother Nature is under attack.
I really enjoyed If a Tree Falls. I enjoyed the different points of view brought up throughout the film. I also enjoyed how it intertwined with This is what Democracy Looks Like, how the Earth Liberation Front was part of the group of protestors who went too far and vandalised the streets of Seattle. I understood Daniel McGowan’s point of view, yet I believe the actions of sabotage he did weren’t the right thing to do. On the other hand, when the police used brutality and pepper sprayed the tree hugger, that wasn’t the right thing to do either. I really liked the point brought up about how companies destroy nature and don’t get into trouble, yet he tries to put an end to it and is considered an eco-terrorist. If a Tree Falls left me pondering about how destructive we can be as people.
ReplyDelete-Philippe C.
I liked the films If a Tree Falls and This is what Democrac Looks Like because it really shows us what democracy is. It also shows us things that we maybe did not know happened and is instructive because there are more than only one point of view so it shows us the two side of the medal. Yet, I did not really approve Daniel's behavior because I think he went to far but I think that considering him as a terrorist was too much.
ReplyDeleteNoémie Gauthier
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteMcGowan was judged as a terrorist and you said that he is factually not a terrorist. The line may be thin between being a terrorist or not, but what is a terrorist really? Many define it as the use of violence or intimidation to achieve a political goal. Even before I saw this definition I believed that his acts were in fact terrorism. So he only helped burn down buildings and no violence was used? The film mentions many parents didn't let their children go to school the following day. They may not have used physical violence but they definitely used intimidation and instilled fear to many that were not supposed to be the targets of their acts.
ReplyDeleteThe film ' If A Tree Falls' was i very good movie for me i liked how they showed everyone's side to the story and we got a good look at democracy. Even though blowing up buildings is not the best thing to do but in this film they stoped what was going on and i find that that was good and they also never harmed anyone. Your blog was good everything in there was good also good points made.
ReplyDelete-Wesley H
It was really touching to see how far people would go to save a tree. The environmentalists referred to arson because their words weren't being heard, the police lied and used the media to show that they were doing the right thing. I didn't think it was right for the police to use pepper spray or tear gas on the protesters because they weren't doing anything wrong. I wouldn't be able to chose a side because both sides used wrong ways to confront one another.
ReplyDelete-Andrew Natiola
"If A Tree Falls" left me feeling conflicted emotions, because on one hand I was rooting for Daniel and the Earth Liberation Front organization to make changes in the world and stand up for what they believe in. On the other hand, when they started destroying property, I did feel that it was going too far, yet at the same time, it was the only thing that worked; they managed to make the big companies lose their economies, preventing them from cutting anymore trees. Overall, I really liked your depiction of the film and it was probably not my favourite film of the year, but it certainly is the one that left the biggest impact on me and made me think on my actions and how they affect the environment.
ReplyDelete- Eric Deko
“If a Tree falls” is about a group of arsonists who are being seen as an “eco terrorists” and they are trying to save the trees of the environment. I was really surprised to see that there were a lot people who actually care about the issues of the nature. The group of Arsonists wants to save the nature. We see that they are trying to protest in order to stop the deforestation. Furthermore, the police officers use force to stop the protest. They started to cut trees and shoot pepper spray to the protesters. In this documentary, we also see that the group of E.L.F started to destroy all the companies in order to make them aware for not cutting the trees. This film shows us we all have to start to make an action in order to save the trees and the planet.
ReplyDelete- Agele
If a tree falls was a very different style of documentary by seeing everyone opinions. We get to understand all of their opinions by the end of the film. In my opinion, they are not terrorist. They are simply people who decided to take action into their own hands when the government or other elected officials did not either take action or listen to the people. It's funny how we elect politicians who represent us the best but they have no interest in what we have to say, like when they decided to cut down the tree before the council meeting to prevent the people to argue with them. In the end, I do understand why they mark them as terrorist because of this documentary showing all the angles of opinions, the fear that the owners of the companies have been through after the incident. The fear of wondering if they would ever destroy their private property.
ReplyDelete-Jonathan Wong
If a Tree falls was pretty different from it's point of views and topics. The documentary follows Daniel's life after being convicted of his crimes as an ELF member but I do understand the rage and emotion he felt of logging companies and the government's and local companies ignorance on the environmental impact and ecology (like planting ONLY pines and not maples or other trees to diversify it like an actual forest) and he even experienced the fear of him getting caught for his acts much like everybody does when we try or even break rules of boundaries put upon us by authority figures or laws.
ReplyDelete-Samantha