F06 :: Feminist Film Studies

In discussing the representation of Black women in film, specifically in Set It Off, Kimberly Springer focuses on the Sapphire model. She states, "Sapphire is not afraid to be loud and to speak her mind. Her danger lies within her words and only home training constrains her violence....Home training is about being well mannered in public, being a lady, and being middle class or working toward that class status. If one comes from a good home, one knows that tallking back and running one's mouth are verboten activities." Springer goes on to argue that the women in Set it Off embody the Sapphire model, but she does not explore further the link between home life and aggressive tendencies that is so explicitly displayed in this film.
Cleo is the only one of the four women who begins the film as a Sapphire. Cleo is not well mannered in public, a "lady", or middle class or working toward that class status at any point in Set if Off.
Frankie only becomes a Sapphire after her bank is robbed and she loses her job - thus depriving her of any hope of being middle class, and removing the necessity for her to be well mannered in life.
Stony transforms into a Sapphire after her brother is killed, which deprived her of hope of attaining middle class status, as well as the good home life that Springer asserts is essential to keep the Sapphiristic tendencies of Black women in check.
T becomes a Sapphire after her son is taken by the state, which destroyed her home life.
After reading Springer's article, the main message I take from the film Set it Off is this: "Enfranchise Black women, or they will turn into Sapphires and wreak havoc on society." My response to this message is that its good that there is media being created that supports the enfranchisement of Black women, but that any claim that powerless Black women will invariably become Sapphires enforces a stereotype. And we all already know how constructive stereotypes are in society....
so once again, I don't know what to think.

Posted by Angeline Andersen at 04:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (25)

"When Ursula comes around, the other three women usually avert their eyes. Tisean, Stony, and Frankie's silence around Cleo's lesbianism are indicative of the workings of homophobia and silence in the African American community"
Kimberly Springer ,Waiting to set it off p. 197 CP

I agree with this response to the film. Silence doesn't connote acceptance, and Springer has touched on an interesting topic in the black community. Perhaps Cleo's gender performance as a man is a response to the silence around her lesbianism. If it is unacceptable to love a woman as a woman, than it may be an adaptive for Cleo to love Ursula while performing as a man. I think this is also seen in greater society. Homosexual relationships are often more easily accepted when they have some sort of male/female (femme/butch) gender performance. Heterosexual relationships are also more easily accepted in mainstream society when they conform to traditional modes of gender performance.
It is also interesting in the film how Ursula doesn't have a speaking role. She is in plenty of scenes, at least five. But the only sound we hear from her is when she's crying when Cleo is shot on T.V. Ursula's gender performance is obvious in the film by her contrast to Cleo, and without a single line it also seems clear where the femme's place is in this film, and on an abstract level; where the woman’s place is in society.

Posted by Emily Burt at 10:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"It is fair to make thargument that there are lesbians who embody Cleo's brand of femal masculinity, but that does not necessitate the latent homophobia that emanates from women who are supposed to be Cleo's best friends and from the audience response.." Waiting to Set It Off Kimberly Springer (pg. 188)

"Cleo has no illusions about her chances for mobility, and the film's implicit message is that homosexuality or innappropriate masculinity will not get you any where you need to go in a society that emphasizes heterosexuality or femininity for biological women." Waiting to Set It Off Kimberly Springer (pg. 189)

Although Set It Off focused on empowering women who were oppressed by the system (which is portrayed as run completely by men, mostly white), I found it disturbing the way lesbianism was explicity condemned. As Springer put it, the movie portrayed lesbianism as a characteristic that should be acted upon and displayed only in private. Whenever Cleo's girlfriend is around, Frankie, Stoney and Tiesan look away making comments about keeping her romantic endeavors out of their sight. This reinforces the belief that homosexuality should be kept private; out of sight from the public. Showing that Cleo's best friends are unwilling to support her tells audiences that homosexuality is indeed something that doesn't need to be tolerated. Also, the fact that Cleo was the only one spoke frequently about how she was doomed for the ghetto and a life of crime can enforce the belief that lesbianism is a setback for women. This is reinforced by Stoney's heterosexual romance with Keith which saved her life in the end. Being a movie that empowers oppressed women to take matters into their own hands, I thought that it would show homosexuality in a positive way. To me, the movie tells the audience to overcome social and economic circumstances but not sexuality circumstances.

Posted by Nicole Zroka at 04:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"Cleo, on the other hand, is never given a motive for her violence and is therefore is depicted as a stereotypical "bulldagger" with violent tendencies." writes Springer on pg 187 of Waiting to Set it Off

I think this statement is slightly inaccurate. Cleo does have motives for her violence. Her motives are new cars, expensive gifts, and lots of cash. These motivations are similar to the black men portrayed in the beginning of the film robbing the bank. Because her motivations are not as "honorable" as her sisters in crime, they are disregarded by the author. To Cleo money buys temporary happiness. She lives for the moment, and at that moment she wants a car with rims and hydraulics. Obviously this is very different from the others in the film who rob banks for social injustice or for custody of their children. But just because it is different does not mean it should be disregarded. In fact, Cleo's motivations help strengthen the argument about her feminie masculinity.

Posted by Alexander Holler at 10:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On page 193, fourth paragraph, in "Waiting to Set it Off," author Kimberly Springer makes the comment that, "As in 'Thelma and Louise', the women of 'Set It Off' ar pursued by a white male police officer, Detective Strode. The difference is that this man was responsible for Stevie's death and ,yet, has no sympathy for the women's plight."

I completely disagree with author Kimberly Springer's assessment of Detective Strode. I believe it's the sympathy he has for the women's mission that makes him take the situation so personal and serious. First off, Stevie is not killed directly by Detective Strode. Strode is apparently the man who organized the police raid that got botched, but he did not shoot Stevie himself. I believe that he wasn't even the one who yelled out "He's got a gun!" Detective Strode's only fault is that he and his men mistook Stevie for the bank robber and murderer they were after. You can see it in the detective's eyes that he is visibly shaken-up over their mistake when he's looking over Stevie's body.

When Detective Strode watches the bank surveillance tapes and realizes that it's Stony and her friends who are the robbers, he immediately understands their motivation behind the women's crime – they want revenge on the system that's screwed them, hurting Stony the worst. Detective Strode relates closest with Stony. He believes that it he is in some way responsible for the women's choices. This is most evident in the final bank robbery. When Detective Strode and his partner stop the women before they are about to make their exit, he pleads with Stony to not continue with their actions, to just surrender. He looks to be in tears as he tells Stony that what happened to her brother was an accident and a terrible one at that, but turning to a life of crime isn't the way to remedy the situation.

The final action that Detective Strode performs that proves he does sympathize with the women is by letting Stony escape when all he had to do was say a word and they (the police) would have brought her to justice.

Download file
"The Face of a man who sympathizes with women retaliating against a prejudiced government system."

If Detective Strode did not in anyway feel for the women and their cause he would not have acted in manners which I described.

Posted by Stephen Kuzj at 09:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My quote is from Waiting to Set It Off by Kimberley Springer. It can be found on pages 181-2 of her essay, or 193-4 in the course packet.

"By robbing banks and, most importantly, getting away with it, the four women of "Set It Off" engage in a form of revolutionary expropriation: they steal what has already been stolen. Frankie uses this logic in trying to convince the other women, "Look, we're just taking away from the System that's fucking us all anyway, you know?""

I remember this quote from the movie as it was the beginning of the main plot. With this arguement, Frankie wins her debate and the planning for the robberies begins. By "stealing what has already been stolen," they justify what they are doing as right and even that they deserve what they will be getting. This thought kind of explains their role within society. By having willingness to commit such illegal and dangerous crimes, they are, in a way, saying that they have nothing to lose and everything to gain. They portray themselves as lower class or the working poor and are to the point that they would do anything to change that. Earlier in the movie even, anything really did mean anything when Stony sells herself in order to help her brother. As a female, she takes advantage of what she has been given and sacrifices herself to improve her brother's life which would hopefully lead to an improvement in her life in the future. Again, this quote is an important part to not only the plot of the movie on the surface, but also can represent the minority and feminst issues being represented. It supports the idea that these women are desperate to improve their lives and have lost the hope of doing it any other way.

Posted by Kelsey Buckley at 09:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"In their own class-based ways, these two films [Waiting to Exhale and Set It Off] move toward a redefinition of how African American women are portrayed, yet continue to uphold dominant stereotypes of them as prone to violence." "Waiting to Set It Off," by Kimberly Springer, pg. 173.

Set It Off is rife with stereotypes of the African American woman as prone to violence. Pinkett's character experiences it directly and indirectly. First, she must prostitute her body, submitting to a form of sexual violence, to earn money. Second, her brother is shot for being in the wrong neighborhood at the wrong time, and Pinkett suffers emotionally from this loss.

Queen Latifah's character plays on the stereotype of both the "angry African American man" and the "butch" lesbian. She's the most agressive gun-toting robber in the bank scenes, threatens her friend by shoving a gun to her temple over a petty argument, and is the most comfortable as an agressive, violent character.

All four woman are seen as violent African Americans, though to varying degrees, in the scene where they practice firing weapons at a shooting range, and in the bank robbery scenes. Furthermore, all but one of the women is shot to death end, the ultimate reinforcement that low income African American women are likely to face violence.

Posted by Kristen Mueller at 08:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One of the most striking things to me in the movie was how all the characters illustrated a very heteronormative society. Although they were seen as pretty strong women considering the daunting task of robbing banks that they accomplish, almost everything about them was dictated by sexual and gender norms. This to me was very obvious in Cleo and Tisean. Springer discussed Cleo and her homesexuality in depth. She says "aspects Latifah's portrayal of Cleo are played as one-dimensional stereotype of the big, tough bulldagger. Cleo spends most of the film in overalls, often letting them sag around her waist. She loves cars and is a competent mechanic." (Springer 188)

Although the fact that Cleo is present as a lesbian and friends with these pretty typical hetersexual women she is there in a very stereotypical way. She is the epitome of the butch lesbian dressing very masculine, drinking, smoking and being intimidating and violent. There is nothing feminine about her except for her girlfriend who is a very obvious lipstick lesbian, the femme to her butch. Cleo's homosexuality is not seen as something novel, but as something very mediated by lesbian norms. Despite her friendship with the other women they still do not fully accept her lesbianism as seen by the fact that they turn away when she is with her girlfriend.

Tisean is portrayed as extremely feminine. Throughout the film she is wearing very feminine clothing, dresses and skirts when the other women are wearing pants. The way that she walks and moves is in a very typical feminine way always seeming a bit scared and hesitant, not sure of herself at all. Her personality is very meek and she is dependent on her more independent friends for support. She is very emotional and rash, both of which are seen as typical feminine qualities. The fact that she is a mother onl adds to her maternal, feminine portrayal.

Posted by Nora Goustin at 06:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"Cleo. . . may have a natural penchant for rebellion and violence, but the other three want desperatly to make it into middle-class comfort and respectability and have simply reached their limits of frustration" (Springer 180).

I think this quotation is very important while considering the intentions of the four female bank robbers in the film. Cleo is an off the wall character that shows mild violent intentions at various times in the film. A viewer can tell that she has lived a life around violence, especially considering the fact that she has grown up in the projects. Her bad mouth and temper illustrates that she has a natural penchant for such actions as seen in the film. The other three females have contrasting objectives, however. For Frankie, the object for her actions is a combination of revenge and opportunity. She is fired from the bank at the beginning of the film primarily because she knows the suspects. After she is fired, she can no longer get a job at any other banks, and must subject herself to low wage labor at the same cleaning service as her three friends. Robbing banks is easy money, but there is probably no greater reason for doing so than payback. I think this is evident right before she dies at the end of the film. The police officer attempts to talk Frankie down, but instead she points a gun to his head and reitterates the same words that came out of his mouth when he was interrogating her about the bank procedure during a robbery. I think she was trying to make a last effort point because she knew that her life was about to end. For Tisean, her motive was fairly simple. She needed money in order to raise her child. She wasn't making much money at the cleaning service and thus couldn't afford to raise him off of it. If she could raise some quick cash, she could provide a good living environment for him. Stony's motive is much more like Frankies. She does want to be in the comfort of the middle-class. This is evident at a number of parts in the movie. She wants to provide for her brother and send him to college, thus prostituting herself to a local business man. Even at the party she attends with her boyfriend later in the film illustrates her attempts at trying to fit in with a more classy society. The thing that pushes Stony over the edge, however, is revenge for her brother. Before her brother's death, she has the good sense to push back any ideas about robbing banks. Once Stevie is murdered by the LAPD, she decides to take part in the scheme. It's basically her rebellion against society. She tried to live life straight up, but it kept beating her back so she decided she wasn't going to do that anymore. Coincidentally, Stony is the only one to survive.

Posted by Jacob Deibele at 04:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

“ Frankie saw that working for The Man in his bank will get you nowhere
because you are still guilty by association.” –Waiting to Set It Off,
Kimberly Springer (193-194)

I think this quote is significant to the findings of the movie. You don’t get the impression that these girls were showered with the idea of opportunities. I think they finally hit their low in terms of social depression when Frankie was laid off just because the guy that robbed the bank she worked in happened to live in her “hood,” for Tisean when her baby was taken from her, for Stony when her brother was killed even though he had no criminal record and graduated from high school and Cleo had a number of things on her record and never believed she was “better than that” as evidenced when she and Stony had that conversation about “where do you see yourself in five years” after their fight. The fact that their first bank robbery was successful gave them a false sense of opportunity… that they didn’t have to worry about their economic situations and it happened so quickly. I don’t really think they ever really expected to get out of the hood. I think they just let the hood engulf them until it seemed to be the only thing left to do.

Posted by Nicky Cebertowicz at 03:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This was a very interesting movie to watch critically. The element of the film that stood out strongest for me was the reasoning behind the bank robberies. Unlike other movies where black men are depicted as being violent, black women apparently need social and economic reasons to warrant the same action. Each woman had something traumatic happen to her (with the exception of Cleo but as viewers we are supposed to read her as the shallowest of the quad). Springer points this fact out in her essay, but she leaves out the comparison between how black men are portrayed as violent versus how black women are portrayed in Hollywood cinema. Apparently, black men do not need any reasons for their violent behavior, but women do.

Posted by Kelly at 11:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

“Tisean, who commits the only murder in the film by one of the four leading women, is shot by a security guard as she and Stony are about to surrender. Cleo and Stony shoot their way out of the bank, but Tisean subsequently dies from her wounds in the getaway car.”
Waiting to Set It Off, Kimberly Springer pgs.191-192 (course packet pages 198-199)

Tisean’s death was in a way the most tragic of the women’s deaths because she was trying to surrender when she was murdered. This scene reinforced an overall theme of the film, that these four women were victims of the system and turning to crime was their only hope of escape.
During the film I was very frustrated by the fact that neither Frankie nor Cleo surrendered just before they were killed, because they were given the chance to. But with this quote in mind, I see how appropriate it was that they died instead of surrendering. Tisean’s death seemed to reinforce the point that even if they wanted to, the women were unable to surrender. They were in such a position where they were destined to die by the hands of the system that made living so difficult for them. Frankie and Cleo’s deaths seemed to be a conscious decision on their part that they were through being held down by an unjust system. They had decided to fight the system when they agreed to robbing banks, and their refusals to surrender were their last efforts to uphold that decision to the end. It seemed that it was an act of defiance on their part to not give up, even though they would die for it.

Posted by Colleen Straiton at 11:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

"Her [Sapphire] danger lies within her words and only home training constrains her violence...Home training, is about being well mannered in public, being a lady, and being middle class or working toward that class status" (Springer 177).

This quote perfectly embodies Stony for me. Stony spends much of the film trying to attain middle class status; she seems to always be wavering on the brink of reaching this goal. She is non-violent when she celebrates her brother’s graduation, she is poised to step into the middle class world, she hosts a party and is a happy and pleasant host/friend. When her brother dies and she looses her ticket to the middle class she is plunged into a world of violence.

When she meets Keith, Stony is presented with a new vehicle to the middle class world. While she is with him, her hard street talking manner drops, she becomes calm, beautiful and much more passive than the aggressive strong Stony we see arguing with her friends and robbing banks. Keith, for me, represents the home training perfectly. He asks Stony to stay with him and ride alone his success; he makes her over to be appropriate for his upper class world. He presents a different, well mannered lady-like Stony to his business associates and it seems once again, the Sapphire is being pushed back down by this middle class dream just within reach. Her violent acts subside; she no longer wants to rob banks. The strong Stony who stands up to her friends and the authorities is squashed along with her anger and violence by the home training provided by Keith and the dream of a middle class life.

Posted by Allison Rogne at 11:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Daaaaaaanng. That’s all I gotta say.

No seriously, Set It Off is a highly significant film. It portrays the struggle against “The Man” in a clear way. After the opening bank robbery I instantly knew what the film was going to be about and completely sided with the black woman (Ms. Fox). I understood the unfair treatment and total injustice dished out to her by the white male cop and the white male bank manager (owner?).

I actually cried several times during the film. I felt how terrible all of the black women had been treated by white men. And, when three of them were killed, I cried even harder. Me, crying over the deaths of bank robbers!? I understood their desperation and determination to fight. I understood that they tried their best to fight in a legal moral way. I understood that it didn’t work. Instead of staying broken and left hopeless, these women stuck together to fight men the only way they could think of.

The black women were also abused by black men. Their black boss for the janitorial service disrespected them with in the way he spoke to them. The black guy who only agreed to give Ms. Pinkett an advance if she had sex with him obviously mistreated her. As the movie progressed, their cause expanded to fighting against all men, not just white men.

My favorite line, which triggered the first set of tears (that I remember), was after the first bank robbery. The women were splitting up the take when a disagreement broke out about if the women who didn’t participate should get a cut. She was crying and said that she needed the money. She needed to get her son back. Vivica recoiled her position of not giving her a cut with something like…I’m sorry; you’re not the one I’m mad at. Then, she gave her her share. I doubt that would ever happen with a pack of male robbers. The way they stayed together, kept their battle against “The Man” and friendship in front of anything else, was a deeply emotional side to the story which led to my tears when they were murdered.

Another thing, I appreciated the style in which the love making was captured. When Ms. Pinkett and the bank guy had sex, I thought the moment must have been directed by a female. It was sensual, slow, and there was a connection between the two characters. It didn’t seem like a typical movie f@$# scene, but a break through love making scene.

I thought this movie was a strong example of feminist film. I loved it and will recommend it to all of my friends and family.

Posted by Matthew Shapiro at 11:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I chose a quote from Kimberly Springer's piece "Waiting To Set It Off," from page 187 (196 in CP)
"Most of the women in Set It Off are provoked to violence by their economic situation, believing that
robbing banks is their only recourse."
In this film all four women are struggling to come up with enough money to support their different lifestyles. Frankie, in the beginning loses her job at the bank because she is suspected of helping the bank robbers. She is then forced to get a job with her three other friends working for a man cleaning buildings, because she needs the money. No one is making very good money but they are getting by until problems in their lives begin to arise. First of all, Stony has to pay for her brother to go to college. She isn't making enough money where she works so she has to resort to prostitution. Then Tisean loses her child because of suspected child neglect. Tisean had to bring her child to work because she couldn't pay for a sitter and the boy got into some of the cleaning chemicals and was poisoned. So Tisean needs money to get her child back. In the end they all decide that robbing banks is the only way to get themselves out of the situations that they are in and out of there social class into a better life. It turns out that robbing banks isn't as rewarding as the women thought it would be and when they become greedy and money hungry they begin to turn on each other and resort to violence to satisfy their hunger.

Posted by Renee Wrobel at 11:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"Cleo has no illusions about her chances for mobility, and the film's implicit message is that homosexuality or inappropriate masculinity will not get you where you need to go in a society that emphasizes heterosexuality or femininity for biological women...Cleo even admits, in a conversation with Stony, the allegedly innate limits that her class and sexuality circumscribe her" (Springer pg. 187).

While watching the film, this aspect of Springer's argument seemed really interesting and important to me. Throughout the film, Cleo was the most excessive one, either with drugs and alcohol, or through behavior. She was always drinking, flirting with her girlfriend, or yelling and creating a scene. From the initial scene, it was obvious that she could not be successful in society, because she was not a "civilized lady." This is even more emphasized when put in contrast to Stony. While Stony is being courted by a middle-class man who has money and a stable job, Cleo is spending her robbery money on a sexy outfit for her girlfriend and flaunting her new wealth. Cleo's character was the most interesting to me, because she was the most extreme character with many messages attached - class, overt sexuality, and race. To the audience, Stony has the potential to survive in society because she is attractive and finds heterosexual and civilized love. Cleo, in contrast, will not survive (therefore showing a negative view of masculinity in women or lesbianism) because she is too masculine and is a lesbian. Through this lens, it is obvious some of the messages Set It Off expresses through the characters of Stony and Cleo.

Posted by Claire Eastwold at 10:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Quote: "You can take a Negro out of the ghetto, but you can't take the ghetto out of the Negro."
Author: Kimberly Springer
Waiting to Set it Off page 182

I do not agree with this quote because it is very steriotypical and very derogatory. Basically it says that that African Americans can't change their life style even if they change the sitution they live in; or they can't change their behavior and attitude even if they change their setting. In the movie Set it Off, we see African American women strugling to take charge of their lives and change it. I don't necessarly agree with the method they used, but we see that they still take steps toward change (even if it is robbing a bank). We also see the character Kieth who is African American and has a very stable life financially and emotionally. He graduated from Harverad, lives in a lavish house, and has a stable job as the head of a bank. He is the image of a successful male, by both white and black standards. He introduces Stony to his life style, who starts to think about her own life and how to improve it. We see that when she asks her friend Cleo where she sees herself in five years; just like Keith asked her (Stony). We also see how she can fit in and adapt when Keith takes her to the ball in a beautiful black dress and introduces her to his coeworkers and friends. She does not act "ghetto" but acts like a lady. Of course we can tell she is nervous because of the change, but at the same time she is willing to embrace it. After that night she keeps the dress she wore to the ball with her, and takes it out to look at it in various scenes; allowing us to see that this is the life she seeks. In the movie we hear Stony say that all she wants is enough money to get out of there and live a comfortable life. We see that she is not greedy because she was satisfied with the money from the first bank robery and did not want to rob another bank; she saw the money from the bank robery as a start not a way to get rich. We see her change into an ambious person and stray away from the "ghetto" steriotype throughout the movie. She even goes as far as to slap Cleo when she puts a gun to her head threatening her to rob another bank with them. So we see that even before she leaves the "ghetto," she starts to shed the "ghetto" image and attitude.

Posted by Saly Abdalla at 10:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

According to Ebert, poverty and racism are approved rationales in film for committing crimes against an uncaring capitalist system, and indirectly the state. By robbing banks and, most importantly, getting away with it, the four women of Set It Off engage in a form of revolutionary expropriation:they steal what has already been stolen." (Springer 181)
This film bothered me because it seemed that there wasn't much rationale in the women's decisions. I can understand being angry for a white man insisting on Frankie's involvement in the first bank robery in the film causing her to loose her job and also for that same man killing Stonie's brother, but their were so many more options that the girls didn't even consider. When Stonie sold her body for her brother's college education, she could have kept the money she unfortunately, rightfully deserved, and helped Tisean with the money to prove herself to Social services. I think this film just overemphasized the stereotype of the saphire and how the need for money brings out the beast within. The anger towards society, the state that has done wrong to them, leads the girls to inevitably rob a bank. I felt that Tisean was the most innocent up until she shot the man who caused her baby to be taken away. It all seems too cliche. None of the women seemed to think about the effects their actions would have on others in their lives, such as Tisean's child. To me this is just a typical hollywood gangsta movie, women replacing men, attacking the state they felt attacked them.

Posted by Stephanie Hagen at 09:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"The women in Set It Off cannot keep Sapphire in check" (Springer, p. 182)

I have to definately disagree when she says this about the women in the movie. It was not that they couldn't keep sapphire in check, which she defines as evil, treacherous,bitchy,stubborn,hateful, etc, it was that situations kept popping up that forced the women to have to keep robbing banks and forced them to be violent and hateful. The first bank robbery, they only got $3000.00 each. If they were trying to get out of the hood, that is not nearly enough money. That makes them rob another bank and they hide that money in a vent at work, which gets stolen by their boss. The reasoning behind their bank robberies and turn to violence is not a result of them not being able to keep this notion of sapphire in check. They have obviously kept it in check all their lives of having to live where they live, of having to work where they work and barely making enough money to survive. Them robbing banks is the result of black women pushed over the edge; women that have taken all that they can take.

Posted by Alexandria Grim at 08:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

“The scene that best illuminates their individual leanings toward violence shows Stony, Cleo, Frankie, and Tisean going to a neighborhood friend, Black Sam, for weapons. Through character development, this scene establishes who will be tough, who will live, and foreshadows who will die.” - Kimberly Springer, pg. 189

When watching the film I didn’t realize this was what was being shown, but when re-reading the article it really hit me. I really agree with Springer about the showing of violence. I think the best showing was when they were actually firing at the targets and the most showing character was Cleo. She was known to be the one of the biggest instigators of the burglaries and it really showed when she was shooting two large caliber weapons in succession. Not only does it show her aggressive behavior, but being a marksman myself I know the shear strength that is needed to hold such a large weapon steady when firing with one hand.

I don’t know if I agree entirely with Springer about foreshadowing who lives and who dies. I don’t think when I watched the movie for the first time I could have deduced that Stony was the only one that ends up living. I think it may show the fashion at which Cleo and Tisean get killed but I don’t think that can be deduced without first seeing the entire movie.

Posted by Andrew Gilb at 12:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"All attempts to repress our/black people's right to gaze had produced in us an overwhelming longing to look, a rebellious desire, an oppositional gaze." (bell hooks 198)

Cleo from "Set It Off" is the basis of my analysis of hooks' quote. Throughout the film, there are close ups on Cleo's face where you can see that intense and furious stare. It is evident when her of one of her friends is being treated unfairly and unjustly. She fights the system in multiple ways. She fights the heterosexual norm through her relationship with Ursula. She fights the white capitalist supremecist system through bank robbing and cheating the very people who steal from her. She is bold and outrageous: challenging the "feminine" roles in society. Cleo utilizes her stare and her gaze to fight against repression and the injustices that happen to her and her friends. She continues to gaze up until the point when she steps out of the car and continues to start shooting.

Posted by Jessica Englund at 12:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"Later, in a Mexican motel room, Stony cries over the money scattered across the bed and remembers the good times she had with Cleo, Tisean and Frankie, now dead." Springer p199 CP

I'd like to call into question what constitutes "good times" in this montage. Most of the shots include the women surrounded by money post bank robbery. Very few shots deal with the characters before their entrance into a criminal life. I'm sure they had good times that didn't revolve around their criminal escapades. So are we to understand that good times can only found when fighting heterosexual patriarchy? They may not be economically or socially up, but they have their own culture between them—"good times” had to have happened.

Good times must refer to the life of an the anti-hero. These women commit crimes and are therefore not privy to commendation for fighting a system they find to be rigged. In most films, we would side with the officer, but in this case these women market themselves as robin hoods—robbing from the rich and giving to themselves. This kind of "good time" could have been avoided and I don't think the criminal activity fights stereotype. In my opinion, it can only solidify it.

The way to avoid crime would be through Keith. He's rich and definitely has to have some connections and would help Stony in any way that he could. But what about the other three you ask? Well, Stony isn't the kind of person to leave her friends in the lurch, therefore the entire group of friends could have benefited from Stony asking Keith for help. Some would probably argue that it would only support the patriarchal system: Keith is a man and the women can only prosper through him. I could understand that argument, but wholly disagree. Most of the women in this film are strong, Stony especially. Her gaze was dominant over Keith's(e.g. the love scene focused on the naked body of Keith) and she dictated where and when they would meet. This is control, not a relationship, but it demonstrates that she would be able to be "liberated" through someone else's help--even if that someone is a man. Alas, that would make for a very boring movie and to get the point the filmmaker wanted, the plot would need more punch.

In the end only one character “liberates” themselves from their economic and social strife. But, is it really liberation? She is in exile and can never again see her friends who have died. Were the "good times" worth this liberation? One over three?

Posted by John Komarek at 11:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"The capitalist, white patriarchy provokes them to commit a bank robbery by pushing them over the edge of social disenfranchisement. Though they are bold, these four women will subsequently die for their actions because dreams of middle-class respectability failed to tame their Sapphiric violent tendencies."
- "Waiting to Set It Off" - Kimberly Springer - p.193

I had mixed emotions about both this article and the film. I believe the first part of this quote is an oversimplification of a complicated film that can be understood in many different ways. It is obvious that the conditions created by the white capitalist patriarchal society are what led the women to believe they had no options other than bank robbery, with the exception of Cleo. If Stony had not felt the need to sell her body to send her brother to college and then see him murdered by police, or if Tisean had enough money for her child's babysitter and did not have to bring him to work, or if Frankie had not been fired unfairly the robberies would not have entered any of the women's minds. It was a very interesting point of view watching these crimes from the point of the criminals committing them, and not from the point of view of the "good guys", the police. People watching movies, television, or even the news have the tendency to assume every person that commits a crime is simply violent and evil, but this film forces the viewer to look at crimes from a new point of view. People are not born evil criminals; the system that oppresses them for their entire lives and makes them desperate for survival turns them to crime.

I also find it interesting that Springer states the women die because they are unable to tame their Sapphiric violent tendencies. Although an argument could be made for this belief because Stoney seems the least violent and is the only woman at the end that does not take a stand against the police, I do not entirely agree. bell hooks describes the Sapphire as black women that were "evil, treacherous, bitchy, stubborn, and hateful, in short all that the mammy figure was not". Although people in the movie such as the police may have seen the women this way, the viewer does not. The viewer actually sympathizes with the bank robbers, understands their reasons for doing it, and hopes that they do not get caught. The viewer is also forced to think about what would have happened to the women had they not robbed the banks. Although they may not have been violently shot to death, it is unlikely that they would have lead happy lives; they may even have still died horrible deaths. Tisean would most likely have lost her son, and in her own words she would die without him. Losing her son would have forced her to other drastic measures, possibly even suicide.

Posted by Annette Bonner at 11:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

“Set It Off relied on stereotypical icons of African American women, they were a move in a more positive direction compared to past depictions.”

Springer, “Waiting to Set It Off: African American Women and the Sapphire Fixation” pg. 196

I have really mixed feelings about the movie Set It Off. From the reading, I gathered that this movie was supposed to defy the stereotypical portrayal of black women but I don’t really feel it did that. It did give black actresses staring roles and they weren’t the “Aunt Jemima” or “nagging background noise” characters. I felt though as if the movie portrayed other stereotypes instead. There’s the irrational black woman, Frankie, who after being wrongly accused and fired decides that it’s a good idea to rob banks. There’s the black lesbian, Cleo who is constantly referred to as “Mr.” or “him,” wants a pimped out ride, and enjoys watching her girlfriend wear a little number that rides up her ass and dance sexually. Tisean is very innocent and a very naive single mother struggling to support her son. Lastly, Stony is a smart and determined piece of eye candy that, in a way “dies” when her brother is murdered because in her mind the two are one. She keeps saying “we” got into college and “we” are going to UCLA. I guess that these stereotypes are more modern day than the mammy’s and jezebels of the past but I feel that it’s not very progressive if you are replacing discriminating stereotypes with discriminating stereotypes. Why do the black female characters need to be violent, insecure, and irrational?

I was very upset with the character of Stony. I couldn’t understand her rationale. She wanted more than anything to live in suburbia, live the middle class life. Yet, when given the opportunity to do so she takes the “hood rat” path. She meets a banker who went to Harvard, has traveled, and goes to balls. Everything that she dreamed of handed to her on a platter and he even tells her that he’ll grant her every wish. Yet, she still robs the banks with the other girls. I can’t grasp how she thought that rejecting the banker and robbing banks would grant her the life she wanted?

Posted by Stephanie Boekhoff at 10:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

“Black women’s identities are not rigid, fixed entities, but fluid - contingent upon personal, cultural, political, and social variables. Identity (re)formation is a continuous process of (re)positioning within meaningful socio-historic structures.” gloria j. gibson-hudson “the ties that bind: cinematic representations…” (p. 214)

This quote captures the changes experienced by the four main characters in Set It Off. At the beginning of the movie, each woman has her own identity which is influenced by the environment she lives and works in. The character of Frankie has carved out a new identity for herself by working hard and moving up in her bank job. Unfortunately, her identity is destroyed when someone from her neighborhood robs the bank. To Frankie’s boss, her identity is based on social variables that she has no control over.
The character of Stony is also an example of how fluid identities can be. At the beginning of the movie, Stony is a young woman from the bad side of town who has worked hard to raise her younger brother after her parents die in a car accident. Her hopes and wishes are all tied to helping her brother go to college and escape the neighborhood. However, her identity is forever changed when her brother is shot and killed by police who mistakenly believe he is a bank robber. After her brother’s death, Stony feels she has nothing to lose and joins her friends in a bank robbery scheme. Her identity becomes even more fluid when she begins to date a successful banker and moves back and forth between the world of the projects and the world of the upper class. Stony’s identity changes as her environment and circumstances change. The characters in Set It Off are a strong example of identity (re)formation.

Posted by Tegan Conway at 09:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The quote that I chose to focus on considering the film "Set It Off" comes from Kimberly Springer's essay "Waiting to Set It Off".
" In popular culture and accepted historical iconography it would be redundant to speak of 'African American women's violence' or the 'violent African American woman.' Black people depending on the icons in current usage, are thought to be inherently violent. I maintain that when it comes to women, race, and violence, white North American women are assumed to have been provoked to violence; they are not permitted violent impulses. Oppositionally, African Americans are thought to be always already violent due to their 'savage' ancestry..." (Springer 174).

When you first begin watching Set If Off, the opening scene is the bank robbery that Vivica A. Fox's character, Frankie, gets fired for, and potentially blamed for because of her African American status. The police assumed that because the bank robbers happened to be black, that Frankie was somehow conspiring with her "friends" in the robbery. You immediately side with Frankie since she is being discriminated because of her race. Springer reestablishes this concept when she discusses the stereotypical idea of inherent violence among African American women. White North American women also knowingly commit crimes, but they are not born with the "violent tendencies" that African American women are. Frankie's co-workers for the most part were white, specifically one female co-worker that is standing right next to her during the bank robbery. However, the police never discriminate the white woman co-worker and threaten her with conspiracy charges. Instead, they focus the blame on Frankie because after all...Frankie is an African-American woman working at a bank during a robbery by three African-American men. This, in turn, helps you to continue siding with Frankie throughout the film. Even while the women are planning and then actually robbing a few banks, deep-down inside you are rooting for them to come out victorious! For so long they have felt oppressed or discriminated because of their race, and now it was their turn to take a stand (in a very bold and drastic way). This is because you, as the viewer, and unlike the police questioning Frankie in the very beggining of the film, are aware of the proposterious association with innate violence due to "savage ancestry" in African American women (Springer 174).

Posted by Mikaela Knox at 08:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

“Though Waiting to Exhale and Set It Off relied on stereotypical icons of African American women, they were a move in a more positive direction compared to past depictions.”
Author: Kimberly Springer
Title: “Waiting to Set It Off: African American Women and the Sapphire Fixation”
Page: 196

Compared to other Hollywood movies that I’ve seen that are either by Black directors or have a predominant Black cast, Set It Off struck me as different. I feel that Set It Off was a nice change from the popular “gangster” movies that have Black men as the main characters. In these movies I saw young Black women actors either as quiet “arm-candy” or as annoying nags. They were the Jezebels or Mammys. In Set It Off, I saw these images as well in Ursula, Tisean, and Stony. Ursula was depicted as a Jezebel in her relationship with Cleo. She was quiet, skinny, and very feminine. She was there to look nice on Cleo’s arm. At times I saw Tisean as a quite, shy Mammy. She wanted to always do the right thing. She never smoked with the others, she never stood up for her self, and she was the last one to agree to the robbing. In the movie when Stony yelled at her brother before he was shot, it reminded me of the nagging girlfriends, mothers and sisters that I see so much of in other Hollywood “gangster” films.
Despite these and other stereotypes in the movie, it was refreshing to see young Black women played in a different role. I saw these women as strong and smart, taking their lives into their own hands. In the end, these women didn’t rely on men and they didn’t let the fact that they were women stop them from doing what they wanted. But these women were also depicted as Sapphires, and this could lead to more stereotyping. In Kimberly Springer’s essay, "Waiting to Set It Off", she also says, “Now that the dominant culture is finally beginning to understand that Aunt Jemima representations are racist and sexist, Sapphire could easily take over as a “natural” depiction of Black women” (p.195). In the movie Set It Off, Cleo, Stony, Tisean, and Frankie are portrayed as the stereotypical Sapphires, but at least it is a different representation of Black women. Hopefully in the future more films by and about Black women will be made so that these stereotypes disappear.

Posted by Alison Havey at 04:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

" Historically, for African American girls and women, Sapphire is a dangerous model not to emulate because she has the potential to be violent. Sapphire is not afraid to be loud and speak her mind. Her danger lies within her words and only home training constrains her violence. Most African Americans are familiar witht he concept: "That girl ain't got no home training." A lack of home training marks a deficiency in breeding. Home training is about being well mannered in public, being a lady, and being middle class or working toward that class status. If one comes from a good home, one knows that talking back and running one's mouth are veboten activities."
Waiting to Set it Off: African American Women and the Sapphire Fixation
Kimber Springer, Page 191 (176-177)

This quote is so interesting to me. My background is exactly this ideal of how a woman should be raised. Although, to note, I am a White American who comes from an upper-middle class family and was raised in Wisconsin, but my mother is from Nashville, TN... which made my upbringing very Southern oriented as far as manners and being lady-like goes. I, too, was raised in the idea that women are supposed to be gentle and well-mannered. It was always unaccceptable to talk back under any circumstances even though as I got older my mother and I would always play the "Last Word" game. Something that I learned from this was that the idea was also prevalent in the African American culture as well. I did not know that the same expectations were in place for another race.

The one thing I did notice right away while watching the film was that their families were never shown, with the exception of Stony's brother and Tisean's son. There is a lack of parental guidance for the girls all throughout the movie. All of the girls had grown up in a bad, run-down neighborhood, where the idea of getting out and making something of themselves was often clouded by the reality of a lack of money, needed to actually make a move. The desperation was clearly shown in the scene where Tisean's son was taken by the social worker and she realized she had to do the bank robbery if she ever wanted to get ther son back. That middle class standard is something that they could only dream of achieving.

The violent part of the Sapphire was most prevalent in Queen Latifah's character Cleo throught the film. She is the quintessential Sapphire with the violent behavior and the loud mouth. She was the one who had connections with the gun dealer and had a criminal background and dirty mouth. This is evident in two scenes where she gets the guns for them to do their first robbery by getting him to do her a favor.. showing that she has ties with him already. And, she is shown as being very loud after they first rob the back and are excited about the money they got, she is in the background just shouting and being obnoxious.

Posted by Maggie Sullivan at 03:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

“Halberstam rightly observes that the female masculinity of Black lesbians is circumscribed by race, but at the same time aspects of Latifah’s portrayal of Cleo are played as a one-dimensional stereotype of the big, tough bulldagger.” (Springer, “Waiting to Set It Off,” pg.188)
“ ‘In other words, lesbians were constructed as aberrant women who wanted to be men, and so, they acted more like men than the ‘real’ men acted: the only thing missing was the penis.’” (Springer, “Waiting to Set It Off,” quoting Omosupe’s description of a “bulldagger,” pg. 189)

Immediately as we are introduced to Cleo in the film, I thought to these statements above, as well as the positioning of Cleo as tied implicitly to the material; in fact, it is a materiality that harkens immediately to the construction of black men from the projects in film and video: she is sitting in her car, and is “shown up” by two guys who sidle up to her with hydraulics on full display (am I right in thinking that F. Gary Gray makes a cameo as the driver?). Stony and Frankie tell her that she’ll be able to match that someday. When in fact they do steal the money, Cleo immediately tricks out her car, mimicking the display of the men who initially showed her up, and in yet another harkening, she buys her “girl” Ursula (who doesn’t speak once in the film) fancy lingerie and has her perform for her on top of her new status symbol, while simultaneously drinking from a bottle (it is only Cleo that drinks from the bottle in the first scene – Frankie and Ursula both drink from glasses), and smoking weed (Cleo is the provider, even when the others do smoke, it is Cleo that instigates it – already she is transgressive and “reckless”); it is also Cleo that is brash enough to pull a gun, even as it is met with the appropriately feminine “catfight” of a slap. In that scene alone there is a tension between Cleo’s display of masculinity (pulling the gun – a threat of violence towards a woman), which is masked as her “being high,” and in turn, when she is slapped by Stony, that display immediately renders Cleo as feminine, displacing her masculinity.
The relationship of guns with Cleo could be easily read as attaching the “bulldagger” to that which she desires, or that which she is attempting to perform – the phallus. It is after all Cleo that negotiates the acquisition of guns from Black Sam, in part reasoned by the fact that she used to steal cars for him, but also by virtue of the fact that she is “equal” with him, suggesting that Cleo is seen as potentially equally masculine (also evidenced ad infinitum by Luther’s continual addendum of “...& gentleman”). When Black Sam suggests that the exchange of guns link to exchange in women, it is complicated by Cleo as friend of Frankie, and also by the suggestion that Cleo may also be attracted to Frankie (the groping scene on the rooftop, which reaffirms Frankie’s heterosexuality despite the lack of romantic interest in the film). Thusly, it suggests the inherent power relations between black men and black lesbians, complicated yet again because the object in question is also the phallus.
When at last Cleo is killed, she goes out, as Springer states, in the typical “hero’s blaze of glory,” which in some way ties her to her masculinity, yet I also read it as its inverse: because of her female masculinity, because of her strength in openly being a black lesbian, specifically a bulldagger, she is the most punished for this transgression. Placed in a filmic situation in which her bravura is met with unnecessary gunfire, there is a discontent between both seeing her as “an outlaw,” and thus, somewhat gaining pleasure in the fact that she is both willing to challenge the police and die (tying her to Larenz in the beginning of the film), or that she is “bad” enough to need to be stopped, as well as recognizing that as the only character that challenges the norms, she is also the most grandly, and vividly dispatched.

Posted by Beth Chekola at 12:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"In my opinion, Cleo dies twice, and suffers the most violent death, because she is a woman who transgressed gender, race, and heterosexual norms unrepentantly."
Kimberly Springer, page 193 (of article)

I completely agree with this quotation and I believe that the film depicts this idea in great detail. Cleo is the definition of oppression in the American society. There are attributes that she could not control, she was born biologically a woman and African-American, however, she chooses to be homosexual. Already in our society, she is faced with hardships and unjust oppression. This oppression is from her boss, Luther when he calls her a gentleman, but also from her friends. Ironic as it maybe, Cleo's childhood friends cringe at the sight of Cleo's lover Ursula. Although there are no conversations of their distaste of Cleo's sexuality, their actions convey their ideas. Springer explains this same idea in her article "Waiting to Set It Off" on page 188. Springer explains, "Cleo's lesbianism is met with typical silence; but this doe not necessarily connote acceptance. In fact, such silences are complicit in maintaining the idea that, 'Okay, you be like that, but just don't bring it over here". It would be typical that her sexuality not be accepted by her boss or other males in the society; however, the lack of acceptance of sexuality by her friends is where the "first death" of Cleo is described. Contributing to this death is also enhanced by the fact that she is a poor, working African American woman. Her economic situation also is a part of her "first death."

Her second death, of course is the physical death of Cleo. The movie portrayed her as your stereotypical African American gangster; with the classic attempt to break through the blockade and then making the final attempt to take as many lives as she could. The final moments of her life we see her while getting bombarded with gunfire of the L.A.P.D. In my opinion, her physical death can also contribute to the metaphorical first death of Cleo. By killing Cleo, the L.A.P.D. also kills any chance for survival of any lesbian, African American woman. It quickly eradicates any hope for these individuals in our society. It is a quick way for the oppressor to rid the society of any "unwanted" characteristics.

Posted by Adria Crowe at 10:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

"Luther's murder is the point of no return for the women in Set It Off."
Kimberly Springer
Waiting to Set It Off
page 191

As Springer states in this quotation, it is after Luther's murder that the women have sealed the deal of their fate. Prior to that event, I believe it would have been possible for the women to survive this ordeal, even if they were not able to avoid criminal charges; they may have even been able to resume their original lives. After Tisean kills Luther, however, everything changes. The film displays these changes in a few subtle ways, including the new angle of the camera as well as the costumes the women choose to wear in their final robbery. This last robbery is also different than the previous ones, this one is committed out of true desperation. The women realize they have no other choice but to steal as much money as possible, and leave the country; it is no longer a robbery to lead a more comfortable life, it is a robbery to have a life, any life.
I especially appreciated Springer's inclusion of this quotation while reading the article because it gave me a hint as to what to watch for in the film. Because I had no yet seen the film when I was reading this article, I didn't really know what the film was about, but this quotation definately helped me to take note of the many changes that followed the death of Luther.

Posted by Whitney Schulte at 09:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"Theres a wonderfully written scene where the women are siting on a rooftop, smoking pot, looking at a factory and observing wistfully, "Before they strated laying people off, they were paying $15.00 an hour at that place."
Kimberly Springer
Waiting to Set It Off
Pg. 181

I thought this quote was great because it gave a ton of perspective on the whole film. The women in this film were constantly scorned. They used any and all means neccesary to remain afloat in society. When things were looking up they automatically crashed back down. I liked this quote because it gives the perspective of just how oppressed these women were. I as a college student, nannying for other peoples children make $15.00 ann hour. Compare that to working in a factory doing hard manual labor. It just shows how backwards the system is. I get to sit around watch television and eat other peoples food, while the women in this film would have done just about anything to be making $15.00 an hour. Its a horrible thing to know that your future does not just solely rest on your ambition and talent. It relies also on your class, sexuality, sex, etc. This quote made me really think about how the money I make seems so unimportant, but to them it was an unattainable dream that they could only view from a distance.

Posted by Jen Rodgers at 04:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

“Stevie’s murder and “good kid” status translates into Stony’s redemption for her part in the violence that ensued.” Author: Kimberly Springer_Title: “Waiting to Set it Off: African American Woman and the Sapphire Fixation.” _Page numbers in the article: 191

I took this quote because I feel that it bared weight. Stony’s the only one that got away with her life. She should have been caught but the detective let her go because of all the death he had witnessed. Also thought-out the movie she was the only character that had showed a deeper side to the crimes they were committing. She often spoke up about how they were wrong and shouldn’t be going through with the robberies. While the other girls were fairly one-dimensional for example Cleo wanted to rob banks from the get go and Frankie wanting to take what was theirs from these big businesses. These other girls seemed almost doomed from the start, as we were able to watch greed step in. All of the accounts that lead these women to robbery were extremely awful to help justify their actions but at the same time it changed who they were, besides Cleo. So by showing Stony’s drive to be above the robberies we were able to feel that her escape was warranted and believable.

Posted by Alexander Brown at 02:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

< Throughout this entire film the thing that I noticed most was the concept of agency. The women in the film had to make decisions based on the restrictions of their options. One woman chose to rob the bank only after her brother was mistakenly killed. Another only decided to do so after her son was taken by social services. These types of obstacles forced the characters of the film to difficult positions, and their only way out was too make more difficult and dangerous ones. The portrayal of the women was very blunted...Bell Hooks says "Since movie culture is one of the primary sites for the reproduction and perpetuation of white supremacist aesthetics, demanding a change in what we see on the screen - demanding progressive images - is one way to transform the culture we live in." I agree with this statement, and I feel that if it were implemented into films, the audience/public/society would begin to view race differently - because it is being presented differently than it has been in the past. However, in Set It Off, even though it was directed by and African American male, it still projects and portrays black people - and women especially - in a certain way (a negative one). The use of violence, swearing, and drugs p