Set it Off
“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.