F06 :: Feminist Film Studies

" 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.