Breaking the law
In the films Thelma and Louise and Set It Off, the turn from a normal life to that of an outlaw is very much different. In my opinion, Thelma and Louise's initial act that turned them into outlaws was much more justified than the women in Set It Off deciding to rob a bank. In a time when women who had been raped had very little rights, there was not much a woman could do besides fight back. While it wasn't necessarily justified to kill the man, i do believe they were in the right to use violence against Harlan to stop him from raping Thelma. However, in Set It Off, the women are commiting their crimes against people who have done nothing to them. While it is true that they are all in rough spots in their lives, the banks they are robbing have nothing to do with these problems. Instead of acting out against the cause of their problems, like Thelma and Louise, they cause problems for other people my stealing money and cars, destroying banks, and in the end, killing police officers who are just doing their job trying to stop them. However, Thelma and Louise also do commit crimes of this sort when Thelma robs the convenience store, stealing money from an innocent store worker, but unlike the women in Set it Off, the start of their problems stems from a more justified crime, in my opinion.
The landscapes between these two films are also drastically different. In Thelma and Louise there are lots of shots showing the wide open road across the south and the desert, portraying their escape from civilization and thier everyday lives. While they don't ever actually make their escape, they do get a taste of life on the road away from all of their old worries. On the contrary is the city scape of Set It Off. All of Set It Off is shot in an urban landscape, portraying how the women are trapped in the city and unable to escape it. It isn't until the end that Stoney is finally able to get away to Mexico and leave her problems in the city behind. These women have grown up in the city, and in the end, 3 of them die in the city. In one conversation, Stoney reveals that she has never actually been outside of LA, as she is too poor to even afford any luxury of travel. While Thelma and Louise are able to temporarily escape the settings of their every day life, the women of Set It Off are stuck in the city for the duration of the film as they try to gather enough money to finally make their escape.