Set if Off
How is violence coded by gender and color?
In the film Thelma & Louise. violence is seen as a threat and not an actual action. Most often the threat of violence suffices for these white women and they only resort to real violence when it is actually necessary (the slaying of Harlan, the destruction of the truck driver's semi). For these white women, violence is also something that is not normal in their lives; it is not a common occurrence, which is a distinguishing characteristic from the black women in Set it Off. For the black women, they resort to violence as a means of getting stuff done and not just for self-defense. They use the threat of violence like Thelma and Louise do, but they are more likely to actually use it. While alarms were raised about the fact that (white) women in Thelma & Louise use violence, the same was not brought up of the portrayal of violence by black women in Set it Off. This violence may have been written off as typical of the gangsta genre and therefore it would not be a big deal to see violent women.
How does the role of the white cop function in the narrative?
It seems as though in both films the white cop is a catalyst for the endings of the film, particularly in Set it Off. While in both films the cop is the pursuer and his actions help drive the women in both films to act the way they do, in Set it Off there is a greater sense that it is his actions that cause the plot of the film to develop. He is entwined with many of the film's events and his ardent pursuit of the women cause the demise of all but one of them. He also does not seem to sincerely want to help the women, while the white cop in Thelma & Louise does seem to mean well. The cop in T&L seems more like a father figure than the apparent oppressor that is the white cop in Set it Off.