Set it off is a movie about four African American women who’s names are Cleo, Stony , T.T and Frankie, all for of them live Los Angeles. The women faced things like poverty along with loss and their experience of the system that’s set for them to fail in society. In the movie they reach their limits when the failing system ends up pushing them beyond their breaking point and they end up turning to life of crime which was bank robbery. The neighborhood they live in also played a big role in their decision. It contained old buildings and limited employment oppurtunities along with substandard educational facilities. The police force doesn’t assist the community and its residents lack any meaningful support network. The community feel’s abandoned. Crime becomes a practical solution in this particular environment.
Two scenes that show how this builds up are:
- When Frankie had got fired from her job because she lived in the same neighborhood as the robber and I believe that her boss thought she might’ve been in on the robbery even though she was the victim of the robbery her boss still assumed.
- T.T’s child was taken away by CPS after an accident happened at work where she brought her son with her even though she was already doing her best as a single mother.
These scenes show how the system tears them down. Each woman has their own reason for wanting to turn to crime. Cleo wants financial freedom and control, Frankie wants revenge on the system , Stony wants a better life after she lost her brother, and T.T just wanted her child back.
