Assignment Showcase: Set It Off Reflection Paper 

Movie Overview 

          In the movie Set It Off, four women go through a multitude of events which leads them to eventually start robbing banks and get traced, tracked, and caught by the police. The first character Frankie was a bank teller who got fired because she knew one of the people robbing the bank that she worked at; the manager and detective both thought that she was involved, and this resulted in her getting fired. She then takes a Job at a cleaning company alongside her three best friends Cleo, TT, & Stony. This Job unlike her job as a teller at the bank didn’t pay very well and had limited to no benefits. Then at the Job, T.T. gets her pay docked by Luther the manager and this results in her not being able to afford childcare for her kid. Then the four women discuss robbing the bank that Frankie worked at as she knows the Ins & Outs of the place, but this was just banter, and they weren’t serious about robbing a bank at this point in the movie. Stony needs money to pay for her younger brother’s college but he then tells her soon after that he doesn’t want to go to college and it’s not for him but come to find out he didn’t get accepted to UCLA at all. Stony’s little brother than leaves to go to his friend’s house who happens to be the man who robbed the bank, the robber pressures him into getting a unique haircut that the authorities saw on a security camera in the bank that got robbed. He leaves the apartment to find the authorities surrounding the apartment, the authorities than shoot him as he had a drink in his coat as they said show your hands, and he had a bottle in his hand. Stony lashes out on the authorities as they killed his brother which causes Stony, and the other women too feel negatively towards the authorities. At work, the ladies all discuss robbing the bank and stony acts as she has nothing to lose. The day after they go to a bank and scout it out. Stony runs into a bank manager and he asks her for her phone number. Stony sees this as an opportunity to get further access to the bank. T.T. couldn’t afford childcare so she brings her child to work with her, her child consumes cleaning product or gets it in his eyes; she than gets her child taken from her by Child Protective Services (CPS) which says she needs money to get her child back, this is the turning point in the movie where they decide to commit to robbing a bank. They then decide to start preparing, they all practice their aim by shooting at a local gun range, Cleo gets equipment from people in her neighborhood and steals the getaway vehicle the night before. The day after they rob a bank wearing wigs and glasses and successfully rob the bank getting away with around $12,000 dollars. The same night Stony agrees to go on a date with the bank manager she met while casing the bank; She talks about wanting to go to school for bookkeeping. Detective Strobe catches on to the women but doesn’t have enough concrete evidence to bring them in just yet. Cleo uses her portion of the cut from the bank robbery to upgrade the parts on her car and buy bougie clothes for her girlfriend. They then all agree to rob another bank as the money they got from the previous robbery wasn’t enough for all of them. They then all plan the next robbery while working a cleaning job; the next day the women all suit up in disguises again and rob their second bank. In total the ladies made $75,000 a piece, they all agreed to hide the money in a vent where they work so the police wouldn’t catch onto them. While stony is on a date with Kieth at a banking event, the rest of the ladies show up to work to find out that their manager had found the money they stashed and ran away. He took the money and fled to a hotel with a hooker for the night. The ladies found him and interrogated him, while this occurred, he pulled a hidden gun to where Cleo shoots him in return. The hooker saw everything and went in for a lineup to which Cleo was a part of; the hooker than says she didn’t see the person that killed the manager. This causes the ladies to go big or go home as the cops are catching onto them fast, they settle on robbing the Downtown Federal Bank where the most money is at. This is the bank to which Stony’s boyfriend Kieth is in charge of, Stony calls Kieth and tells him to meet up with her at a restaurant, but this was simply so that he wasn’t at the bank when they robbed it. At the same time Kieth figures out that Stony is a part of the robberies. While he is at the restaurant the ladies are at the Downtown Federal Bank acting out a robbery. Detective Strobe hears the bank is getting robbed over the radio and heads to the bank in time and catches them in a standoff, crosshair to crosshair. Strobe shoots T.T. and the others shoot back and flee to the car, as T.T. is quickly bleeding out they are driving away fast quickly trying to find a solution to stop the bleeding. T.T. passes away and the others get in a new getaway car to where they are being chased by the authorities, Cleo loses the police in a tunnel where Frankie and Stony get out and flee on foot; Cleo then drives away and leads the police away from them. Cleo gets in a pinch with the police and realizes her life is over, so she floors the gas to where she stops, gets out and shoots at the police. This buys enough time for Stony to get on a bus to Mexico with all the money, but Frankie points a gun at Detective Strobe because she knows its over; Stony watches this all play out while the bus is leaving, and Strobe sees Stony on the bus but lets her get away as he feels he was the reason her little brother was killed in the beginning of the movie. This is where the movie comes to an end, Stony relives the memories of her and her friends as she makes a new personality for herself, she calls Kieth to let him know she’s alive and doing well.  

        Each of the girls have strong motives for robbing the bank, Frankie loses her job and feels betrayed to the system, not being able to afford a normal lifestyle with the cleaning job she turns to robbery. Stony also feels betrayed by the system as her brother gets taken out by the authorities giving her a sense that she now has nothing to lose, she also feels she wants to live up to her brother and live the life she was going to give him with college and securing a better future. T.T. gets her child taken from her by Child Protective Services after the incident at work which caused her to run short of money to where she resorted to robbery to secure financial freedom and get her child back. Lastly, Cleo in all wants to live a fashionable lifestyle, having a nice car, nice clothes, beautiful girlfriend and to help out with the robbery as a way to seek thrill and betray the system. 

The two scenes that caused the robbery in the first place is when T.T. got her child taken from her causing her to lose custody and when Luther the manager of the cleaning business that the ladies worked for docked their pay causing them to not be able to afford much which was the initial reason for T.T. not being able to afford childcare for her child and getting her child taken away because she had to bring him to work to where the accident happened. 

Theoretical Application of a Social Structure Theory 

        As I discussed in the prior text an overview of the movie Set It Off this correlates with the idea of social structure theory and how the community characteristics led them to rob the bank, social disorganization of the four ladies, and the ecological factors such as the environment that surrounds them. There were many instances throughout the movie where Social Structure theory comes to play, the first is when Frankie is working as a teller at the bank and gets caught up in a robbery where the robber knows her from her neighborhood. This is crucial as it costs Frankie her job and ultimately makes her go back to not making enough to make ends meet, this causes her to contemplate robbing a bank. Another is when Stony’s brother decides college isn’t for him and goes to hang out with the wrong crowd, the guy he hangs out with turns out to be the bank robber and as he’s leaving, he ends up getting shot by the police because he was hanging out with a delinquent which he didn’t know. This led me to think about the idea that “you are who you hang out with” most of the time when you hang out with the wrong people, they either tend to influence you or take you down the wrong path with them. Another instance where social structure theory comes to play is when the four ladies are planning out the robbery, if Cleo didn’t have the right connections from her neighborhood, she wouldn’t have been able to get access to the equipment to rob the bank so easily. 

Theoretical Application of Social Process Theory 

    

  Each Female in the movie Set It Off all had a different motive or rationale on why they should rob banks. To start it off, Frankie gets fired from her job as a bank teller after she gets accused of being a part of the robbery due to her neighborhood ties. This ultimately ruins her reputation and forces her to start a cleaning job with her neighborhood friends that doesn’t end up paying very well. Making her feel betrayed and unable to make ends meet with the cleaning job, she feels resentment towards the bank which leaves her wanting to get back at them. The labelling theory discusses that being unfairly judged or labeled can change how a person sees themselves and their choices. When Frankie is labeled as untrustworthy, she starts to believe it and feels she has no other choice but to commit bank robbery. This makes Frankie believe that robbing banks is a way to get back at the bank for firing her and putting her in a unstable financial situation. Using the labelling theory, it shows that Frankie’s actions are a reaction to how the bank treats her. Losing her job and being shut out forces her to embrace a criminal mindset; using her banking knowledge she turns it against the banks will and begins to rob the banks, which shows how labels can lead to even more harmful choices. 

The next female, Stony loses her brother, who is killed by the police after they assume him to be the first initial bank robber solely due to his haircut. This event shatters Stony’s sense of purpose and trust in the system especially after she worked extremely hard to pay for her brother’s tuition so that he could go to college. Feeling betrayed and left with no family and nothing to lose she becomes needy to find a way to get back at the system. The bond theory describes how strong ties to family, work, and societal norms prevent people from committing crimes. Stony’s bond was her brother, he was her main source of stability and purpose. When this bond was broken stony feels she has nothing to lose, making her more likely to take risks and get back at the system. Using the bond theory, it shows that stony turning to robbing banks is a way for her to cope with the loss of her brother and get back at the system. Stony becomes detached from reality and decides to join the females to rob banks, showing how weak social bonds can lead to criminal actions. 

Another Female, TT struggles to provide for her child as her pay got docked by the manager, this caused her to not be able to afford childcare which caused her to bring her child to work. Her child gets taken by CPS after the incident at work where her child got injured, her need for money to get her child back instantly grows. Seeing her friends plan out the robbery, she becomes increasingly influenced to rob the bank. At first, she hesitates but when she realizes it’s the only way she can get enough money to get her son back she thinks otherwise. The learning theory describes how people adopt behaviors through observation and interaction with others, especially when the behaviors are reinforced. In TTs case, her close bond with her friends exposes her to their rationales or motives behind wanting to commit bank robbery. TT sees her friends determination and each of their needs for financial security which reinforces her to commit to robbing the bank. Using the learning theory, TTs involvement in the bank robberies is driven by her exposure to her friend’s rationales and actions. She also desires to get her child back which ultimately unites her mindset with the rest of the females. The influence from her friends and her current situation reinforces TT to think that robbing banks is the only option; this shows how learned behaviors, and a group setting contributes to her decision to commit bank robbery.  

The last female, Cleo is driven by a mix of different struggles and a desire to escape her difficult life or “make it out of the hood”. She feels trapped in a cycle of poverty and systemic injustice and sees robbing banks as a way to gain control and get money fast, a get rich quick scheme. The learning theory like i said in the prior paragraph, is where people adopt behaviors through observation and interaction with others, especially when the behaviors are reinforced. In Cleo’s case, her close bond with her friends exposes her to their motives or rationales on why she should rob the bank as its the only way to become financially secure. Cleo sees her friends struggles and determination to get out of the struggles which ultimately reinforces her that robbing the bank is a valid plan. This shows how the group setting and shared behaviors from her friends pushes her to follow through with bank robbery. 

Frankie:

Stony:

TT:

Cleo: