The film Set It Off (1996), directed by F. Gary Gray, follows the lives of four women who are forced into a life of crime due to their economic circumstances, systemic oppression, and personal hardships. This paper will analyze the movie using two criminological theories, social structure theory and social process theory. The paper will be divided into three sections, an overview of the film, the application of a social structure theory to explain why the characters engage in bank robbery, and an exploration of a social process theory of why the individuals made the decisions.
Section 1: Movie Overview
The plot of Set It Off centers on four women, Stony, Cleo, Frankie, and T.T.—who turn to bank robberies as a result of a variety of personal and financial hardships. These ladies, who all come from different backgrounds, reside in a low-income, violent area that is marked by social crisis, societal prejudice, and an abundance of financial prospects. Due to the extreme poverty in the area, the lack of access to jobs and education, and the general sense of negativity among the locals, the neighborhood is a safe place for crime.
The neighborhood’s environmental features are portrayed in the movie through scenes of poor buildings, high unemployment rates, and an overall sense of powerlessness. The ladies find it hard to imagine a legal way out of their difficulties because of these outside factors. The poor economic outlook creates an environment in which committing crimes appears to be the only practical means of surviving.
The following four key events in the movie raise the possibility of a bank robbery taking place. The death of Stony’s brother, early in the film, Stony’s younger brother is killed by the police during a robbery gone wrong. This terrible incident brings attention to the neighborhood’s harsh realities and the systematic brutality that residents must deal with. The murder of Stony’s brother turns into a turning point that makes her think of robbing a bank to get financial stability and get back on a system that she feels does not care about her own community. Frankie’s job loss, Frankie is an employee at a bank, and when she is fired due to an unjust situation, she is wrongfully accused of a robbery and dismissed from her job, she loses faith in the company. As a result of this incident, she joins the others in putting together and carrying out the bank heist. The incident highlights the sense of hopelessness resulting in illegal activity as well as the lack of faith in the system.
