Set It Off Godfather Clip

 

Set It Off (F. Gary Gray, 1996) challenged traditional understandings of survival by exploring the gendered differences between necessity and over-indulgence. Although there are similarities between the film and other Black Gangsta films that were released prior (i.e. Boyz n the ‘Hood, Dead Presidents, New Jack City), Gray’s film offers nuances that make it unique to its predecessors. Starring Jada Pinkett (Smith), Queen Latifah, Vivica Fox, and Kimberly Elise, the film juxtaposed how, despite varying circumstances, these Black women must still resort to a shared decision/necessity to begin robbing banks. Also, Gray’s use of the character Cleo (Queen Latifah) as the resident “gangsta” challenged conceptions of masculinity and sexuality. By capitalizing off familiar thematic tropes that constituted the ‘New Black Aesthetic” using Black womanhood, Gray simultaneously subverted and affirmed assumptions about the lives and experiences of low-income Black communities.