20 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE November 22, 1996

EVENINGS OUT

Hit film presents a one-sided view of black lesbians

Set it Off

Directed by F. Gary Gray

New Line Cinema In wide release

Reviewed by Doreen Cudnik

Set it off is a test-case of sorts--a experiment to find out if last year's box-office hit Waiting to Exhale was a one-shot wonder, or if the moviegoing public is hungry for films about black women. Surpassing all expectations, the film has more than passed the test, opening on 1,000 screens across the country where it finished the weekend at number five at the box office, earning over 5.8 million dollars in receipts.

After years of re-writes, the film that finally made it to the big screen is a story about four African-American women from the projects of South Central Los Angeles, and the circumstances that lead them to a career in bank robbery.

Produced on a budget of less than $10 million, which is peanuts for Hollywood, the film stars Jada Pinkett, Vivica Fox, Kimberly Elise, and rapper/actor Queen Latifah as the gun-toting, tequila-guzzling butch lesbian Cleo.

While it is refreshing to see an image of a strong, albeit troubled, black woman who just happens to be a lesbian, the character Cleo is problematic on many levels. The character is somewhat one-dimensional and stereotypical of African-American butches. She's hard, angry, and prone to “go off" with very little provocation. She's clearly impressed with "gangsta life," and wants to fit in as "one of the guys"-from the car she drives to the woman she keeps.

Her girlfriend Ursula, a silent, sexy femme, does not have any lines in the movie, although she appears in a number of scenes, and is definitely affected by the circum-

stances that surround the four main characters.

A recent statement by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation aptly points out some of the flaws with the way these characters are presented and the stereotypes they help defend.

"While [Cleo's] swagger and anger are justified by the conditions in which she finds herself, the character is something of a stereotypical butch without many dimensions beyond anger, hot-headedness, and unbounded sexual energy," GLAAD says in their release. "The gender roles of [Cleo and Ursula] seem to be aping the stereotypical male view of lesbian couples as one being "the man" and the other "the woman." It is almost as if the macho Cleo has something to say by virtue of her "male-like" persona, but Ursula, as a femme sex object, is literally rendered silent."

One scene that demonstrates this takes place in the parking lot of the projects. Ursula shows up, and after sharing a drawn-out, passionate kiss, Cleo arrogantly tells her, "You better call me right back the next time I page you."

"She's not portrayed as an active participant in the full relationship, she's only sexual," explained Tammy Adrine-Davis, an African-American femme lesbian who went with me to see the film. "It speaks to the way we see femme women, to the way that we as a culture stereotype people."

She added that the portrayal of the two characters also bring up the issue of class differences. "Cleo treats Ursula the way many African-American men think they ought to be able to treat their women," Adrine-Davis said. "The black women that I know that are from a lower socio-economic classes do tend to fit more squarely into the roles. Now I have to wonder, is it because they don't know any

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better, or they don't know that they have options? Or is this just their personality, is this what they really want? The femme [in this film] wasn't one of the main four characters, but certainly she was involved in what they were doing.."

It's distressing also that the other women treat Cleo's girlfriend either with contempt or as if she were invisible. It's difficult to believe that the women who have known Cleo all of their lives, claim to be her friends, and are involved with her in the potentially lifethreatening business of robbing banks would have absolutely nothing to say to her girlfriend-a woman who by virtue of being Cleo's partner is as affected by their actions as they are.

D. STEVENS

Queen Latifah in front, with Vivica Fox, Kimberly Elise, Jada Pinkett.

"What really bothered me is that the friends accepted Cleo's lesbianism, but it was like, "Okay, we accept it, we just don't want to see it," Adrine-Davis commented. "It's like saying, I know you like men, I just don't want to see it."

Telling also was the response of the largely black audience to any demonstration of the sexual nature of the women's relationship. Perhaps a little more insight into the love between the two women would have curbed some of the overtly homophobic remarks and helped some to overcome their feelings of prejudice.

While Queen Latifah's Cleo is getting much of the media attention, Jada Pinkett (Jason's Lyric, Nutty Professor) is clearly the film's star. She plays Stony, a cool, even-tempered woman with dreams of a better life. Pinkett originally wanted the role of Cleo, she said in a recent interview. recently in an interview.

"I thought it would be hilarious to have this little short girl play this macho lesbian," Pinkett told Rebecca Ascher-Walsh of Entertainment Weekly.

Director Gray disagreed, which may have something to say about his preconceived notions about what lesbians look like. (I know just as many lesbians that look like Stony as like Cleo).

Stony is reluctantly pulled into the bank robbery plan only after a tragic situation leaves her bitter about the system. While scoping out a bank branch that the women plan to hit later, she is spotted by one of the bank managers, (played with suave charm by Blair Underwood of L.A. Law fame) who proceeds to ask her out.

Of course, unlike the relationship between Cleo and Ursula, this relationship is explored in full detail, culminating in the obligatory het sex scene. As their relationship evolves, her choice of careers becomes more of a problem, and she eventually wants out. Pinkett's Stony is cool and distant, and when events make it clear that getting out isn't going to be as easy as she anticipated, you really feel her anguish.

Many may wonder if playing the role of Cleo will be one of the steps that Queen Latifah takes in her real life towards coming out Based on some things she has said in recent interviews, it may be a while before her closet doors swing open. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Latifah said that she was "eager" but also "afraid" to play a lesbian, and added, "I wanted to make a statement with a character who's really quite opposite of whol really am..."

Hopefully, the commercial success of Set It Off firmly establishes black women as an audience that the people who make movies need to pay attention to. And although the target audience for the film is African-American teens, New Line Cinema hopes for crossover success-bringing in the female audience that is drawn to films like Thelma and Louise, the male audience that likes action and adventure, and, of course, black movie-goers.

And, as more and more studios court African-American audiences and vie for their box office dollars, that will hopefully result in a more balanced and diverse representation of African-American gay men, lesbians, and biปี

sexuals.

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