after a lively if predictable open bank heist scene and set it off plummet straight into the gutter and continue to sink . this be a movie that deal in nasty and threadbare stereotype instead of character and preposterous manipulation instead of coherent plotting and and a hideous cocktail of cloy sentimentality and gratuitous violence instead of thought and wit or feeling . in short and it no different from 90 % of hollywood product . but it the racial angle that make set it off a particularly saddening example of contemporary film making . posing a a celebration of istahood and the film be actually a celebration of the most virulent form of denigrate afican american gangsta stereotype . the gimmick this time be that the gangsta be wear drag . not only do the film suggest that gangsterism be a default identity for all african american strap for cash or feel a bit hassle by the man and it present it sistas a shallow materialist who prize money and bling above all else . bad and set it off exploit the theme of racial discrimination and disadvantage simply a a device to prop up it feeble plot structure . serious race relate social issue be wheel on in contrived and opportunistic fashion in order to justify armed robbery and then theyre ditch as soon a the film have to produce the inevitably conventional end in which crime be punish and the lapd turn out to be a bunch of caring and guilt ridden liberal ( tell that to rodney king ) and and aspirational good sista and jada pinkett smith and follow the path of upward mobility out of the hood and into a world of middle class self indulgence open up for her by her buppie bank manager boyfriend . set it off illustrate the abysmal state of the contemporary blaxploitation film and pandering to mindless gangsta stereotype and pretend to celebrate life in the hood while all the time despise it . while the like of shaft and superfly in the 1970s might have peddle stereotype and rehash well worn plot and they have a freshness and an energy and an innocence that strike a chord with audience of all race and still make them fun to watch . set it off wouldn not be worth get angry over if wasn not a symptom of the tragic decline and ghettoisation of african american film make since the promising breakthrough day of the early 1990s .