Seminar: Set It Off

F. Gary Gray’s Set It Off (1996) has maintained a deep cult following among Black audiences since its premiere. Yet, the film remains underappreciated as one of the great crime dramas of the 1990s. 

This seminar will examine how Set It Off created a revolutionary blend of hood film and heist film with a Black women-led cast as well as how its purposeful treatment of race, gender, and sexuality complicate subgeneric conventions. 

About Mikal J. Gaines: 

Mikal J. Gaines, Ph.D is an Associate Professor of English at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. He teaches courses in Academic Writing and Research, Writing in the Humanities, Introduction to Film, and Speculative Fiction and Film. His work has appeared in ASAP/J, Discourse, The Projector, the Journal of Cinema and Media Studies, and Literature Interpretation Theory. His research areas include African American Literature, Film, and Popular Culture, Horror and Gothic Studies, and Critical Theory.