In the movie White Oleander an adolescent girl named Astrid is the daughter of an artistic woman named Ingrid. Ingrid is a very powerful woman who does not take anything lightly. As the movie progressed, Ingrid got mad at her lover and decided to kill him. Ingrid was then taken to jail. Consequently, Astrid had to be taken into foster care. As she grew up and went through different families, Astrid had trouble finding herself. Throughout her troubles finding herself, Erik Erikson’s developmental stages theory came to mind.
In this part of the movie, I believe that the developmental stage of adolescence is most prevalent. Erikson believed that during the adolescent stage, the person does his or her best to find her identity (Harder, 2002). The adolescent will depend on what has happened to him or her, and what he or she has to do. Erikson then describes an unsuccessful navigation as role confusion (Harder, 2002).
Astrid was very influenced by her new foster mother, Star, and wore clothes very similar to her. This style was very new for Astrid but she was trying to find an identity. After Astrid’s foster mother shot her and was sent to a foster center, she resorted to a new identity. She got into a fight at the foster center with another girl and then decided to cut her hair. Cutting her hair was just another attempt to find an identity. This new identity I saw as a way to show that she was tougher than she seemed. These identities were only the few that she had attempted achieve throughout the movie, only these were present in this part of it.
While watching the movie, another thing that persistently got my attention was the parenting style of all the mothers. The foster mother that I am going to focus on, though, is Claire. Claire is a wife of a “working” business man who is always away because of his job. Claire could easily be classified as a permissive parent.
A permissive parent is one who may actually have concerns about their child, but is more worried about the child liking them. They will not set limits or necessarily guide their child. The parent allows the child full freedom with little or no responsibility. So, obviously there is no discipline present at any time (Life Matters, 1996). Claire is a prime example of a permissive parent. She adopts Astrid more as a friend rather than a child. Claire is very lonely while her husband is on travel, and she adopts Astrid for all the wrong reasons. She let Astrid do whatever she wanted and she set no limits for her. While I was watching the movie, I felt like I was watching two teenage girls having a slumber party together. Claire would have let Astrid do whatever she wanted just so Astrid would like her. I believe this type of parenting style to be the worst of them all. A child who has permissive parents will eventually grow more powerful than the parents. Also, the child will have no sense of responsibility, relationships will be troublesome, and it will be very difficult for the child to find a place in the world, which is something Astrid is trying to do (Life Matters, 1996). To Learn more about Parenting Styles, click here.
Astrid has probably had one of the most troubling adolescence, and this becomes clear once the movie reaches the end. She finds a totally new identity, unique to herself, and she is fine with it. Her biological mother, Ingrid, is very upset that Astrid has become nothing like her, but Ingrid finally makes a good decision when she lets Astrid go; free to live her own life.
References
Harder, A. F. (2002). The Developmental Stages of Erik Erikson. Retrieved May 9, 2009, from http://www.learningplaceonline.com/stages/organize/Erikson.htm
Life Matters. (1996). Your Parenting Style is Key to Raising Responsible Children. Retrieved May 9, 2009, from http://www.lifematters.com/parenting_styles.asp
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