White Oleander is the story of Astrid, a teenager girl growing up in foster care. Her mother, Ingrid, was imprisoned for killing her boyfriend and Astrid moved in and out of foster homes. Astrid never knew her father because he left when she was a baby.
Her first foster parent is an ex-stripper named Starr who is a “Christian.” She is also “married” to a guy named Ray whom Astrid grows attached to and she ends up sleeping with him. There is a scene where Ray is working on his car with his shirt off and Astrid is sketching him. You can tell that she likes him and they have a conversation about Astrid’s parents. When Ray asks her about her father, she says she doesn't know much about him because her mother kept it from her. Ray makes a negative comment about God and Astrid laughs and says that he sounds like her mother.
This is the first scene that Astrid shows an attraction to Ray. She likes his sense of humor and his warmth compared to her mother's harsh authoritarian love. According to Freud's psychoanalytic theory, Astrid is attracted to Ray because he is like the father that she never had. This is called the 'Electra Complex' by Carl Jung, but the original idea came from Freud's 'feminine Oedipus attitude' and the psychosexual stages of development. The Electra Complex involves a daughter's attachment to her father and what Freud calls 'penis envy.' This theory is that a girl wants a penis, so she wants to sleep with her father to become pregnant and have a son or 'penis' of her own. Astrid never actually becomes pregnant, but she does sleep with Ray, which leads to other problems. Later in the movie when Starr confronts her about her attraction to Ray, Astrid tries to defend herself by saying, "I never had a father." This is a direct reference to Freud's principle because Astrid's attraction to Ray is associated with her need for a father figure's attention.
The next scene I chose is after Astrid leaves Starr's house and she goes to live in McKinney Hall, a facility where foster kids stay between homes. When she first gets there, a bully girl and her posse beat up Astrid. That night Astrid goes to the bathroom and cuts her hair short with a knife. Then she goes to the bully's room, holds the knife to her throat and threatens, "Next time you and your friends jump me, I'll cut your throats when you're sleeping."
This is a very different girl than we knew before who was timid and obedient to her authorities. Her life has been rough, and she has developed a tough skin because of all the emotional and physical abuse she's suffered. Astrid is fighting to live and thrive because she doesn't want to end up like her mother. Freud's psychoanalytic theory explains eros (survive) and thanatos (destroy) as the two ruling factors in motivation. In White Oleander, Astrid uses eros to protect her from the bully so that she will not get beaten up again. Also in this scene, Astrid cuts her hair which makes her look tougher and meaner because it will help her survive in that environment.
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