Same Flashback, Different Astrid

The film White Oleander is a story about Astrid, an artistic teenager, and the chapters of her life. Throughout the film, Astrid is forced into several different living situations because her mother, Ingrid, Murdered the man she was dating at the time. Astrid lived in three very different foster homes, one of which ended with Astrid being shot in the shoulder, another ended with the foster mother committing suicide. In each of different home, the viewer sees a different Astrid than they did in the previous home. Astrid goes through different stages of conformity in order to feel comfortable with those around her. Also, throughout these hard times, Astrid suffers from a psychological disorder called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) after a horrific event she witnessed earlier in her life.

Conformity can be defined as “yielding to group pressures” (Crutchfield1954). Throughout the film, Astrid conforms to every new surrounding she finds herself in. The most drastic change that the viewers see in Astrid is the final home that she is transferred to. Astrid is put under the care of Rena Gruschenka who is a somewhat shady interior designer who has two daughters. When Astrid first arrives at the home, she seems somewhat out of place. Astrid is a cute, blonde girl with a normal sense of style. Before long, Astrid dyes her hair black, smokes cigarettes, drinks, starts wearing black makeup, and dresses in somewhat of a gothic style, very similar to that of the style of her foster sisters. It seems as if Astrid finds that she is more comfortable fitting into a group than being an individual. There is a lot of pressure put on her though, some of Rena’s comments toward Astrid’s appearance are, “What about you cheerleader? You want smoke?” and “Maybe Melrose Place call you to be a star?” What Rena is doing in making these comments is putting Astrid out of place from Rena’s two daughters. This makes Astrid uncomfortable and puts pressure on her to change the way she looks. And as we have seen so far it is not difficult to push Astrid to change her ways. Another instance where Astrid makes major change in her life in order to fit in is when she moved into her first foster home. Star, Astrid’s first foster mother, is an ex-stripper, and a new found Christian. Star pressures Astrid to “Accept Christ as her personal savior.” Astrid had never had any sort of religion in her life before this because her mother, Ingrid, was very much against it. Ingrid believed that religion keeps you from thinking for yourself. Astrid says that her mother wouldn’t even let her go to the Christmas play at school. Even with her anti-religious upbringing, Astrid still had no problem becoming a Christian. This shows how easily manipulated she is. In each chapter of her life she has different views, and attire. I feel as if Astrid was trying so hard to fit in anywhere she went because she had no idea who she really was. She knew she was an artist, but that is the extent of it. Astrid never knew where she belonged, so whenever she was given the opportunity to become a part of a group, be it a religious group or a group of friends, she jumped right into it.
In the film, Ingrid murders her sudo-boyfriend Barry Kolker after he goes out on a date with another woman after making love to Ingrid. Astrid often has very vivid, violent flashbacks of the murder. It always starts with banging on the door, and Barry breaking a window in Ingrid’s house, and Ingrid apparently stabbing him in the hand. Often the scene cuts off there but it is always very violent, and seemingly traumatic. This is PTSD. The first time symptoms of PTSD can be seen with Astrid is when she is sleeping in her bed in the first foster home. Star, the supposedly saved sinner, is committing some un-Christian acts in the room next door and creating a lour banging on the wall behind Astrid. This banging triggers the violent flashback. Astrid, in attempts to stop the flashback, and clearly upset, puts a pillow over her ears. The flashback stops, however Astrid is still disturbed. It is clear that this event has caused some emotional trauma in Astrid’s life, and she reflects it in many ways. PTSD does not just cause flashbacks, but according to Helpguide.org, some other symptoms of PSTD include:

• Avoiding activities, places, thoughts, or feelings that remind you of the trauma
• Inability to remember important aspects of the trauma
• Loss of interest in activities and life in general
• Feeling detached from others and emotionally numb
• Sense of a limited future (you don’t expect to live a normal life span, get married, have a career)
• Anger and irritability
• Guilt, shame, or self-blame
• Substance abuse
• Depression and hopelessness
• Suicidal thoughts and feelings
• Feeling alienated and alone
• Feelings of mistrust and betrayal
• Headaches, stomach problems, chest pain
  

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Astrid displays many of these other common symptoms. Astrid often displays anger and irritability for seemingly no reason whatsoever. It is almost as if she has no regard for the feelings of those around her. Paul, the boy Astrid meets when she is in the MacLaren’s Children’s Center, is nothing but nice to Astrid. He attempts to be friendly and introduce himself, obviously knowing that Astrid doesn’t know anyone at the center. Astrid would not give him the time of day. He tries to spark conversation, and she essentially tells him to buzz off. There was no reason for her to act the way that she did. This is only one instance where this is seen, but it is displayed throughout the entire film.

It is a truly sad story about Astrid’s difficulty throughout her teenage years. She goes from being an “artist” to a Christian to an angry gothic teenager, and seemingly still never really finds her calling in life all while dealing with PTSD.

The psychological idea of conformity played a large part in detaching herself from her mother, which is something that she needed to do from the beginning, therefore maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing that she tried to fit in whenever something new came along. Her mother was the antagonist of the story, trying her hardest to shape her daughter into someone she wasn’t. That is exactly what Astrid needed to escape.