In the film "White Oleander", directed by Peter Kosminsky, a young artist named Astrid Magnussen reaches adulthood and overcomes many obstacles that would prevent many adolescents from maturing properly. Astrid does not come-out unscathed from her painful and disastrous interactions with her mother and the people she meets through her time in foster care. Though Astrid is effected by many people, her mother, Ingrid, has the most influence on her life. Astrid is forced into the foster care because her mother is a powerful but, in Astrid's words, "dangerous" woman. She lives her life with passion and independence, but her actions have monumental impacts on all those that she comes in contact with. From her daughter to the sweet and gentle Clair, Ingrid manipulates everyone. Though Ingrid is dangerous and often viewed as the mastermind of evil throughout the movie, from her interactions with Astrid and her changing parenting styles, and eventual redemption, it is evident that she embodies Maslow's theory of Self-Actualization to reach her best self.
Neglectful Mother
Ingrid struggles to become a better mother throughout the film. Because she is used to living her life full of passion and without constraints, the birth of her daughter forces Ingrid to be confound to motherhood. Though she hides the truth from Astrid,, Ingrid was a neglectful mother at the beginning of her daughter's life. In the film, Ingrid explains that she "felt like a hostage" so she left her daughter at her neighbor, Annie's house. Ingrid is a neglectful parent throughout this stage of her motherhood. A neglectful parent is completely uninvolved in their child's life, and obviously because Ingrid spent her time able to "take naps in the afternoon and make love all day," she was not present in Astrid's life (King, 2008). According to King, children with neglectful parents often are aware of the lack of concern their parents have in their life, and grow to understand that between the child and parent, the parent's life is significantly more important. In the beginning of the film, it is evident that Ingrid's life is more important. Astrid waits in the car as her mother makes love to her boyfriend.
Though much of Astrid's life is challenged by the neglect she feels from her mother, Ingrid follows Maslow's Theory and changes her style of parenting through steps towards self-actualization. When Astrid's father and Ingrid's lover leave, Ingrid returns to her daughter to become a better mother. Maslow's theory outlines that there is a hierarchy of human needs starting at physiological, than moving to safety, love and belongingness, esteem and finally self-actualization (King, 2008). While she is in love, Ingrid is stuck in the stage of "love and belongingness." Her love of Astrid's father keeps her from all of the other needs in her life. In Maslow's theory, one must fulfill the needs of the stage they are in before they can even address their other callings (King, 2008). Losing the feelings of love from her boyfriend, Ingrid can transcend this stage and move into the "esteem" stage. "Esteem" works along with the authoritarian mother she becomes because she demands respect from her daughter as well as maintaining a strict regimen for men to follow so she will never be their fool again.
Authoritarian Mother
In this clip on the film, Ingrid speaks to her daughter in a way that shows how she has become an authoritarian mother. Authoritarian parenting is classified by parents that expect unquestioned obedience from their children. In the clip, Astrid accuses her mother of forcing her to think exactly the way she has been taught. This is an example of authoritarian parenting because Astrid's cross exemplifies an idea that is outside of what is acceptable to Ingrid. While still following Maslow's theory, Ingrid is primarily looking for esteem. By demanding that her daughter follows her beliefs she is making sure that she herself is getting respect and self-promoting her image through the eyes of her daughter. There is little communication between mother and daughter and Ingrid does not accept any explanation from her daughter, which is a classic sign of authoritarian parenting (King, 2008).
According to King, children with authoritarian parents have social problems ranging from "poor communications skills, [comparing] themselves to others, and a failure to initiate activity (King, 2008). Through looking at Astrid, the audience sees some of these issues come out in her interactions with her foster families. She is clearly socially uncomfortable with an extreme lack of communication. She is quiet are rarely interacts with Star or the other children unless she is directly spoken to.
Redeption
Until the final scene of the film, the audience sees Ingrid as the damage causing monster
that she appears to be in the beginning of the film. Once again through Maslow's theory,
Ingrid moves closer to self-actualization. In Maslow's theory, Ingrid's "perfect self" is being the best
mother to her daughter that her tortured life can expect her to be. By not forcing Astrid to testify and
lie in court she follows her daughter's request and "lets her go." Because Ingrid loves her daughter
her final purpose is to be a good mother. Slowly and not without strain or stress, Ingrid becomes
the mother that she wants to be through Maslow's theory of self-actualization. The final scene shows
that each character is redeemed and strived like white oleanders through the Santa Anna winds
during their testing lives.
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