white oleander is such an odd movie.
it's quite beautiful and the dynamic between the characters has so much potential, but it's consistently lacking in almost every aspect. the dialogue is stiff and bland. it is possible to argue that this was an artistic choice, but i don't think it was well executed at all. astrid is cold and her responses are short and to the obvious. if this was a conscious decision, it's extremely hard to tell.
to be completely frank, the women in this movie were written terribly. astrids mother is the most relatable female character and you can tell she's sort of an edgy self insert for the author. between astrid and ingrid it's obvious the author divided up herself to create two character with turmoil. portraying yourself as a mother daughter relationship has a lot of potential to be heart-wrenching; unfortunately in this case it seems to have been done with little to no actual reflection of self.
the men in this movie are written just fine, they don't serve too much purpose- but it's clear they aren't meant to. this isn't a man's movie. ingrid has a clear distain for not only men, but anyone that threatens to dismantle her narcissistic echo chamber. this reflects onto astrid as a general disinterest in men. (although she does find herself in new york with paul in the end. which is an excellent example of her mother letting her go)
it is quite the feminine thing to have inner turmoil only a mother can instil in you. we'll see it time and time again, misogyny breeds the worst relationships between mothers and their daughters- they're raised to not get along. daughters will often mock and betray mothers for a fathers approval or just for their own independence. but this does not save them from a mothers fate. astrids only protagonist is her mother, whether or not ingrid is a representation of janet fitch's own mother or the conflicts within herself that her relationship with her mother bred, she represents a mothers role in their daughter's life with all the nunaces that sidelong it. she is confusing, she is stark and she is manipulative, but only in a way that a mother who has lived a life before childbirth would be. astrid is free from her mother in the end of the film; both literally, because her mother is sentenced to no parole and with her new found freedoms in new york- this weight being lifted of astrid allowed her to truly live the lives she lived while she was still hidden under her mothers wing. the concluding monologue reveals that astrid has spent time reflecting on her foster families which is something i imagine was hard to do with her mother looming over her. ingrid was a very protective energy throughout astrids life- but emotional protection from a prison yard while being alone in the real world is an obviously detrimental thing for astrid to go through and she wasn't able to fully digest what was happened to her, nor her own emotions regarding the situations.
all in all, this movie is an amazing cathartic watch as long as you're willing to put in the self reflection work it takes to enjoy. there's a lot i wanted to talk about, like the presence of sexual assault and child sexual abuse that takes place throughout the movie aswell as claire, her motherly presence and her guided suicide. perhaps ill have more to say the next time i rewatch this film.
