white oleander...and more

heard this movie was good. i read it's synopsis and it became one of the vcd's i wanted to add up to my collection. but since i just started with my new work and is on a tight budget i wasn't able to buy vcd's like i used to. anyway, i had the chance to say it for myself when i was browsing cable channel 2 saturdays ago and recognized it instantly at wowow . missed at least 3 minutes of the start of the film. being the cry-baby that i am, it moved me to tears.

on the otherhand, the movie left me with two questions. first is about the criminal investigation in the U.S. and second is their social service system.

when astrud (michelle pfieffer's daughter in the movie) was shot by her first foster mother, there were no follow-up investigations. i expected the police will catch the suspect but it just ended there. watching too many hollywood crime films , i thought the case is too easy for them to settle. ala-CSI! to be satisfied i just said to myself that they just didn't show it in the movie since it's not the focus of the story. period. the end.

but the next one...

coming from a social service institution for abused children, i became familiar with some basic considerations for foster care and family reintegration. i just have to make it clear that i am not a former client in the institution, but a kinder teacher, my previous work (i missed my kindies). i noticed in the movie that astrud did some foster home-hopping, three in all. why in the world did she live in those kinds of families? the first and last families she'd been seemed dysfunctional. don't they screen the families before entrusting the child to their foster care?

in the first one, her foster mother has a live-in partner, 2 other foster kids, and a typical teenage rebel daughter. not a big deal, the last one. just felt like mentioning it. the mother was a former alcoholic and drug user (if i remembered it correctly). guess i was trying to relate the situation in the Philippines...and i still have my mindset on sexually abused children, that they wouldn't put the child in that kind of family. but then again that's America! it's the norm, live-in partners. besides, astrud's not sexually abused.

everybody deserves a second chance...a third, a fourth, an nth chance...so i think being an former alcoholic is not a deciding factor there. and rehabs are common. but when the green-eyed monster jealousy came, she just lost control and shot astrud...

happens to everyone, losing it and going back to the old ways. sigh...

the third foster home made my eyes pop-up so much at it's absurdity. again i asked, "don't they screen the applicants?". don't they do some background investigations first? the first time astrud saw the lady from afar, she instantly chose her to be her next mom. the social worker even asked if she was sure. looks to me it's more of a question that came out of the impression she made of astrud's choice . at first look i myself can't help but think that the lady she chose was sort of odd. i was wrong. it turned out worse, because she drove astrud along with 2 other girls not far from her age, to make a living. like the ukay-ukay here in the Philippines. even astrud's clothes were put on sale without her consent. she resisted at first.

so many "why's?" and "huh's???". after some thoughts i just said to myself, "oh well..."

so there. am not sure if this can pass for a film critic. am not sure either if it's "critic" or "critique"...and i don't even know how to end this right. just see the movie for yourself. the big question is, will i still buy the film?

hmmmn...like i said, i liked it. i would still want to watch it again. or maybe when i get a raise i'll buy a copy. :)

questions: A. why is jealosy referred to as green-eyed monster? B. will i get a raise? :)