August: Osage County – Family U0026amp; Psychological Damage
Our families are the starting point that often affects us after childhood. The August movie: Osage County takes up a family that is far from idyllic.
This family seems to be perfectly seen from the outside, but only the people inside know what is really going on. The characters in the film feel trapped in an environment of frustration and jealousy rather than love.
After the head of the family commits suicide, his wife tells their three daughters to go home and attend the funeral, which for the daughters becomes something that stirs up conflicts from the past.
The father had been a refugee for many years and the mother was addicted to drugs. They had a very destructive marriage. All the father did was satisfy her needs and resolve her complaints. The mother felt that he did not treat her properly. She punished her husband because he had been unfaithful to her many years ago. This infidelity led to a child, which is the family secret.
Both parents came from poverty and were treated badly by their own parents. They were people who were used to life being tough. Both people are proud to have succeeded in life despite having worked hard.
However, they project their own desires onto their daughters, but none of them seem to have lived up to these challenges. The mother feels contempt for her three daughters and always questions their life choices.
The Matriarch of August: Osage County is narcissistic. She has a passive-aggressive personality and focuses only on the mistakes of her daughters. She also scolds them for having opportunities she never had. The mother behaves manipulatively and extremely dramatically as her tricks do not work as she wants them to do.
The mother feels that she must compete with everyone. She uses all the information she receives from her daughters as a weapon against them. She always says positive comments mixed with negative ones.
She is a woman who feels attacked because her daughters live their own lives. She does what it takes to get them to return home and remind them that they have “obligations to their mother.” She always reminds them that she had nothing and makes them feel bad because they have too much.
The eldest daughter has always been the mediator during family crises, both between her younger sisters and their own parents. She is controlling, and this causes a lot of problems with her own husband, who is different from her. However, the whole family does not know that she is divorced.
Despite the fact that her husband and daughter love her, it becomes difficult for them that she can never relax. She experiences an inner struggle and does not want to repeat her parents’ mistakes.
The middle sister in the film is the parents’ guardian. She never married and did not do much with her life except take care of her parents. This caused her to build up much bitterness towards them and her sisters. She has a very strange relationship with a half-cousin that no one knows.
The mother feels grateful for the fact that she is the guardian, but she still attacks her constantly. She scolds her for not having a family of her own because of her appearance. She also mocks her. This daughter has serious problems relating to others and seems to have developed an avoidant personality.
In August: Osage Country, the youngest daughter seems to be completely lost. She is a very childish and fragile woman who just wants to be all right and be accepted. She spends her entire adult life jumping from one relationship to another, and takes risks with men who do not treat her well.
The youngest daughter is a very emotionally dependent person. She goes to great lengths to show her mother how “happy” she is and how perfect and idyllic her current relationship is. However, the other family members see her partner as “this year’s boyfriend”. It may be difficult to say based on the information given in the film, but she may be emotionally inhibited.
The Three Daughters in August: Osage County has grown up in an authoritarian environment. Their parents have never shown any kind of concern for them. They have also exercised very strict control over their lives.
When there is some form of family crisis, they deny this, which makes it easy to maintain a false family environment. Each of them has developed different survival mechanisms. On the outside, it seems like a “normal” family environment, but it is really quite dysfunctional.
August: Osage County is just a movie, but it shows us how our families can cause great psychological harm.
