Question about one of the characters in the movie, American Beauty.

I just saw the movie again after a long time. I’ve always been confused about Allison Janney’s character. She plays wife of Colonel Frank Fitts and mother to Ricky. She seems to have been irreparably damaged at some point in her life. She has a ghostly presence in the house, and is generally disconnected from the world around her. They don’t show much about her in the movie, and I’ve always been curious.

So what did you think of her role in the movie?