Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story
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{{Infobox Film
| name = Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story
| image =
| caption =
| director = [[Todd Haynes]]
| producer = [[Todd Haynes]]
| writer = [[Todd Haynes]]<br/>[[Cynthia Schneider]]
| narrator =
| starring =
| music = [[The Carpenters]]
| cinematography =
| editing =
| distributor =
| released = 1987
| runtime = 43 mins
| country = {{USA}}
| language = English
| budget =
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
| website =
| amg_id = 1:132168
| imdb_id = 0094075
}}
'''''Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story''''' is a 43 minute [[film]] regarding the life of pop vocalist [[Karen Carpenter]]. It was directed by [[Todd Haynes]] and released in 1987. It was withdrawn from circulation in 1990 after Haynes lost a [[copyright infringement]] [[lawsuit]] filed by Karen's brother and musical collaborator, [[Richard Carpenter (musician)|Richard Carpenter]].<ref name="holden">Holden, Stephen ([[November 8]], [[1998]]). FILM; Focusing on Glam Rock's Blurring of Identity. ''[[New York Times]]''</ref> The title of the film is derived from "[[Superstar (Carpenters song)|Superstar]]", their 1971 hit song.
==Plot==
The film covers Karen's life from the time of her "discovery" in 1966 to her untimely death by [[cardiac arrest]] (secondary to [[anorexia nervosa]]) in 1983. The movie begins with a quasi-[[first-person narrative|first person]] recap of her mother Agnes Carpenter discovering Karen's body in her parents' [[Downey]], [[California]] home on [[February 4]] [[1983]], and then returns by [[flashback (literary technique)|flashback]] to 1966. The story touches on major points in Karen's life from 1966 on:
*the duo's signing with record label [[A&M Records|A&M]]
*their initial success and subsequent decline
*Karen's development of [[anorexia nervosa]] (spurred by an infamous review which described the well-proportioned Karen as "chubby"){{Fact|date=March 2008}}
*her on-stage collapse in [[Las Vegas, Nevada|Las Vegas]]
*her search for treatment for her anorexia nervosa
*her attempt to restart her career
*a claim that she gradually developed a reliance on [[syrup of ipecac]] (a product which, unbeknownst to her, destroyed her heart and led to her cardiac arrest).
An unusual facet of the film was that, instead of actors, almost all parts were played by modified [[Barbie]] dolls. In particular, Haynes detailed Karen Carpenter's worsening anorexia by subtly whittling away at the face and arms of the "Karen" Barbie doll. Sets were created properly scaled to the dolls, including locales such as the Carpenter home in Downey, Karen's apartment in [[Century City]], restaurants, recording studios - including minute details such as labels on wine bottles and [[Ex-Lax]] boxes. Interspersed with the story were [[Documentary film|documentary]]-style segments detailing the times in which Karen Carpenter lived and also detailing anorexia; these segments were seen as dry and melodramatic [[parody|parodies]] of the documentary genre. The underlying soundtrack included many popular hits of the day, including songs by [[Gilbert O'Sullivan]], [[Elton John]], and [[the Carpenters]] themselves.
The tone of the film was sympathetic to Karen, especially as regards her anorexia, but much of that sympathy was gained by making the other characters as unsympathetic as possible. Karen's parents, Harold and Agnes, were portrayed as controlling and indifferent; Agnes, in addition, was portrayed as dismissive of Karen's concerns about her weight. The duo's initial meeting with A&M Records owner [[Herb Alpert]] was intercut with stock footage of [[the Holocaust]]; the scene ended with a naked female corpse being thrown into an open pit, with a chilling scream overdubbed. Richard Carpenter was portrayed as a rampant [[Perfectionism (psychology)|perfectionist]] who frequently sided with his parents against Karen, and was also depicted as hypercritical of Karen. This culminated in a scene where Richard berates a fatigued and obviously ill Karen for not meeting business demands and "ruining ''my'' career", causing her to break down in tears. Haynes even insinuated during a fight between Richard and Karen that Richard was [[homosexual]] - which, if it had been reported to the public in the 1970s, would have destroyed the Carpenters' "clean-cut" image and the group's career.
Haynes' treatment of the film was quite dark; his choice of black captions often blended in with the scene, rendering them unreadable. Additionally, Haynes worked [[spanking]] (a common theme in his works) into the film with a repeated segment featuring a black-and-white overhead view of Harold administering an over-the-knee spanking to a bare-bottomed adult Karen. The meaning of this segment is never discussed, leaving it to the viewer's imagination - it may be an actual event, a representation of Karen's self-loathing regarding her inability to be the "perfect" child, or a representation of the self-discipline involved with her anorexia.
==Response==
Upon its release, the film was a minor art hit, and was shown at several film festivals. However, shortly thereafter, Richard Carpenter viewed the film and became irate with the film's portrayal of his family, in particular because the film insinuated Richard was [[gay]]. It later emerged that Haynes never obtained [[music licensing]] from either Richard Carpenter or the Carpenters' label, [[A&M Records]], for the numerous songs used in the film. Richard Carpenter sued Haynes for failing to obtain the clearances and won. As a result of the lawsuit, all copies of the film were to have been recalled and destroyed.<ref name="james">James, Caryn ([[April 14]], [[1991]]). FILM VIEW; Politics Nurtures 'Poison.' ''[[New York Times]]]''</ref> Numerous [[bootleg recording|bootleg]] copies of the film survive and are available on various Internet sites such as [[YouTube]]. The [[Museum of Modern Art]] retains a copy of this film but has agreed with the Carpenter estate not to exhibit it.
==Songs featured in the movie==
In order:
*Superstar – The Carpenters ''(Beginning credits)''
*[[I'll Never Fall In Love Again]] – [[Dionne Warwick]] ''(which Karen sings along to)''
*I’ll Never Fall In Love Again – The Carpenters
*We’ve Only Just Begun – The Carpenters
*(They Long To Be) Close To You – The Carpenters
*Top of The World –The Carpenters
*Sing – The Carpenters ''(at the white house)''
*Alone Again (Naturally) – Gilbert O’Sullivan ''(while Karen is talking on the phone)''
*Let Me Be The One – The Carpenters ''( played straight after Alone Again…)''
*Native New Yorker – Odyssey ''(restaurant scene)''
*Love's Theme - Love Unlimited Orchestra
*''Elton John song played briefly as Richard discovers Karen unconscious''
*Rainy Days and Mondays – The Carpenters ''(at the end of the song, Karen collapses)''
*Love Will Keep Us Together – Captain & Tennille ''(scene when naked body parts are shown)''
*Don't Go Breaking My Heart – Elton John with Kiki Dee ''(Karen's housewarming party)''
*This Masquerade – The Carpenters ''(Karen meeting Tom Burris)''
*For All We Know – The Carpenters ''(New York/Recovery montage)''
*(They Long To Be) Close To You – The Carpenters ''(Ending)''
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
*{{imdb title|0094075}}
*[http://www.toddhaynes.net toddhaynes.net] Tribute site with interviews and forum.
{{Todd Haynes' films}}
{{The Carpenters albums}}
[[Category:1987 films]]
[[Category:The Carpenters]]