Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story

Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story
File:Superstar The Karen Carpenter Story cover.jpg Cover
Directed by	Todd Haynes
Produced by	Todd Haynes
Written by	Todd Haynes Cynthia Schneider
Starring	Merrill Gruver Michael Edwards
Narrated by	Gwen Kraus Bruce Tuthill
Music by	The Carpenters
Cinematography	Barry Ellsworth
Edited by	Todd Haynes
Production company	Iced Tea Productions
Distributed by	American International Video Search, Inc.
Release dates	April 30, 1988 (1988-04-30)
Running time	43 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English

Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story is a 1987 American short biographical film produced and directed by Todd Haynes, co-written by Haynes and Cynthia Schneider, and follows scenes from the final seventeen years of Karen Carpenter's life. The film was withdrawn from circulation in 1990 after Haynes lost a copyright infringement lawsuit filed by Karen's brother and musical collaborator, Richard Carpenter. The film's title is derived from The Carpenters' 1971 hit song, "Superstar".

Over the years, it has developed into a cult film and is included in Entertainment Weekly's 2003 list of top 50 cult movies.

Plot

The film covers Karen Carpenter 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 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 to 1966. The story touches on major points in Karen's life from 1966 on:

• The duo's signing with record label 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")
• Her on-stage collapse in 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'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-style segments detailing the times in which Karen Carpenter lived and also detailing anorexia; these segments were seen as dry and melodramatic parodies of the documentary genre. The underlying soundtrack included many popular hits of the day, including songs by Gilbert O'Sullivan, Elton John, Leon Russell, and the Carpenters themselves.

The tone of the film was sympathetic to Karen, especially in regards to 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 overly controlling, attempting to keep Karen living at home even after she turned twenty-five; Agnes, in addition, was portrayed as unaware of the extent of Karen's problem with anorexia. The duo's initial meeting with A&M Records owner Herb Alpert was inter-cut with stock footage of Vietnam War scenes. Richard Carpenter was portrayed as a rampant perfectionist who frequently sided with his parents against Karen, and was also depicted as more concerned with his and Karen's careers than with Karen's health. This culminated in a scene where Richard berates a fatigued and obviously ill Karen for not meeting business demands, asking her, "What are you trying to do? Ruin both of our careers?", causing her to break down in tears. Haynes even insinuated during a fight between Richard and Karen that Richard was gay – 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 someone, possibly 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.

Cast

• Gwen Kraus and Bruce Tuthill as Narrators
• Merrill Gruver as Karen
• Michael Edwards as Richard
• Melissa Brown as Mother
• Rob LaBelle as Father / Mr. A&M
• Nannie Doyle as Cherry Boone
• Cynthia Schneider as Dionne Warwick
• Larry Kole as Announcer
• Joanne Barrett
• Todd Haynes
• Michelle Manenti
• Moira McCarty
• Richard Nixon (archive footage) as himself
• Ronald Reagan (archive footage) as himself

Songs

• "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" – The Love Unlimited Orchestra
• "Philadelphia Freedom" – Elton John (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)

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 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. The Museum of Modern Art retains a copy of this film but has agreed with the Carpenter estate not to exhibit it. Nevertheless, bootleg copies remain in circulation.

External links

• Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story at IMDb