Todd Haynes' Karen Carpenter movie

[Rick Henry]

When I first heard of this movie I was appalled. But recently my viewpoint on this has changed somewhat. I still haven't seen this movie in which Karen and Richard are protrayed by Barbie dolls.

It's interesting that a good percentage of undreground cult movie critics call this one a classic. Some say this may very well be the most watched underground movie in history. Apparently millions have seen it and it's highly sought after. This is one popular movie.

Now what does this mean for the Carpenters? There were a few comments made about Richard which are unfounded but for the most part this movie does not dish the music of the Carpenters. This movie has actually brought quite a bit of favorable attention toward the Carpenters. It's almost turned Carpenters into a cult favorite. There's this complete otherside of Carpenters fans out there. It's amazing how Carpenters are listed among favorites with many fans of Goth rock.

It does bother me that Karen's struggle with anorexia is portrayed by a barbie doll who is whittled away. That is sad and seems unkind. But on the other end this movie has brought a popularity to an entire circle of people who may have never really considered liking the Carpenters.

I feel al in all this movie has done more to help along with promoting the fantastic legacy of the music of Carpenters.

[GoodOldDreams]

I saw "Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story" at a movie house near the U. C. Berkeley campus at the midnight showing many years ago when it first came out, and it seemed already destined to become a cult classic. It was greeted with muffled cheers, raucous jeers and ambivalent nervous silence from the primarily college student-age audience, attracting Carpenters fans and detractors alike.

Filmmaker Todd Haynes used modified Barbie and Ken dolls as critical social commentary on the impossibility of real human beings achieving the idealized body image as represented by these plastic icons of superficial beauty in popular culture. While Karen was generally portrayed with sympathy in dealing with personal, familial, and professional pressures, Richard and mother Agnes were often cast in less than flattering light as being secretive, cold and strict, which was probably the overriding reason why this film was pulled from cinematic showing and distribution besides not having permission to use actual music recordings by the Carpenters. The details in costuming and set design were remarkably true to their sources, and the voices of the leads sounded very much like those of Karen and Richard's. "Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story" was a heavily editorialized cautionary tale which highlighted many of the Carpenters' songs at appreciable lengths within proper contexts of the storyline. While not always easy to watch, I found the film very compelling in its message and style. This was only a beginning for Todd Haynes, who went on to make other edgy/iconoclastic/alternative films, including "Poison" and "Far from Heaven."

[Rick Henry]

goodolddreams said:

I saw "Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story" at a movie house near the U. C. Berkeley campus at the midnight showing many years ago when it first came out, and it seemed already destined to become a cult classic. It was greeted with muffled cheers, raucous jeers and ambivalent nervous silence from the primarily college student-age audience, attracting Carpenters fans and detractors alike.

Very interesting GoodOldDreams. Good to hear from someone who actually watched the movie in a theater experiencing the response from the audience. It's too bad it was pulled - but I can understand why it had to be pulled. I feel had it remained in theaters it may well have become a staple of midnight theater. As it is, with the popularity of the internet the movie is still seen by countless many throughout the world. It's quite a popular underground "black market" movie. Who would have ever thunk it!