Todd Haynes’ 1987 biographical drama Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story is a heartbreaking and profoundly unique exploration of fame, the music industry and anorexia. Running just 43 minutes, this short feature chronicles the final 17 years of singer Karen Carpenter’s life, culminating in her tragic death from cardiac arrest in 1983.
It opens in Downey, California, on February 4, 1983, viewing the immediate aftermath of Karen’s death through the eyes of her mother, Agnes Carpenter, who discovers her body in a closet. Flashbacks then trace Karen’s trajectory from her 1966 discovery and early success with A&M Records to the duo’s rapid rise to global stardom.
As the pressure mounts, the narrative charts Karen’s devastating physical and emotional decline: the development of her anorexia nervosa, her ill-fated 14-month marriage to Thomas Burris, her dramatic on-stage collapse in Las Vegas and her desperate search for treatment. Haynes depicts how a reliance on syrup of ipecac ultimately devastated Karen’s heart, leading to her untimely passing. Human actors do not play the principal roles. Instead, modified Barbie and Ken dolls bring the story to life on meticulously scaled miniature sets.
Alongside experimental synthesizer cues that build unbearable tension, the movie features an unauthorized playlist of classic 1970s pop hits—including tracks by Elton John, Dionne Warwick, Odyssey, Captain & Tenille, Gilbert O’Sullivan and most of The Carpenters’ iconic discography.
Haynes created the film over ten days in the summer of 1985 while completing his Master of Fine Arts at Bard College. The film premiered in 1987 to critical praise on the festival circuit, landing at No. 45 on Entertainment Weekly’s 2003 list of the Top 50 Cult Movies. However, it was withdrawn from official circulation in 1990 after Richard Carpenter won a copyright infringement lawsuit over the unauthorized use of The Carpenters’ master recordings and compositions. Today, official distribution remains prohibited, but the film survives as a legendary, widely shared underground bootleg.
Carpenter did authorize the TV movie The Karen Carpenter Story, in which star Cynthia Gibb was asked by Richard to wear Karen’s original clothing, which he supplied. He also asked that she lose the required weight to fit into these clothes.[ Gibb stated: I lost weight as Richard wanted, and he was there watching over me in every scene. It was unnerving having to wear Karen’s clothes, right down to her clingy T-shirts and crumpled bell-bottoms. I donned a wig and used Karen’s make-up. By the time I was finished, I felt I was Karen.” Did no one learn anything? According to some crew members, he was a pain on the set. “Frankly, we were very glad he didn’t play himself. He was a pain in the backside, so oversensitive and close to the action he almost screwed things up. When we spotted him on his knees praying to Karen, he was saying, “Forgive me, forgive me…” His misgivings were painfully obvious. You could almost see him wrestling with things in his mind. It was as if he felt that Karen would never have approved. He whispered to one of the boys: “I’d give my right arm if she were here now.” The guy just hasn’t been able to let go. The film lacks an independent balance.”
By the 2000s, Richard said of that project, it was “90 minutes of creative license that give biopics in general a dubious tone.”
You can watch this on YouTube.
