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Superstar:

The Karen Carpenter Story

1987

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Using Barbie dolls as puppets, "Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story" portrays Karen's life and battle with anorexia nervosa.
	Todd Haynes never secured the rights to the Carpenters' music used in the movie, and Richard Carpenter filed an injunction that kept Superstar from public release.
Even without Carpenter's court order, it is likely that the film would have been stopped by Mattel, the makers of Barbie.
	Directed by Todd Haynes Writing credits Todd Haynes, Cynthia Schneider Cast and Narration: Rob LaBelle, Gwen Kraus, Bruce Tuthill Runtime: 43 min Country: USA Language: English Color: Color Sound Mix: Mono Certification: Not Rated
According to Todd Haynes, "it's actually a very, very sympathetic film about her. It takes some issue with the family and ultimately paints Richard Carpenter more critically. If he did see the film, he could have objections along those lines. Whether he's seen it or not, there are a lot of reasons why he would react this way." The film was awarded Best Experimental Short at the 1987 USA Film Festival.

This Little movie was a very early work by a very able director; if Richard carpenter, A&M and Mattel had ignored it, it would have been forgotten in six months.

Thankfully, Richard was 'unhappy' with the way he is portrayed (a rather different richard to one we see in the 'approved' and fawning documentary footage that rolls around tinsel town.

Richard Carpenter injuncted the director on the (perfectly legitimate) basis that carpenters music was used in the soundtrack without consent being sought or obtained.

The Director had been in a bind; as he had chosen to tell his story with dolls (notably Barbie, but others were used too), he was depending on the music to bring reality and life to the movie; but he must have known that asking would have been a guarantee of a refusal - not asking allowed the movie to air at film festivals and colleges across America before the lawyers stepped in.

While it would be difficult to buy this DVD - no legal sales can take place in America - seeing it is to be recommended for all who care about Karen; and all who love the music. See it and think about it.

Buying This DVD

Please note, I am NOT selling this DVD - I have none to sell.

This DVD cannot be bought 'new' - It cannot be sold within the USA
and was never published outside the USA

9 February 2010 |

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