Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story

19871987
Not RatedNot Rated
43min

Karen Carpenter's battle with anorexia nervosa and the cultural influence of the Carpenters in the 70s.Karen Carpenter's battle with anorexia nervosa and the cultural influence of the Carpenters in the 70s.Karen Carpenter's battle with anorexia nervosa and the cultural influence of the Carpenters in the 70s.

7.8/10

2.9K

Director
- Todd Haynes
Writers
- Cynthia Schneider
- Todd Haynes
Stars
- Merrill Gruver(voice)
- Michael Edwards(voice)
- Melissa Brown(voice)

Top credits

See production, box office & company info

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Karen and Richard Carpenter are young musicians living with their parents in Downey, California. Richard shows great promise as a songwriter and Karen, who plays drums, begins to sing vocals, thrusting the duo into stardom. They become wildly successful, Karen's striking voice and Richard's soft melodies capturing the essence of the nation's yearning for calm after the turbulent Sixties. But Karen strives for perfection and becomes increasingly fearful of her weight, despite being a slender woman. Eventually she is diagnosed with anorexia nervosa, a mental disease relating to stress, lack of control, and low self-esteem. A fight for Karen's life ensues. —Jim Beaver <jumblejim@prodigy.net>

trash anorexia nervosa anorexia downey california disease 51 more

Trivia
The film was pulled from circulation in 1990, after a cease-and-desist order for unauthorized use of The Carpenters' music. As of 2016, sale or distribution of the film remains illegal. Hundreds of bootleg copies have been sold.

Goofs
In the opening sequence, as the camera rounds the corner on its way into Karen's bedroom, a crew member is visible at the end of the hallway.

Quotes
Narrator: There is a discouragingly high failure rate in the treatment of anorexia. The refusal to eat is so annoying to doctors and family that intervention seems to focus entirely on trying to make the sufferer eat. When the anorectic is unable to comply with the dietary plan, she is often force fed. In these cases, the patient is considered officially recovered when the normal weight is reached and appropriate sex role functioning achieved. Ultimately treatments which assert absolute control over the patient's life only contribute to anorectic behavior, which is often the result of highly controlled, familial environments.

Crazy credits
There are no ending credits, the film ends after shots of newspaper headlines detailing Karen Carpenter's death.

Connections
Featured in Playing Columbine (2008)

Soundtracks
Superstar
Written by Bonnie Bramlett and Leon Russell
Performed by The Carpenters

Top review

9/10

More tastefully done than you might guess

All of Todd Haynes' heroes are outsiders, even Karen Carpenter. As portrayed in "Superstar," she's too square to hang with anyone hipper than Dionne Warwick, but too grown-up to cope with the strict confines of her suburban upbringing, and ceaselessly stalked by the insecurity manifested in her anorexia. Some of the details are probably over-sensationalized, and Richard probably deserved a fairer shake than the movie gave him, but the essentials of Karen's battle with herself are all there in chilling detail. Oh yeah, and the songs, featuring Karen's lead vocals and drumming, and Richard's underrated arrangements, are pretty good too. If you can't see this one, at least get hold of the songs and update your ears.

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