Writer: Todd Haynes and Cynthia Schneider
A unique short film that recounts the tragic life of singer Karen Carpenter from her early success with brother Richard to her death at age of 32 from complications due to anorexia nervosa.
To begin on a personal note, being a film student is not all it's cracked up to be. The intellectual film community is consistently having to justify itself to the rest of academia. No, we don't just sit around watching movies all day. Film criticism and theory is some of the most challenging reading I've ever experienced. However, film studies is not without its perks. I've gotten to see some of the best movies ever committed to celluloid and some I could’ve gone my whole life without sitting through. One of the former is Todd Haynes' Superstar: the Karen Carpenter Story. I had heard about the 43-minute film but knew it was next to impossible to track down due to some serious legalities. Well, God bless the bootleggers and their crafty ways.
I saw Superstar in a film history class and was simply blown away by it. At first seeing every part played by Barbie and Ken dolls is a little comical but you quickly forget about them and are drawn into the tragedy of Karen's anorexia. No kidding, that's the big twist: Barbie and Ken dolls. But they just seems to disappear in a way. The dolls become clear metaphors for the cult of celebrity Western culture has so readily embraced. How women bend over backward to embody a sickly image of beauty. Karen, of course, was no exception to that pressure.
The film and Haynes were, as Dr. Friedman put it, "sued out of existence" by Richard Carpenter when the rights to the music weren't cleared. Haynes has since resurfaced in the independent world with films like Safe (1995) and Far From Heaven (2002) in which Haynes explores what was repressed Classic Hollywood melodramas; namely homosexuality and interracial relationships.
For me, though, the music is really what has the most power. While I knew most of the songs, when put into the context of Karen's life, I was deeply moved. Now, "Close to You" and "Superstar" are two of the most depressing songs I've ever heard. Because of the context in which they were written and presented in the film, their sadness is emphasized and made all the more tragic. The same is true for me of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" from Meet Me in St. Louis (1944), but I digress. My advice on Superstar is two-fold. First: Richard Carpenter needs to chill out and retract the cease-and-desist order so the public can experience this unique film. Second: since the previous suggestion is probably never going to happen, do whatever you must to find and watch this movie, you'll be glad you did.
1 comment:
When I hear "Superstar," I think of Tommy Boy.
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