Superstar:
The Karen Carpenter Story (circa sometime in the mid to late
1980s) is the absolute best film ever made about anorexia. Created
by gay film maker Todd Haynes, this movie is extraordinary because
it accurately conveys the emotional plight of the anorexic, using
Karen Carpenter's story as the blueprint, but tells the terrible
story using Barbie dolls primarily instead of actors. At first
glimpse this film appears to be nothing more than a skit done
in bad taste but as it progresses the viewer is actually completely
drawn into the story and the struggle of Karen Carpenter. The
movie also uses documentary and educational film techniques which
makes it even more intriguing. This movie is not available on
video cassette but there are plenty of pirated copies of it floating
about. I understand that Richard Carpenter who holds a firm grasp
to all rights to The Carpenters' music sued film maker Todd Haynes
because actual Carpenters' music is used within the film but no
rights were obtained to do so. I have also heard that the only
place that Richard Carpenter would allow this film to be shown
is in actual anorexia clinics as part of treatment and for educational
purposes. It's truly astounding that a film made with Barbie dolls
could convey such a powerful impact but that's just what this
movie does. A lot of gay guys seem to have bad bootleg copies
of this film. If you know somebody who does, watch it! You'll
be amazed at how good it is!