Details such as labels on wine bottles and Ex-Lax boxes were shrunk in proportion. Sets were created properly scaled to the dolls, including locales such as the Carpenter home in Downey, Karen's apartment in Century City, restaurants, and recording studios. In particular, Haynes detailed Karen's worsening anorexia by subtly whittling away at the face and arms of the 'Karen' Barbie doll.

The film then returns by flashback to 1966, and touches on major points in Karen's life including the duo's signing with the A&M record label, their initial success and subsequent decline, Karen's development of anorexia nervosa, her 14-month marriage to Thomas Burris, Karen's on-stage collapse in Las Vegas, her search for treatment for her anorexia nervosa, the attempt to restart her career, and finally a claim that she gradually developed a reliance on syrup of ipecac (a product that, unbeknownst to her, destroyed her heart and led to her cardiac arrest and death).Īn unusual facet of the film is that, instead of actors, almost all of the parts are played by modified Barbie dolls. It begins in Karen's parents' home in Downey, California on February 4, 1983, and the viewer follows through the eyes of Karen's mother, Agnes Carpenter, as she discovers her body in a closet. The film follows Karen Carpenter from the time of her 'discovery' in 1966, her quick rise to stardom, to her untimely death by cardiac arrest (secondary to anorexia nervosa) in 1983. Its apparent metamodern purpose as a film, including multiple perspectives on anorexia nervosa, the pop music industry, The Carpenters themselves, and the definition of a biographical film, has also given it a legacy among fans of avant-garde cinema Guy Lodge, writing for The Guardian, expressed that 'while Haynes is working in a vein of very rich irony, there’s not a hint of snark here'. Meanwhile, over the years Superstar has developed into a cult film, has notably been bootlegged, and is included in Entertainment Weekly 's 2003 list of top 50 cult movies. The film's title is derived from The Carpenters' 1971 hit, ' Superstar'. The film was withdrawn from circulation in 1990 after Haynes lost a copyright infringement lawsuit filed by Karen's brother and musical collaborator, Richard Carpenter. Barry Ellsworth collaborated on the film and was the cinematographer for the Barbie themed interior segments of the film. It was filmed over a ten-day period at Bard College in the summer of 1985. Superstar was co-written and co-produced by Haynes and Cynthia Schneider, with an unauthorized soundtrack consisting mostly of the hit songs of The Carpenters. Directed by Todd Haynes, the film uses Barbie dolls as actors, as well as documentaries and artistic footage. Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story is a 1987 American experimental short biographical film that portrays the last 17 years of singer Karen Carpenter's life, as she struggled with anorexia.

1966 barbie doll