I have been hearing about Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story for years, the story told using Barbie Dolls, but I never had any way of seeing this for myself since it was banned for Sale on VHS when Richard Carpenter won a lawsuit brought on against director Todd Haynes for using copyrighted material (Songs). I always forget about looking into this movie for lots of reasons. It was only because of the most recent issues of Entertainment Weekly (James Bond / Sean Connery on the Cover celebrating 50 years of Bond) was I reminded about Superstar.

So, I just got finished watching this "cult classic". It is a very odd and somewhat disturbing film. Do I think it's as great as most people seem to have for this? No. Some of the dialog is very stiff, the voice acting is passable and does its job but the film quality is horrible. It is after all coming off a VHS copy, so I can forgive Todd for that. Even with all of these defects in the movie, I did find it compelling. So much so, I'm forever going to have an image of Barbie Doll Karen in my head whenever I hear or think of Karen Carpenter. This will stick with you long after you are finished watching it.

Do not go into watching this expecting a masterpiece. It looks and plays exactly what it is, a film by a first time director that had zero practical knowledge of what he was doing or the resources to even hire actors for the Carpenter Family. So, what exactly is this film? A Documentary? A Bio-pic? Personally when watching this, it was very reminiscent of VH1's Behind The Music. If you know the format of using reenactments you will have a pretty good idea of what this film is.

Ya can't Buy it. Ya Can't Rent it. But you can definitely check out the above YouTube link for the full 43 minute film. I think it's worth a look just so that you can say you've watched it and then use it as a conversation piece at a party or wherever. It's definitely something to talk about...good or bad.

They are the LAST thing I would ever listen too. But they are part of the musical landscape from my youth and the way Karen died was very big news back then. Still is if you really think about it.