Todd Haynes
“Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story” by Todd Haynes
Film, 1987, 43 min.

With Barbie dolls as the principal actors, Superstar portrays the life of Karen Carpenter and her battle with anorexia. Haynes never secured the rights to the Carpenters’ music he used in the movie, and Richard Carpenter filed an injunction that kept Superstar from public release. Even without Carpenter’s court order, the film would probably have been stopped by the notoriously litigious Mattel, the makers of Barbie.

Used without permission.

Download Superstar (131 mb mpeg4)

SUPERSTAR is also available in a high-res version on the Illegal Art DVD, which you can buy here.