SUPERSTAR: THE KAREN CARPENTER STORY

Banned by the Carpenter Estate, Todd Haynes' experimental biopic Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story – which uses dolls to narrate the tragic life of the American singer – has attained significant cult status due to its illegality and lack of availability. This study details the film's fascinating history: its production and initial reception, the journey through the courts, and the subsequent bootleg circulation amongst fans. Superstar's rich, provocative and moving content is also explored, with attention focused on the film's aesthetics, generic form and its cultural position as a hybrid text.

December 2008
144 pages

978-1-905674-88-6 (pbk)

£10.00

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Glyn Davis is a lecturer at the Glasgow School of Art. He is the author of Queer as Folk (2007) and the co-editor of Queer TV (2008).

'Told using Barbie dolls, Todd Haynes' banned biopic of the '70s songbird's doomed tussle with anorexia is a wedge of underground cinema that defines cult. So there's little need for author Davis to spend pages arguing its case for canonisation. Much better is his account of Superstar's creation and subsequent gagging at the hands of Richard Carpenter and Mattel.'
- Matt Mueller, Total Film