You’ve probably heard of the Barbie movie that took over the world a couple of years back. But long before Margot Robbie stepped into those pink heels, there was another Barbie movie. A much darker one. It’s called Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story, and honestly, it is one of the weirdest, most tragic, and most legally entangled pieces of cinema ever made.
If you try to find it on Netflix or buy a 4K Blu-ray at the store, you’re out of luck. It’s basically illegal.
Directed by Todd Haynes in 1987, this isn't your typical Hollywood biopic. It’s a 43-minute experimental film that uses modified Barbie dolls to tell the story of Karen Carpenter’s life and her harrowing battle with anorexia nervosa. Yeah, you read that right. Barbie dolls. It sounds like a joke or a weird art school prank, but if you actually watch the bootleg versions floating around the internet, it’s surprisingly heartbreaking.
What is Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story movie actually about?
Basically, the film follows Karen’s life from her "discovery" in 1966 to her death in 1983. It starts with a literal horror-movie vibe—a shaky camera moving through a house in Downey, California, as Karen’s mother, Agnes, finds her body. From there, it’s a flashback.
But here’s the kicker: Haynes didn't just use dolls for the sake of being "edgy." He used them to make a point about how Karen was treated like a plastic plaything by the music industry and her own family. As the "Karen" doll gets sicker in the movie, Haynes actually took a knife to the plastic, whittling away the doll's face and arms to show her physical decline. It’s visceral. It’s uncomfortable.
The movie touches on a lot of things the official 1989 TV movie (the one Richard Carpenter actually helped produce) glossed over:
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- The overwhelming pressure from her mother, Agnes.
- Richard’s intense perfectionism and drive for success.
- The way the media and the public scrutinized her appearance.
- Her reliance on laxatives and Ipecac.
It mixes these doll scenes with real footage of the Vietnam War, scenes of 1970s suburbia, and weird, grainy documentary-style segments explaining what anorexia is. It’s a collage. A mess. A masterpiece. It just depends on who you ask.
Why was the movie banned?
Short answer: Richard Carpenter.
Long answer: It was a copyright nightmare. Todd Haynes was a student at the time, and he didn't exactly have the budget—or the permission—to use the Carpenters' massive catalog of hits. He used the real songs, from "(They Long to Be) Close to You" to "Superstar," without paying a dime in licensing fees.
When Richard saw the film, he wasn't just mad about the music. He was reportedly furious about how the family was portrayed. The film depicts the Carpenter household as suffocating and suggests that the pressure to be the "wholesome American duo" contributed to Karen's illness. There’s even a scene that insinuates Richard might have been gay, which was a huge "no-go" for him.
In 1990, Richard sued for copyright infringement and won. A court ordered all copies of the film to be destroyed.
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The underground life of a "lost" film
Even though it’s technically "banned," you can’t really kill a movie in the digital age. For decades, Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story lived on through "copy of a copy" VHS tapes passed around by film geeks and art students.
Nowadays, you can usually find a grainy, pixelated version on YouTube or Vimeo. Ironically, the terrible quality of these bootlegs actually makes the movie feel even creepier and more authentic. It feels like a "found footage" tape from a nightmare. It’s become a cult classic precisely because it’s so hard to find.
What most people get wrong about the film
A lot of people think it’s a mean-spirited parody of the Carpenters. It’s really not. Todd Haynes has talked about how much he actually loves Karen’s voice. He sees her as a genuine artist who was trapped by the very "wholesome" image that made her famous.
The use of dolls isn't to mock her; it’s to show how she was "de-humanized" by the people around her. When you see a plastic doll being told what to do and how to look, it hits differently than if it were a human actress. It highlights the artificiality of the celebrity machine.
Why it still matters in 2026
We talk a lot about body image and mental health now, but in 1987, these conversations were much quieter. Haynes was ahead of his time in linking Karen's personal struggle to a broader cultural sickness.
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Also, it launched the career of one of the best directors working today. Todd Haynes went on to make Safe, Far From Heaven, Carol, and May December. If you look closely, you can see the themes of those big Oscar-nominated movies starting right here with a bunch of Barbies in a dollhouse.
How to actually see it (The legal-ish way)
Since the film is legally restricted, you won't find it on any official streaming service. However, if you're a film student or a researcher, some museums and film archives (like the Museum of Modern Art) hold copies that are sometimes screened for educational purposes.
For everyone else, your best bet is to:
- Search Archive.org: People often upload high-quality (well, for this movie) transfers there.
- Look for "Restored" versions on YouTube: Occasionally, fans use AI upscaling to try and fix the grainy VHS rips, though many purists argue the grain is part of the experience.
- Check out the 1989 TV Movie: If you want to see the "official" version approved by the family, look for The Karen Carpenter Story starring Cynthia Gibb. It’s much more traditional, but it’s interesting to watch them side-by-side to see what Haynes was trying to subvert.
The reality is that Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story remains a "ghost movie." It’s a haunting reminder of a tragic talent and a fascinating piece of legal history. It’s not just a movie about a singer; it’s a movie about the cost of perfection.
Next steps for you:
Check out the 2023 documentary Karen Carpenter: Starving for Perfection. It provides a much more factual, deeply researched look at her life using actual interviews and archival footage, which helps ground the surreal experience of the Haynes film in reality.