The pop culture world is, for the moment, at least, in the grip of Barbie-mania, as the July 21 opening of the “Barbie” movie, starring Margot Robbie (”I, Tonya”) as the famed Mattel doll, and Ryan Gosling as Barbie’s boyfriend, Ken, has sparked intense interest in all things Barbie-related, from Airbnb renting out a Barbie Malibu Dreamhouse to an explosion of pink everything in trendy fashion and design.
So, it’s not surprising that Deadline is running a piece in which producer Christine Vachon talks about another, far less bubbly, Barbie-related tale, one involving filmmaker Todd Haynes, who lives in Portland, and one of his earliest films, “Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story.”
Cinephiles who follow the career of Haynes, whose films have included “Velvet Goldmine,” “Far From Heaven” and the recent Cannes Film Festival selection, “May December,” are probably aware of the strange history of “Superstar.” As an appreciation of the film in The Guardian recounts, Haynes made the 43-minute film while he was a student at Bard College.
The film tells a version of the sad story of Karen Carpenter, the lead singer of the brother-sister hitmaking pop duo, The Carpenters. As the film chronicles, Karen Carpenter struggled with anorexia, and she ultimately died, at age 32, of cardiac arrest thought to be related to her eating disorder.
As The Guardian article notes, Haynes’ film, “a blend of archive miscellanea, artificial talking heads and, most crucially, a host of Barbie doll-enacted dramatizations,” was initially well-received during festival screenings. But Karen’s brother and musical partner, Richard Carpenter, reportedly objected to the film and what he viewed as its unsympathetic portrayal of him and his family.
While “Superstar” included some of the duo’s songs, Haynes hadn’t been granted the right to use the music and Richard Carpenter sued, charging that the film was making use of unlicensed songs. His suit resulted in “Superstar” being taken out of commercial circulation, though it has made various unsanctioned appearances online, and in other venues.
In the Deadline piece, Vachon, a frequent collaborator with Haynes who is thanked in the credits of “Superstar,” said, “The reason he didn’t seek permission for the songs was because he didn’t expect the film to blow up the way it did.”
Referring to the renegade ways people find to view “Superstar,” Vachon said, “It pops up on YouTube all the time. It’s kind of like Whac-A-Mole. It pops up and gets taken down. Pops up again and gets taken down, so you can almost certainly find it. And now it’s been restored. There’s a wonderful version that keeps popping up and it’s the true director’s cut.”
Vachon also said that Mattel, the company that owns the rights to Barbie, “paid a visit to their office when the film was released,” as the Deadline article says, “but Haynes was able to trick his way out of any legal bother over the use of the doll.”
Vachon is quoted as saying, “Todd bought all those dolls in garage sales. They were Barbie rip-offs, so he was able to prove to Mattel that it was an off-brand. That it wasn’t Barbie, but it was what you got if your parents couldn’t afford Barbie.”
Despite the bootleg copies of “Superstar” that pop up online, Vachon said, “The fact is, we still can’t really show the movie.”
Haynes spoke about moving to Portland in 2000, during the recent Cinema Unbound Awards ceremony at the Portland Art Museum, as Haynes introduced 2023 award winner Jon Raymond, who collaborated with the director on the screenplay for the HBO miniseries, “Mildred Pierce.”
— Kristi Turnquist
503-221-8227; kturnquist@oregonian.com; @Kristiturnquist
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