The same fate which befell Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys was bestowed upon Karen Carpenter and her brother Richard.
How to negotiate and balance super-successful careers with normal, healthy lives? Although this pattern's been repeated time and again, it's still tough when it happens to young, "green," people coping with "pro" pressures.
Had Karen remained "hidden" behind that trap set, instead of being "exposed" out front (where everyone could see how "pudgy and plump" she was) things might have gone better. It was no accident that she protested leaving those drums ("That's where I belong . . .") for that may well have been her true place.
As soon as she stepped to the front mike and solo spot, things began to change--for the worst. However, neither management nor peers realized the great price she'd have to pay, until too late.
This biopic has good casting, and a sumptuously beautiful soundtrack, with Karen's (and Richard's) vocal and instrumental ringing out with their greatest hits (including the ravishing "The Masquerade").
The film does omit their college period (c. '66-'70) at California State University at Long Beach, and the subsequent inclusion of their vocal director from CSULB, Frank Pooler, who greatly enhanced their tour work.
It also avoided dramatizing the death of Karen, making the mood less sorrowful, and ending on a more optimistic note with her mother's expressing her love for Karen.
So, another story of the high price of fame, and a touching memorial to the life and times of The Carpenters.
How to negotiate and balance super-successful careers with normal, healthy lives? Although this pattern's been repeated time and again, it's still tough when it happens to young, "green," people coping with "pro" pressures.
Had Karen remained "hidden" behind that trap set, instead of being "exposed" out front (where everyone could see how "pudgy and plump" she was) things might have gone better. It was no accident that she protested leaving those drums ("That's where I belong . . .") for that may well have been her true place.
As soon as she stepped to the front mike and solo spot, things began to change--for the worst. However, neither management nor peers realized the great price she'd have to pay, until too late.
This biopic has good casting, and a sumptuously beautiful soundtrack, with Karen's (and Richard's) vocal and instrumental ringing out with their greatest hits (including the ravishing "The Masquerade").
The film does omit their college period (c. '66-'70) at California State University at Long Beach, and the subsequent inclusion of their vocal director from CSULB, Frank Pooler, who greatly enhanced their tour work.
It also avoided dramatizing the death of Karen, making the mood less sorrowful, and ending on a more optimistic note with her mother's expressing her love for Karen.
So, another story of the high price of fame, and a touching memorial to the life and times of The Carpenters.