Fact1: viewer follows through eyes of Karen 's mother, Fact2: Haynes detailed Karen 's worsening anorexia by subtly whittling away at face and arms of Karen, Fact3: tone of film was sympathetic especially in regards to anorexia, Fact4: Karen 's parents were portrayed as controlling attempting to keep Karen living at home, Fact5: Agnes was portrayed as unaware of extent of Karen 's problem with anorexia
Output: The film follows Karen Carpenter from the time of her discovery in 1966, her quick rise to stardom, to her untimely death by cardiac arrest secondary to anorexia nervosa in 1983. It begins in Karens parents home in Downey, California on February 4, 1983, and the viewer follows through the eyes of Karens mother, Agnes Carpenter, as she discovers her body in a closet. The film then returns by flashback to 1966, and touches on major points in Karens life including: An unusual facet of the film was that, instead of actors, almost all of the parts were played by modified Barbie dolls. In particular, Haynes detailed Karens worsening anorexia by subtly whittling away at the face and arms of the Karen Barbie doll. Sets were created properly scaled to the dolls, including locales such as the Carpenter home in Downey, Karens apartment in Century City, restaurants, and recording studios. Details such as labels on wine bottles and ExLax boxes were shrunk in proportion. Interspersed with the story were documentarystyle segments detailing both the times in which Karen Carpenter lived and anorexia. These segments were seen as melodramatic parodies of the documentary genre. The underlying and unauthorized soundtrack included many popular hits of the day, including duets such as Elton John and Kiki Dee and Captain  Tennille, and songs by Gilbert OSullivan, Leon Russell, as well as the bulk of The Carpenters hits themselves. The tone of the film was sympathetic to Karen, especially in regards to her anorexia, but much of that sympathy was gained by making the other characters unsympathetic. Karens parents, Harold and Agnes, were portrayed as overly controlling, attempting to keep Karen living at home even after she turned twentyfive. Agnes was portrayed as unaware of the extent of Karens problem with anorexia. The duos initial meeting with AM Records owner Herb Alpert was intercut with stock footage of Vietnam War scenes. Richard Carpenter was portrayed as a rampant perfectionist who frequently sided with his parents against Karen, and he was also depicted as being more concerned with his and Karens careers than with Karens health. This culminated in a scene where Richard berates a fatigued and obviously ill Karen for not meeting business demands, yelling at her, What are you trying to do? Ruin both of our careers?, causing her to break down in tears. Haynes then insinuated, during a fight between Richard and Karen over her renewed use of ExLax, that Richard had a secret that he didnt want his parents to know about. Haynes dark treatment of the film included using black captions which often blend in with the scene, rendering them unreadable. Haynes also worked spanking, a common theme in his works, into the film with a repeated segment featuring a blackandwhite overhead view of someone administering an overtheknee spanking to the barebottomed adult Barbie Karen. The meaning of this segment is never discussed, leaving it to the viewers imagination.