MIRROR, MIRROR, ON THE WALL...

`````In reviewing this book, "Little Girl Blue" by Randy Schmidt, I find myself in an interesting position. For, I cannot help write an appraisal of the book itself, but also of the actual characters involved. In the past I might have discussed how a character was developed, not their actual character itself. I find it impossible to avoid doing so in this biography of Karen Carpenter. Some people invite derision and deserve condemnation and such is the case of those encountered here.

`````Randy Schmidt, unlike the previous biography by Ray Coleman, did not have the approval of the Carpenter estate. This allows him to speak more freely of what actually went down. What may surprise is that her friends and those that worked with her came forth to provide information.

`````Some of the background provided is the basic stuff we've heard previously; how two clean cut kids make good in the music industry. Their parents moved them from a picture book town on the East Coast to Downey, California. This was a bedroom community of L.A. which still held the values of Ike's and Disney's America. The impetus for the move was to allow Richard to become a star, as he was the one perceived to hold talent. Richard was the light in his mother's eyes. There would be nothing wrong in this, had Karen not paid the price. While Richard's interest in music was fully supported, Karen's developing taste for drumming was certainly not. Girls did not play the drums. She only received any backing when it was pointed out that she could assist Richard in his quest. I recalled an interview I was saw with Agnes Carpenter in which she called Karen a "home girl." I had only ever heard this term used once before, and that was in the play "Glass Menagerie" to describe the "crippled" sister Laura. In it, she was perceived to be as brittle and as fragile as the glass pieces she collected. As I watched that television interview, I thought that it was oddly prescient.

`````Karen Carpenter was quite bright in school and was a tomboy. She was quick in learning to play the drums and became a very good player. It was only by accident that her vocal skills came to be noticed. All the while, she had been helping Richard in his pursuits in achieving success. His interests were as a jazz instrumentalist. It was always believed that he would achieve his fame in such a format, as he could both play the piano and arrange music. However, one day she was asked to sing in a studio, and the rest, as they say, is history. Originally, it was Karen that was signed to a label. This angered Agnes Carpenter, as she couldn't accept anybody besides the gilded son being recognized. This very much was the pattern that continued to play out.

`````Although their initial release did not get any recognition, as the small label went under, in time they came to the attention of Herb Albert at A&M. In short order, they were at the Grammys and were known the world over. Karen had started the Stillman water diet near the beginning of her career, as she wanted to drop some weight. For years she stayed at a healthy weight, having dropped about twenty pounds from her 5'4" frame. She ended up being below 80 pounds and abusing large amounts of laxatives and ipecac (a syrup which induces vomiting).

`````What set her off? Some point to reviews that mention her weight. The author speaks of her distress when she was forced to step out from behind the drums to stand at centre stage and sing before the audience. She was not comfortable doing so. At heart, she loved the drums and saw them as a shield. Whatever the cause, she one day decided that she wanted to lose "a few more pounds."

`````Agnes Carpenter was so controlling that she did not want her adult children to move away. They purchased a new house for their parents, and even when they all moved in it together, it had been assumed that Richard would get the largest bedroom. Agnes threw a fit and demanded that she and her husband, Harold get it.

`````Well into their twenties, Karen and Richard, gathered their courage to bring up moving out alone. They could only do so if they moved in together. Richard expected that his sister, now worth millions, cook and clean for him in the same manner that his mother had done. However, she could not handle his sleep-over girl-friend and ended up moving back home. At some point, she had enough of her overbearing mother. She had her employee inform her mother that she was purchasing a condo for herself, as she couldn't face the woman. According to that employee, Agnes was on the phone in an instant, and her reaction was over the top.

`````Anorexia is a disease with its roots in control. Here is a mother who controled everything. The author details how she would try to breakup the relationships of her children; how she would come along on vacations when the 'kids' brought along their partners. This might explain why the only person good enough for Richard was his first cousin, whom he ultimately married. His mother found fault with every other woman he dated. I also have to ask if there isn't a genetic component. People who knew Agnes describe how she was a clean freak and would even polish the gold plating on the window knob. She once even went over and cleaned the side of the neighbour's home which faced theirs, as it wasn't up to her standards.

`````When Karen Carpenter met the man she decided to marry, Tom Burris, she discovered a devastating secret about him at the last minute. She wanted to cancel the wedding, however her mother forbade her to do so. She informed Karen that she'd made her bed and now had to lie in it. I realize that as an adult she should have made her own choices, but she was a starving adult who clearly wasn't thinking well. She was also a woman absolutely defeated, like those who have stayed in a cult too long.

`````Karen Carpenter recorded a solo album, of which she was very proud. Her brother Richard rejected it flat out. The record company, therefore, followed in his footsteps. Her friends report that she was never the same afterwards. In combination with the failure of her marriage to a person who used her, she was a woman destroyed. Had her family been there for her, and said that they "loved her", perhaps things might have been different. The treatment in the early 80's for eating disorders was as lacking as her support network. The years of abuse took their toll and she succumbed to her disease at the age of only 32.

`````This book is concise and to the point. Agnes Carpenter is an arch villian as much as the disease itself. It's a good book to read if people are interested in eating disorders or are fans of this band. I'd also suggest that people who enjoy books about family dynamics might want to have a look at it.