The MirrorARCHIVES: Jul 8-14.2004 Vol. 20 No. 3  
Vidiot's Box

In light of Mary-Kate Olsen coming clean about her new diet regime, we are once again reminded of the pressure on stars to stay thin. All the macrobiotic-eating, pilates-posing celebs are coming out in droves to well-wish the former Full House star. Major networks have probably already started looking for actors to play the billionaire twins in an upcoming made-for-TV movie. That's one way to go about it. Then there's always the Todd Haynes way. In 1987, he wrote and directed Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story using a cast of Barbies. At the time the disturbingly poignant film was controversial because some feminists thought Haynes was being flippant toward anorexia. However, after watching his art project, no one could argue he was trivializing Carpenter's eating disorder. After all, what better symbolism for the unhealthy pursuit of perfection than using those infamous plastic Mattel dolls with the impossible measurements? In the end, the movie was banned because A&M records threatened to sue Haynes for using the Carpenters' music without permission. But it can still be viewed at www.illegal-art.org. » Sarah Rowland

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