Photo credits (at left) Karen Carpenter, Harry Langdon/Getty Images; (at right) still from Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story

 

On January 27, 2022, Caryl Flinn gave a zoom talk at Columbia University as a part of The University Seminars Series, CINEMA AND INTERDISCIPLINARY INTERPRETATION. Flinn's talk, “Giving Camp a New Name: Todd Haynes, The Carpenters, and ’Superstar”" argued that his 1987 film led the way for 21st century understandings of camp that have moved discussions on camp beyond Susan Sontag’s old-school but still-influential piece, “Notes on Camp.”  Much of Flinn's focus was on music’s relationship to camp.