Talk:The Best Little Girl in the World

Karen Carpenter
In the Reception section Karen Carpenter's death from complications of anorexia is cited as a cause of renewed controversy, but she is not listed in the Cast section. What was her connection? Ferritecore (talk) 11:15, 27 October 2008 (UTC)


 * Karen Carpenter died from heart failure due to the effects of anorexia nervosa on Feb. 4, 1983. She was the first famous person to die from the effects of an eating disorder (anorexia and/or bulimia) and made the illness world-famous as a result. Prior to 1983, almost Nobody outside of the medical community had ever even heard of anorexia or bulimia, although they were first identified in the 1800's. When it debuted in 1981; "The Best Little Girl in the World" (movie made for tv) was considered just another made-for-tv movie that the networks (ABC, CBS, NBC) were cranking out, assembly-line fashion, in the early 1980's.  In the typical story, a person gets into trouble, suffers for a while, and then is healed by the end of the movie, and everyone lives 'happily ever after'. TBLGITW had almost no impact on the world, because it was considered just another run-of-the-mill made-for-tv movie when it first aired (in spite of it's unusual plot-anorexia nervosa). After Karen died, there were people who gave the made-for-tv movie a second look. Ms. Carpenter's death brought attention to the very serious problem of eating disorders. Ms. Carpenter's doctor in 1981 was Steven Levenkron, the same person who wrote the book, the film is based on. By the time Karen Carpenter saw Dr. Levenkron, it was too late, as she had been sufferening from the illness since 1974, and 7 years later, there was little Dr. Levenkron could do to save Karen.  One of the problems of eating disorders is that they are "denial" illnesses.  The person who suffers from anorexia and/or bulimia denies they have a problem, until they are dead, or have suffered uncurable medical problems they will have for the rest of their lives.204.80.61.110 (talk) 14:21, 16 April 2010 (UTC)Bennett Turk.

doubtful if Jessice Lange in film (or Helen Hunt for that matter)
IMDB credits at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082062/fullcredits#cast do not list either Lange or Hunt.--71.183.238.134 (talk) 12:09, 18 April 2009 (UTC)

I doubt Lange was in it, but I saw it on cable about a decade ago and clearly remember Hunt as one of the girls looking at fashion magazines around the cafeteria table. 151.197.209.144 (talk) 23:22, 19 June 2009 (UTC)