If "Nashville" Were Re-Interpreted Today, Would Barbara Jean Be Karen Carpenter???????????????

                              Now, darlings, Karen Carpenter came along a good five years before Ronee Blakley played Barbara Jean, but one has to admit--they both have that wholesome, black hair on white dress look.

                             When "Nashville" was released, back in 1975, most thought the character of Barbara Jean was based on Loretta Lynn.  Today, we face a rather different proposition.

                              First, most obvious, is how many out there today, especially those post Baby Boomers, would even know who Loretta Lynn is?  Would they even know about Karen Carpenter?

                              The saddest point of all is that  in today's film climate, there are no visionaries like Robert Altman, and, if there were, "Nashville" would not allowed to be made today.  The negating points it makes about American idols such as fame, the Electoral College, and apathy, could not even be voiced in Amercian cinemas, because nobody, save a few, such as I, would care to hear them.

                               Barbara Jean, Loretta, and Karen all had health problems.  Even some of Ronee Blakley's were incorporated into the script--the part about Barbara Jean being set on fire by a Fourth of July sparkler.  It actually happened to Blakley when she was a little girl.

                               I recall last seeing "Nashville" 13 years ago, at the MOMI in Astoria.  At the time, the film was 30 years old, and I felt even back then its innovation would not be tolerated today.

                               But the next time I see it, I will think of Karen Carpenter.  Like Barbara Jean, she was an artist who was consumed by her gift!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!