Richard still doesn't get it

One thing that has always frustrated me with Richard is his lack of understanding around what Karen went through. In hearing him in interviews, he makes it sound like Karen's affliction with anorexia was completely random. Like she got hit by a dart from the sky.

It is so completely obvious why it was Karen who had this terrible disease. She was a girl who was ambitious and assertive but she also wanted everyone, especially her family,  to be happy. That created tremendous conflict for her in terms of getting what she wanted in life. One critical life lesson for all of us is to realize that you have to put yourself first sometimes. People will not always agree with you but as long as you're not harming someone, you have the right to live life by your rules and not apologize for it.

I think Karen was very guilted for pursuing the solo album. So even the one statement of independence that she made was shrouded in guilt for breaking the team. I'm sure there was also the pressure of anticipation of Richard liking her work.

Richard just doesn't seem to understand that Karen was a young woman who was ambitious and couldn't sit under a rock, but at the same time she wanted approval from her family. Her family was important to her. Her desire to have that approval is completely understandable. Someone stronger than Karen would have tried to get that approval but eventually have said 'the heck with them'. I think eventually she would have gotten to that point of true independence but it was still years away when she passed. She still had a lot of work ahead of her to get to recovery.