It’s the tragic love story that broke many hearts of the late 90s, with two classic American figures vanishing leaving unfinished lives of potential. Their story is now resurfacing amidst the FX television show, “Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette.” In terms of adaptations, fiction is most certainly not fact, but this show is quickly becoming the most talked about. Posing one important culture question: are the 90s back?
While I’m always the first to jump on the historical bandwagon, I needed to watch the episodes for myself and do a little background research. “Love Story” created by Connor Hines and produced by Ryan Murphy, follows the story of President John F. Kennedy’s son, JFK Jr. and his wife, Carolyn Bessette. The show is inspired by Elizabeth Beller’s “Once Upon a Time: The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy,” a biography that aims to move beyond the media’s portrayal. Their love story is one that’s met with tons of controversy, many claiming they had a toxic relationship after witnessing their public arguments. However, those are the words of the media and paparazzi, their family and friends claim they were very much in love, but being in the spotlight wasn’t healthy for either of them.
As the viewer you’ll follow how the pair met, their careers and marriage, leading up to their airplane crash in 1999 off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard. There are currently five episodes out on Hulu and Disney+, and new episode releases every Friday. Following the episodes that are currently out, we’ve learned about Carolyn’s job at Calvin Klein and watched her meet John playing hard to get in the most iconic way possible. If the real life story was truly like this depiction, then Carolyn was who we should all aspire to be, leaving them wanting more.
In John’s world, we see him start to develop his own political magazine George, and see his bond with his sister, Caroline and mother, Jackie. The struggles of staying private despite the invasive media is a story we’ve seen before from Princess Diana to Britney Spears. Constantly in the tabloids and closely watched by the nation, everyone is very taken with John’s love life. In the first couple episodes John is with actress Daryl Hannah. If she was anything like her depiction, no wonder her and John were on and off again so much.
The entire show itself is like a love note to the 90s with timeless fashion, music and even cinematography quality. I could spend hours talking about the soundtrack alone, which features “It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over” by Lenny Kravitz, “Fade Into You” by Mazzy Star, “Linger” by The Cranberries and so much more. Not only does it enhance the setting and era that the show takes place in but, every song fits the storyline and relationship. Whether it’s moody, flashy, or downright flirty, the music emulates that.
Paul Anthony Kelly and Sarah Pidgeon have done a really good job portraying the chemistry and the struggle of John and Carolyn. Aside from the obvious flirtations in episodes one and two, you can feel the stakes and emotional turmoil between them as their story progresses. In the latest episode, “Battery Park” we see John and Carolyn travel to Hyannis Port to meet the rest of his family, including his aunt Ethel, widow of Robert (Bobby) F. Kennedy. After a very awkward family dinner of political trivia and hypotheticals, it’s clear that Carolyn isn’t picture perfect in the eyes of the Kennedy clan. Pidgeon does an excellent job portraying the confusion and frustration of a normal working woman from the city trying to support the man she loves. She’s not a socialite or a politician, which is what makes her so relatable to this day with her glamour and unapologetic confidence.
The most pivotal moment in episode five is John and Carolyn’s public fight in Washington Square Park. According to friends at the time, this fight stemmed from Carolyn telling John he was “letting people walk all over him.” However, in this depiction the fight is about their private life going public, Carolyn not accepting his marriage proposal right away, and their faults as individuals in guarding themselves. The fight ends with them obviously making up and her accepting his proposal mid-meltdown. The episode will leave the viewer with many questions including, “What will the world say?”
My favorite aspect of this series, regardless of its historical dramatization, is what it has done for generations on social media. The trends are endless, from dressing up with no brand name logos like Carolyn to people finding their own spark amongst chaos. It’s clear that these two were beloved by the public in life and now in death. As my mother said while we watched, “It’s like we’re mourning them all over again.” So with each trend, each episode, each story, I only think of the legacy we are honoring, even if it’s not all true in the eyes of Hines and Murphy.
