*There will be some spoilers in this article, so don’t get mad at me, please.
The Kennedy family has endured many tragedies that have been on full display. Due to this, many documentaries as well as fictional pieces have been made to profit from their misfortunes. Most recently, FX has released the series “Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette.”
The attention from the show raises questions of the ethics of Ryan Murphy and the continuous obsession with the Kennedy family. This is also evident in the relationship between John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette.
Murphy is infamous for taking tragic and disturbing stories and translating them onto the big screen. For instance, he created the 2024 Netflix series “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story.” However, he did co-produce and created “Glee,” so we can give him a sticker for that.
In this new series, we get a glimpse of the highs and lows in Kennedy and Bessette’s relationship. Additionally, the series is based on the true events of the couple, but some elements are made to be more dramatic than they actually panned out to be in real life.
Honestly, Bessete is visually portrayed to be almost like Carrie Bradshaw in “Sex and the City” as she works as a director of publicity at Calvin Klein. JFK Jr. is written like a Mr. Big, but if he didn’t have avoidant attachment issues and was a little yearner.
In real life and in the show, people were drawn to Bessette for her minimalist and chic fashion. When JFK Jr. was added to the mix, she was the spotlight of the media’s attention, which she didn’t really want.
While they don’t mold JFK Jr. into a stereotypical man like they used to, he does have his faults. The show highlights how JFK Jr. can be rather childish and not always think things through. For instance, when he takes Bessette to meet his Aunt Ethel, he neglects to tell her about the rigorous questions that are asked at dinner and that you have to sign up to eat breakfast.
Also, JFK Jr. is portrayed to be rather impulsive as on that same trip to see his Aunt Ethel, he proposes to Bessette on a boat. Naturally, she doesn’t immediately say yes to it, which makes him sad and a bit whiny.
In a later scene, the two have a fight in a public park, and he had a little hissy fit over Bessette still not accepting his proposal. This scene is very serious and did happen in real life. However, I couldn’t help but notice that when he is yelling, he kind of sounds like Tina from “Bob’s Burgers.”
Bessette does end up accepting his proposal in an emotional scene where she is very vulnerable about how she never thought she would get married. This scene is an emotional roller coaster. The two do end up getting engaged, which makes JFK Jr. a happy boy and he isn’t pouting anymore.
Since the two are planning a wedding, Bessette wants an intimate wedding in the Kennedy family. It’s a hard ask, but the two get the job done and have a beautiful wedding. And that’s where the show and real life should have ended. But historically speaking, disaster is looming ahead, and the show foreshadows it a lot too, which makes it even more eerie.
One positive element of the show is that it does have some fresh faces. For example, the actor who plays JFK Jr., Paul Anthony Kelly, is a newcomer and has a very bright future ahead of him.
But at the same time, while the Kennedy clan is on a different level than the average person, they are still real people and a real family that has faced enormous tragedies. It’s one thing to make a documentary, but when it comes to the Kennedys as a whole, Hollywood loves to squeeze out as much content as possible that they can profit from.
In terms of Murphy’s work, he tends to take tragic tales that aren’t necessarily his to touch and turn them into shows where audiences can obsess and romanticize these stories.
Ironically, I won’t lie and say that I haven’t been obsessed with this series, as it is really good. But part of me feels guilty for watching a show that markets off of this tragic story. However, Murphy has shown efforts to give back to the Kennedy family and be authentic in telling what really happened in real life, or at least warning that not everything in the series is 100% factual.
When it comes to watching these shows, it’s okay to enjoy them, but it’s also important to remember that these are real people and there are still real people who are reliving the trauma from seeing this series. Thus, as viewers, we can aim to separate fact from fiction and investigate the real story.
This limited series is nine episodes long, and the last episode will air on March 26, so emotionally prepare yourselves, or just keep watching the edits.
