I just finished Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette. To say I am wowed could be one of the biggest understatements of the year. This show was breath-haltingly good. It showed what I believe to be the perfect portrayal of what a relationship is: being under the constant eye of others.
But more so, it shows what the downfall of relationships and marriages can do to a woman. We first meet Carolyn as a vibrant woman who has a plan, knows what she wants and what she doesn’t, and voices that opinion for herself.
They begin to date, fall in love, and then slowly she is found by the paparazzi, and her life changes that instant. She is no longer a woman who is falling for a man; she is now the one woman who has captured JFK Jr’s heart. She is envied by women all over the world, mostly because they want to be her.
Her world changed in a matter of one photo. One second in time. And while Carolyn believed JFK Jr. would have changed his life and image in the press, she was wrong. She had to change, move into HIS apartment, become HIS wife, have rude things written about her every day while he continued to stay the “American Prince.”
This is shown perfectly within the scene where both of them go to a gala, he is asked about his company, compliments leave the tongues of everyone, and one lowly person calls her a “f*cking c*nt.” Because these people believe this to be true, she shrank herself, and then still became the “villain of his story.” Even in death, she was blamed.
Women all over the world, like carolyn, and regardless of the status men hold, have had to shrink themselves. Even Jackie showed this with all the affairs that JFK had by sticking by his side because that is what she was “supposed” to do.
Some handle it well, and others don’t. Carolyn portrayed that side well. The fame and the loss of self became too much to bear. This sheds light on the mental load, outside of children and housework, that women carry with them every day.
At first, I was grabbed by the thought of a fairytale romance, but I continued because of the lost grip on life that Carolyn had, which had me in a chokehold.
If you have not watched this show, I deeply recommend it. But please heed my warning: you might cry, but most of all, you will feel upset and understood.