Love Story is the series about John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette Ryan Murphy is behind it

Ryan Murphy’s stories are endless. There are American Horror Story, American Crime Story, American Sports Story and, from February 13 on Disney+, also Love Story. It begins with the icons John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette, in what could become a new canon of serialized anthology storytelling, with each season exploring and centering the relationships between some of the most famous couples on both the small and big screen. But also in fashion and politics, as in this case, where the worlds of two real-life figures collide in a portrayal that moves between faithful reconstruction and dramatization of the events that placed them on every tabloid from 1994 until their deaths in 1999, the year of the tragic plane crash in which they were involved.

The plot of Love Story John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette and its inspirations

The story of Love Story John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette draws its inspiration from Once Upon a Time: The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy by Elizabeth Beller and makes a point, at the beginning of every episode, of stressing that although the characters really existed, they are part of a fictionalized narrative shaped into nine episodes. These follow the journey from meeting, to getting to know one another, to uncertainty, and finally to the marriage between the Kennedy heir and the Calvin Klein publicist. Occasionally, Jackie Kennedy - John’s mother - also appears, portrayed by Naomi Watts, who, from Feud: Capote vs. The Swans to All's Fair, seems perfectly at ease in the worlds where Ryan Murphy is a producer. Far less at ease, however, was Bessette herself when she stepped out of the shadows and realized what falling in love with the son of a former President of the United States would entail.

The relationship between JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette: fame, media pressure and social differences

Although marked by a dramatic ending from the very beginning, with the show opening on Kennedy Jr. boarding the plane he pilots toward Martha's Vineyard, Love Story moves backward to tell about the spark, the tenderness and the uncertain yet hopeful prospects of the protagonists. It portrays the beginnings of two personalities forced to confront the fact that they came from very different worlds that did not entirely fit together. The golden boy of international magazines and the reserved fashion professional had to face many challenges before she could feel safe. It is the familiar experience of embracing not only a person but their entire world which, in the case of the Kennedys, meant legacy, popularity, the relentless curiosity of the public and the press, as well as a way of living and a set of expectations that made them seem closer to royalty than to an ordinary family.

The themes of the series: love, identity and the weight of fame

It is the management and growing awareness of a love inseparable from its public dimension that shape the dilemmas at the heart of Love Story John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette, offering a compelling point of view on one of the most stylish couples of the ’90s and expressing the anxieties of a quiet life suddenly thrown into chaos. At its core lies one fundamental question that Bessette had to try to answer, and above all answer for herself: how far am I willing to go to stand beside this person? How ready am I to erase myself and, at the same time, be so overexposed? How do you manage all of this? The gravitational pull of JFK Jr. is inseparable from the involuntary celebrity it generates, something Bessette wanted to keep as far away from herself as possible, trying not to lose her identity or be forced to display it to people who meant nothing to her.

The narrative limits of the series: melodrama and repetition

One point becomes extremely clear in the series, repeated again and again, showing that there is a single central theme on which the story is built, one that, however, remains static throughout the entire season. This theme undoubtedly shaped the lives of Bessette and Kennedy from the very beginning of their relationship, yet the show seems to believe that all it needs is a bit of pathos from scene to scene, especially as the finale approaches. The result is a continuous sequence of emotional moments and painful confrontations about issues touched on not once, not twice, but countless times within the series. Repeated not to be examined, but simply to be relived with anguish; so much drama that progresses toward the conclusion with an overflow of sentimentality, always anchored to the same central idea.

Costumes, ’90s aesthetics and performances in the cast of Love Story

On the glamorous side, the series may not fully capture the authentic ’90s charm of the duo, but the work is still carried out with solid results. This is especially true after the first images shared by Murphy sparked criticism among fans of the couple, prompting a change of stylist and a stronger effort to achieve greater accuracy in both quality and period reconstruction. There remains a slight “shot-on-iPhone” sheen that characterizes many contemporary productions, yet the protagonists do attempt to embody the clothing so closely associated with Bessette’s minimalist style and John F. Kennedy Jr.’s effortless elegance. They are played by Sarah Pidgeon and Paul Anthony Kelly, the latter in his first major screen role, through which he conveys all the warmth and energy of the journalist. It’s a story where love is palpable, but one that leans more toward melodrama than restraint. A reminder that when you choose to marry someone, you also marry their family, and, in this case, even their paparazzi.