What is there to say about John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette at this point? They passed away nearly three decades ago. They were the It Couple of the 1990s – America’s most eligible bachelor settling down with a beautiful, elusive blonde. She moved into his Tribeca loft and quit her job at Calvin Klein. They vacationed at Hyannisport and Martha’s Vineyard. He never introduced Carolyn to his mother, and he only proposed to Carolyn after Jackie died. Some claimed that Carolyn and John would have ended up divorced, or that their marriage was very much on the rocks when they died that summer. I don’t know what to believe. I think she was mercurial and he adored her. He loved that she wasn’t interested in appearing on Vogue or modeling the latest Ralph Lauren gown. In turn, I think she got a kick out of “landing” the most eligible bachelor.
Will Ryan Murphy’s Love Story capture this complicated, passionate totally-’90s romance? Probably not. But I have to admit, I sort of got a kick out of the first trailer. Last year, style people and Bessette-defenders ripped Murphy to shreds when he released the “screen test” photos of Sarah Pidgeon and Paul Anthony Kelly “in character” as Carolyn and John. The clothes were wrong, the wigs were busted and people were FURIOUS. Ryan Murphy got defensive, but he ended up hiring outside consultants to make the show look more true-to-life. They didn’t quite get Pidgeon’s hair right, but it’s much better. Pigeon is giving me serious Natascha McElhone vibes rather than Carolyn Bessette vibes. Here’s the trailer:
This series is based on a gentler, more sanitized version of John and Carolyn’s love story, but it’s still Ryan Murphy, you know? Which means… I think we’ll probably see some drug use, don’t you think? And I enjoy that they’re dramatizing some of John and Carolyn’s epic public fights too, like the one they had in Central Park. The paparazzi got ALL of the fight, even the make up. Ted Kennedy is in it too? Okay. And Naomi Watts as Jackie is… a choice. Sigh. I’ll watch it.
Photos courtesy of FX/Hulu.
