The Hulu-FX limited series Love Story revisits the highly publicized romance of John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette, capitalizing on 1990s nostalgia and the enduring fascination with American royalty. While the show provides a glossy recreation of the era’s tabloid culture, it does so at the expense of the women around JFK Jr., reducing them to one-dimensional caricatures that serve his narrative. This isn’t just lazy storytelling; it’s a continuation of a deeply ingrained pattern in pop culture: the elevation of certain women by tearing down others.
The Architecture of Male Narrative Control
The series treats JFK Jr. as the central, independent variable against which all female characters are defined. His family legacy, charm, and professional pursuits are the scaffolding for every other relationship depicted. Carolyn Bessette is presented as the “princess,” Jackie Onassis as manipulative, and other women are reduced to either obsessed gold diggers or vapid bystanders. This structure ensures the audience’s sympathy remains firmly with JFK Jr., even at the expense of nuance or fairness.
The Unheard Voices and the Privilege of Omission
The show’s creators did not consult with any of the real women depicted, including Daryl Hannah, who was in an on-again, off-again relationship with Kennedy Jr. prior to Bessette. Hannah has publicly condemned her portrayal as a deliberate “adversary” designed to make Bessette appear more appealing. The fact that Bessette, Hannah, and Kennedy Jr. all died in a tragic plane crash means their perspectives will never be heard, further cementing the show’s biased narrative.
A Textbook Case of Misogyny
As Hannah asks, “Isn’t it textbook misogyny to tear down one woman in order to build up another?” The answer is a resounding yes. The series exemplifies a long-standing tradition in pop culture where female characters are flattened into simplistic archetypes: the shrew versus the damsel. This isn’t just about historical inaccuracy; it’s about reinforcing a harmful binary that diminishes women’s complexity and agency.
The Return of Unearned Privilege
The revival of this treatment is particularly alarming given the recent momentum of the MeToo movement, which briefly challenged such misogynistic tropes. Yet, under current political and cultural shifts, there appears to be renewed license to reduce women to one-dimensional caricatures. This illustrates a profound mistrust of audiences, presuming they are incapable of understanding that real relationships are messy, complicated, and rarely fit neatly into simple narratives.
Ultimately, Love Story doesn’t just retell a tragedy; it perpetuates a dangerous cycle of female erasure and misrepresentation. Confronting this requires holding producers accountable, demanding better storytelling, and refusing to accept narratives that silence or malign women in the name of entertainment.
