John F. Kennedy Jr., between nostalgia and guilty pleasure

There are series that are inevitable to indulge in with a certain self-indulgence and a bit of shame. Disney+ has just released one in which viewers over 45 are in danger of falling head over heels. It is Love story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette, the love story of one of the iconic couples of the nineties, who died in a plane crash while flying to Martha's Vineyard in 1999. The tragedy contributed to increasing the misfortune that has always loomed over the Kennedy family. Their sudden death had all the ingredients to become a media legend: handsome, young, rich, stylish, and apparently happy in a life of unbridled luxury in New York. The glamour of a couple that seemed perfect left a trail of nostalgia and curiosity that producer Ryan Murphy has taken advantage of to turn into a nine-episode series. It begins with a tense scene between the main couple just before taking off in the small plane. It is almost obligatory to start from the end, considering that the entire audience knows the outcome of the story, as if it were the drama of Titanic.

Love story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette connects with Murphy's fascination for fallen icons and their tormented intimacy. In this case, however, the series does not offer much more than the exhibition of glamour and gossip about the relationship. The overdoses of dramatization try to fit all the clichés of a romantic soap opera into the lives of real people. The disputes and reproaches from the Kennedy family to Ryan Murphy for the way he has appropriated the couple's story and manipulated the narrative have made the production more morbid. The most virtuosic aspect of the production is how it plays with our memory: scenes linked to tabloid magazine photos are recreated, which, surprisingly, come back to memory when you see them. The series exploits the myth and, above all, rewrites the memory of the two protagonists.

The lures used lead you to consume it as a guilty pleasure: protagonists with enormous appeal, a careful visual production that portrays the most select and aspirational New York of the nineties, a soundtrack with the hits of the time to emotionally transport us to that era, and a drawn-out love story that enhances desire and sexual tension. The casting of the actors and actresses is based on the enormous physical resemblance to the real characters. It is not necessary to pronounce the proper names for the viewer to immediately recognize who they are talking about. However, the prioritization of appearance comes at the expense of the acting quality of the cast. Love story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette could be summarized with the cliché that the rich also cry. It's like an afternoon TV movie that hooks you even if you don't want it to.