Camelot Comeback
Against all adversity, Murphy's Love Story appears a triumph thus far.
Last summer, we wrote about the fiery reactions to Love Story’s production and its seemingly unserious portrayal of the revered CBK. Concerns over Carolyn’s shade of blonde hair wasn’t the only contention that Murphy’s new show stirred up, with JFK Jr’s own nephew, Instagram firebrand Jack Schlossberg publicly proclaiming his disapproval.
To say that serious fans of the wildly chic couple, a growing and staunch base of nostalgic ‘90s appreciators, were greatly distraught over the snippets of production emerging online would be an understatement. First glances at the ambitious project seemed irreverent and low effort, a seemingly flippant reprisal of a subject matter that demands the opposite.
No wonder there was outcry. John & Carolyn are beloved all over the earth by many people groups: the grandparents fond of Jackie and JFK, the middle-agers who remember the day they died and the twenty-somethings who long for the good old days of NYC, a wardrobe like CBK’s and a man as dashing as the lively magazine editor on the bike.
Fast forward to February, and here we are: Love Story is on screens, and against all odds, the general public seems to be loving it. Against all odds: the mass skepticism of every style-loving, history-respecting Instagram user with their salt, the mass berating of the cheap CBK costume design (we all saw it and it was bad) and pushback from the dynasty itself, the show prevails.
Admittedly, I felt a strong sense of relief when I first saw the trailer scattered over the reels section of MMTD, and again, when I saw Murphy had based its storyline of my favourite book, Beller’s Once Upon A Time. The first looks (via Love Story FX Instagram) put me to rest a little, reassured that this was somewhat a serious and chic enterprise. Today on things I thought I would never say - well done Murphy & Co.
I’m not here to analyse the show in-depth piece by piece , there are plenty of recent articles on Substack & other platforms that have done and will continue to do so. Four episodes in, and waiting with bated breath for tomorrow’s release, I am really just here to express my admiration for how well Love Story has captured the halcyon epoch of New York City and the young, impossibly stylish lovers that we still hold dearly today.
Despite initial reservations, the casting seems as close to perfection as Murphy could have landed. Paul Anthony Kelly, in what is somehow his first role, is such a visually and vocally accurate reprise of John that it’s almost staggering. Sarah Pidgeon gives CBK her all - and the body language imitation is off the charts. The wardrobe is sleek and much-improved and the lingering chemistry and enchanting elements of their love story hits all the right notes.
While I’m not wild about either Jackie O or Daryl Hannah’s representation (not a hot take, read a good piece on this here), Carolyn and John are on screen how I imagined them in real-life. The spirited, flighty Carolyn doing her thing, John completely dazed by her, leading to the subsequent chase, the tensions of his family and status battling the feelings they hold for each other, leading to a solidified romance that the world, both then and now, were and are totally taken with.
I appreciate the more subtle themes coming through the screen, such as the birth of George, Carolyn’s necklace with her father’s ring, Ed Schlossberg’s tension with John, the reservations of Carolyn’s mother… well done Love Story. Filming locations, soundtrack, the usage of Carolyn’s own pieces from her wardrobe: mwah. I cannot wait to see more, particularly their wildly privately, impressively simple Cumberland Island wedding. The story is so good it’s hard to believe this is indeed real-life… a true, bona fide love story between America’s reluctant prince and the cool girl at Calvin Klein.
It’s too early to call the show a success just yet, as only four episodes have aired, and the final instalment won’t be with us until the 26th of March. However, so far so good. - major kudos to Sarah Pidgeon, Paul Anthony Kelly, Murphy, writer Colin Hines and the rest of the LS team on a job well done so far. We’ll check back in with another post on here once the finale has been released, for which we anticipate melancholy feelings beyond description.
“And for a thousand days, he was a husband who adored the wife who became his perfect soul mate. John's father taught us all to reach for the moon and the stars. John did that in all he did -- and he found his shining star when he married Carolyn Bessette.” - Ted Kennedy’s Eulogy
Finally, if you’re getting pulled into major appreciation of the Kennedys as we have been for quite some time (MMTD’s first reel upon our May ‘24 launch was CBK and JFK Jr), here’s a few recommended reads: some great recent Town and Country pieces, Patterson’s Kennedy Curse, Terenzio’s Oral Biography & America’s Reluctant Prince.
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Soon again,
MMTD Founder & Editor