Welcome to hyperfixed - a low-stakes publication where I share everything and anything I’m excited about, with anyone who will listen. I recently hit 300+ subscribers on here, and am celebrating with a little design rebrand! I’ve been writing on Substack for almost three years now, and this corner of the internet continues to bring me so much joy, challenging and inspiring me in the best of ways - as always, thank you for reading! Without further ado, here’s new hyperfixed.
Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette 💻
The first instalment of Love Story, a new biographical romance anthology series created by Connor Hines and *shudders* executive produced by Ryan Murphy, follows the whirlwind courtship and marriage of John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette, whose private love became an ongoing global fascination. When it comes to my enjoyment of Love Story, very little of it has been defined by the accuracy of Bessette’s iconic nineties’ wardrobe, which has since endured as the womenswear blueprint of modern refined luxury, although it did give me pause to instantly ID a white Zara tank that I own, and I am far more interested in John F. Kennedy’s laissez-faire business casual when it comes to my own style inspiration.
While the internet has been determined to find obstinate ground on the moral standings of this series, I just don’t think it’s that serious. It feels contradictory for us to shame the entertainment industry for doing what it’s always done in melodramatizing public tragedy, while simultaneously taking any opportunity to reproduce the cultural influence of its subject - look no further than the JFK Jr. lookalike contest held in the West Village this weekend or the sudden headband shortage at C.O. Bigelow. I loved reader + friend of the stack, Shelbi Jones’ take on the internet’s parasocial attempt at imitation under the guise of appreciation. ‘Can we appreciate beauty without mistaking it for instruction? We can enjoy culture without trying to become it.’
I am, however, completely drawn to the singular image of Carolyn Bessette that Love Story paints - smart, strong-willed, and independent. While John is modest, self-assured, and fearful of having nothing to show for it, Carolyn is terrified by the reliance of her selfhood in the hands of someone else. ‘Everything is going so well right now, and that’s just because of who you are.’ Love Story intimately depicts the cost of loving an ambitious person and the cost of ambitious people loving each other, a theme that’s fittingly been on my mind since I rewatched Love & Basketball.
Love Story embraces a wistful nineties’ nostalgia in an homage to the cool downtown New York that Bessette’s world revolved around - her first date with Kennedy is on St Mark’s Ave, she meets his friends over dinner at The Odeon, and she takes the L train to her corporate gig at Calvin Klein. Jason McCormick, who serves as cinematographer for the series, beautifully captures the intimacy of falling in love in New York City. It’s also been a joy to witness a rising class of fresh-faced stars enter the industry. I was fortunate to see Sarah Pidgeon’s Tony-nominated performance in Stereophonic on Broadway (also making her debut at the Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion Met Gala), while Paul Anthony Kelly’s introduction to Hollywood as its next sophisticated leading man (Kelly cites Cary Grant and Dean Martin as influences) is a fairytale almost too good to be true. Pidgeon and Kelly’s charm and chemistry are off the charts as they effortlessly transform into their real-life counterparts, capturing the naivety of their young love with an adolescent ingenuity.
As with any biographical recount, Love Story can’t help but reel into the sensationalism of its subject matter, and as someone whose understanding of the Kennedys idealized reverence in both politics and popular culture before viewing the show was admittedly sparse (I blame this on not being American and born in the late nineties), I’m left to wonder how much of the series I can factually accept. While it’s bittersweet to watch the series knowing that Kennedy and Bessette’s love is doomed from the start, Love Story takes care and precision in its restoration of a culture-defining love story that enthralled the world, faithfully delivering on the promise of its premise. Hulu.
On Repeat 🎧 ✨
A few albums + singles I’ve been loving lately, for your hyperfixation consideration:
The Romantic, Bruno Mars
I Could Get Used To This, Jessie Ware
Nightingale Lane, Raye
She Knows Too Much, Thundercat, Mac Miller
Petal Rock Black, Willow
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