01.29.2026
03.05.26
It doesn't need to be acknowledged that the show 'Love Story', a tribute to JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, has raised awareness of just how iconic a woman Carolyn was, especially in her personal style.
However, I think it is important to call out that it isn't just Carolyn's style causing such a mass obsession, but the essence she carried in everything she did.
You can feel it through her character, and you can read about it when you research her. Carolyn's energy was magnetic, but in a very unique way. She was grounded, independent, soft, intelligent, private, and cohesive. She embodied this energy in everything she did... because she was truly authentic to herself.
She was utterly human, which, to our modern eyes, is such a rare sight. With the commonality of social media, extreme and identical beauty expectations, and the insincerely perfect lifestyles we stare at for hours each day... Carolyn inspires a longing for freedom from it all.
She was the furthest from performative; she did everything for herself, and even in her fame, she maintained control over who really had access to her.
She is proof of how powerful privacy is.
She lived a fabulous life, but she lived it only for herself, guided by her spirit and what felt right in each moment. She never lived the way she did to prove that she could.
As I've indulged in 'Love Story', it's caused me to compare our current world of celebrities and influencer that work so hard to earn the title of iconic. We've become so accustomed to this reality of social media, especially surrounding influencer culture, that we so easily forget that the person in the content (no matter what it is) planned for that exact moment. It makes me realize how performative it all is, taking away from almost every inspiring or "iconic" aspect about them.
This portrayal of Carolyn couldn't have come at a more perfect time. With the popularity of the term 'Cool Girl' going around on social media, it's easy to see that Carolyn defines "cool". The world didn't have access to her daily life at their fingertips; she was a rare artifact... that is what makes an icon, not self-promotion.
She is an inspiration to the modern woman. We should be taking more than just notes on her style, but notes on her interactions, her consistency, her longing for privacy, her inner determination, and her leadership.
As young women headed into the work force, if we want to set ourselves apart, we must use her as a teacher, not to be more like her, but to be more like ourselves in everything we do.
We shall not waste our lives away comparing ourselves to every video we consume. It is time to celebrate being distinguishable, control what we are consuming, and control our natural urge to post every good thing that happens in our lives... we have no one to prove it to but ourselves.
Privacy is todays power, and time is todays currency. Making our lives a display is the opposite of cool and is simply a barricade from true human experience.
Lucy Hart Hannah