I attended the local NoKings3 protest yesterday and it was very cold. I helped lead the singing, but took no photos. I feel like there were not as many people as there were at NoKings2 in October and the energy was not as good. There were very few young people. Honestly, I’m feeling like it’s a very dark time for the country (and by extension, the world), even though my family and I are in no physical danger. I hope that others found yesterday energizing. From the innocent children currently being held in ICE detention centers, to the working people who can’t afford healthcare AND food, to the families of the marines currently being sent to the Middle East, there is so much anxiety, suffering, and uncertainty right now.

In other news…(lame transition!)

I feel like I would be a remiss GenXer, if I did not comment on a certain TV show that demanded watching.

Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette, created by Ryan Murphy, premiered in February on FX and Hulu became a streaming hit immediately. The nine-episode series stars two unknowns (Sarah Pidgeon and Paul Anthony Kelly) as Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy and JFK, Jr.

If she was alive today, Carolyn would be my age exactly: 60.

I’m not going to re-tell the whole story, but I’ll just say that Ryan Murphy had to make up a LOT of stuff to create this series. All of the private moments and conversations depicted in the series are obviously unknown. But he linked in enough of the public moments and iconic photos I remember that it all seemed rather believable to me.

In my twenties, nobody was more “hunkified” by People and other magazines than JFK, Jr. And living in Massachusetts (Kennedy country), we’d have the occasional sighting or close encounter. My father (a pilot) once saw him come into the hangar after landing his plane at a small airport. My friend Katherine was at a wedding with him once. (Her sister-in-law was a classmate of his at Brown.)

So naturally, the woman he chose to marry at long last was of tremendous interest! And she was soooo cool and pretty—NYC hipness just emanated from her. Her sleek, shift wedding dress was so iconic that it’s still influencing bridal fashions to this day.

With Love Story, I came to understand the horribly sad side of her loss of anonymity. She was too famous to do literally anything. One scene I found very moving is when Carolyn learns that Princess Diana has died following a high speed car crash caused by paparazzi. The parallels to her own life were obvious and she goes into a deep depression. JFK, Jr had been living under a microscope his whole life, so he remains relatively unaffected, making Carolyn feel even more alone.

Now, who knows if that actually happened or not, but if I was upset for days about Princess Diana, it seems very likely that Carolyn would have been too.

Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg (President Kennedy’s only other child) who tragically just lost her own adult daughter to cancer, is capably played by Grace Gummer. Unfortunately, I didn’t think the actress looked enough like Caroline. (Grace Gummer is the daughter of Meryl Streep, so I kept thinking about how much she looks like her mother and didn’t totally buy her as Caroline.)

Being from Massachusetts, I know a lot about the Kennedy clan and all their many tragedies. I even read the memoir “What Remains” by Carole Radziwill—the widow of JFK Jr’s best friend and cousin Anthony Radziwill. My husband, on the other hand, can’t keep all the Carols straight and doesn’t really care about the Kennedys.

So there you have it. I think Love Story is more of a woman thing. The mysterious, chic, tragic Carolyn Bessette made real, human.

Do I feel guilty about all the living people who are portrayed without their permission? A little. The actress Daryl Hannah (JFK Jr’s last girlfriend before Carolyn) is pissed over her rather unflattering portrayal in the series. And of course, I wonder how Caroline feels about the portrayal. Did she even watch it? We will probably never know because Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg is a private, stoic, non-whiny person. A class act. The best kind of Kennedy.

Fortunately, Carolyn Bessette’s mother (who lost not one but TWO daughters in the tragic plane crash) is already dead, so this portrayal can’t hurt her further. But still, there’s one living Bessette sister still out there somewhere. You wonder how she feels.

Sadly, Carolyn Bessette gave herself over to the public domain the minute she married the American Prince, much like Princess Diana. Maybe our GenX “Princess Bride” fantasy should finally just be put to rest.