The above vignette forms the opening scene from Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette, FX’s newest show that has quickly become a sensation. Speaking to the public’s enduring infatuation with the couple, it is now the platform’s most watched limited series to date, just a month after its release. The limited series tells the story of America’s reluctant “it couple” of the 1990s. Love Story curates the details of Kennedy Jr. and Bessette’s notoriously guarded relationship. Drawing from friends’ anecdotes and media footage we see Bessette fitting Kennedy Jr. for a suit in the Calvin Klein show room, to a proposal on a boat at Martha’s Vineyard, or a fight in Battery Park where Kennedy Jr. pulled off Bessette’s ring. This collage of moments is depicted in the show, with certain shots taking on the grainy quality and square framing of a ’90s era camera, making the restaging obvious of a moment captured by the press. Other production choices appeal to cultural memory, such as the costuming. The show’s crew went to pains to source archival pieces from Yohji Yamamoto and specific items like a green Valentino coat to evoke the image of Besette’s looks, as seen in paparazzi images.

With the series’ clever blending of fiction and reality, it’s easy to believe the iconic couple’s real relationship is finally being revealed. The chemistry between the two leads (Sarah Pidgeon and Paul Anthony Kelly), close-up shots, warm lighting, and the “behind closed doors” setting develops a captivating intimacy. After watching the first few episodes of the show, I had a feeling of hollowness I couldn’t place. Only to discover, I was mourning the couple’s death, over 25 years later.

The intense public investment which Love Story depends on and re-evokes was significant to Kennedy Jr. and Bessette’s relationship. The public’s adoration and collective grief for his father as well as a life in front of the cameras made John F. Kennedy Jr. America’s son, as well as its most coveted bachelor. Any woman Kennedy Jr. dated was held to high standards by the public. The same went for Bessette, who was put under intense scrutiny by the media. She had claimed the man who belonged to America, and these were the consequences.

Having never been in the public eye, Carolyn Bessette was different from all of the women Kennedy Jr. had previously dated. When the show begins, Kennedy Jr. is still dating actress Daryl Hannah. Hannah is adept at handling the paparazzi, as she poses for a few good pictures to get them to go away. This juxtaposes Bessette, who refuses to give any of herself away to the media. She’s the perfect enigma. Her style is the epitome of minimalism. There are only two clips of her voice that circulate online, each under two seconds long. Her attitude defied the public’s insistence on a stake in her relationship. The tabloids called her an “ice queen.”

As the couple’s relationship got more serious, so too did the American public’s investment. In Love Story, Bessette and Kennedy Jr. are swarmed and harassed by reporters who block the entrance to their apartment upon their return from their honeymoon. A few days later, the couple’s car is climbed on and surrounded by photographers, making them unable to drive away. More and more tabloids speculate about Bessette, commonly circulating rumours about a pregnancy based on her appearance. As a result of the intense media attention on the couple, the scope of Bessette’s world becomes smaller. She quit her job as publicist at Calvin Klein, and began to limit public appearances. Love Story imagines the press as anxiety-inducing for Bessette, with close-up shots of her fidgeting hands and slowed camera flashes across her worried face.

This is referenced in the show’s opening. Bessette is first seen being hounded by the media and nervously conforming her appearance to their expectations. Meanwhile, Kennedy Jr. is introduced on his way out of the offices of his magazine George. In contrast to Bessette, he confidently strides down the halls, undisturbed; followed only by his assistant. This immediately establishes the couple’s differing relationship with the media, showing it as particularly crippling for Bessette.

The aggression of the media in Love Story is particularly striking. In another scene, Bessette is pushed into a car door by a mob of reporters. If this is how Love Story sees the American media of the ’90s, then how does it see itself? This is a fine line for the show to walk. The vicious portrayal of the media invites recognition of Love Story itself as equally aggressive and intrusive. Not to mention, with questionable ethics. Despite providing narrative form and an empathetic lens, the show can be deemed as no less invasive than the ’90s tabloids it scrutinizes.

Love Story dramatizes the inner lives of a couple who were notoriously private, undoubtedly adding to the appeal. Its main character is Carolyn Bessette, a woman who never gave a public interview. However, the show often aligns the viewer with Bessette to develop pathos, focusing on her hesitation and nerves as she meets the Kennedy family and faces the paparazzi for the first time. Viewers are invited to identify with Bessette’s position as an outsider to the life of America’s royalty. “They feel like they know us,” says Jackie Kennedy in the show. Her and Kennedy Jr. sit in her apartment, reflecting on their relationship with the American public. Her statement is immediately uncanny, the show’s staging of this intimate conversation giving it a self-reflexive resonance.

A similar moment speaks to me. In the show’s seventh episode, “Obsession”, Bessette opens up to Kennedy Jr. about her struggles with media attention, admitting that it was much harder to handle than she had thought. Overcome with heaving sobs in Kennedy Jr.’s arms, Bessette relinquishes her strong exterior. It is one of the most heart-breaking and vulnerable moments of the show. As their apartment buzzer sounds, she cries out: “They won’t leave us alone.”

The post Another Doomed Love Story: The American Media & Carolyn Bessette appeared first on The McGill Daily.

As my stress levels faced a meteoric rise, so too did Heated Rivalry‘s popularity. Originally premiering online on Canadian streaming service Crave on November 28 2025, the show quickly won audiences’, as well as critics’, hearts, becoming the Crave’s most watched original series to date. It was then picked
up by HBO Max to be distributed to American and global audiences.

The sports romance follows two rival hockey players in the fictional Major Hockey League: Canadian Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Russian Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie). The pair first face off in their rookie season, kickstarting a secret love affair that spans a decade as their careers and the perceived animosity between them escalates.

The show’s success might be quickly dismissed and reduced by those who attribute it to the physical attractiveness of the stars and the many steamy sex scenes. However, what has truly captured viewers’ attention is its depiction of the reality of queer existence in men’s professional sports. The closeted players show tremendous vulnerability as they navigate prejudices that hinder their relationship; a moving portrait of the flaws of acceptance and inclusion in our society.

During their press tour, the show’s cast and crew expressed shock over the show’s reception. However, having been an avid TV show watcher since the pandemic (quiz me about matching the show to the
streaming service), I was less surprised. In recent years, the cultural landscape has seen a rise in content about same-sex couples, particularly male ones. Netflix’s Heartstopper and Young Royals series, both about young male couples, have large audiences, despite the latter’s original Swedish dialogue and setting being more foreign to North American viewers. The primary audience of these series tends to lean towards young females, something The New York Times recently affirmed in an article containing Heated Rivalry‘s statistical demographics.

Why would women want to read and watch love stories between two male characters? And why are these shows being marketed towards them? Heated Rivalry’s press tour initially targeted media outlets with a largely female audience, such as Teen Vogue. This is deeply political. Love stories made for women typically offer no reprieve from their societal subordination. In sex scenes, women are often dominated and objectified. When the time comes to be emotionally vulnerable, the woman is relegated to the role of caretaker, tending to her male love interest’s emotional wounds. For female viewers, this is exhausting.

Hence, it is not only in fantasy stories of princes and dragons that they look for an escape but in the dynamics of Heated Rivalry and other similar shows. When there is no woman in whom the woman might see herself, she can become a passive observer. If she wants to, she can choose to identify with a male, where she can momentarily occupy a position of authority and explore masculine aspects of her identity. “Her sexual fantasy needs not equate to her sexual reality,” Professor of Sociology and Sexuality Studies at San Francisco State University, Clare Sears tells The Guardian. In mainstream media depictions of same-sex male relationships, both men are vulnerable with each other, with the role of caretaker and investment in the relationship shifting more fluidly between a couple who occupy the same position in the patriarchal hierarchy. This resonates more deeply in the world of men’s professional sports; an environment that fosters and upholds toxic ideals of masculinity.

The show might particularly score (allow me this one bad hockey pun) for Montrealers and McGill students, being set and filmed in Montreal and other parts of Canada. Director Jacob Tierney and cast members such as François Arnaud, who plays hockey captain Scott Hunter, are both from Montreal and have been making promotional appearances in the city since the show’s release. One of the show’s romantic leads, Shane Hollander, plays for the fictional Montreal Metros team. It was only fitting that the Montreal Canadiens played the trailer for the series during a recent game on Pride Night, an act that received praise as it rebelled against the NHL’s controversial public stance on inclusion in the League.

This is not just an article urging you to watch Heated Rivalry or read Game Changers. If it were, I would conclude by praising its embracing of sexual diversity and the underlying love and longing between its characters. A second season has already been commissioned to be released in the next couple of years, if you find you enjoy it. However, more importantly, I hope to convey that it is ignorant to reduce Heated Rivalry to smut and dismiss any of its viewers as simply insatiable. The series holds personal value for viewers, providing a hopeful escape from harsh realities that women and queer individuals face. Moreover, the show’s popularity has sparked a public re-evaluation among fans of the National Hockey League’s values and self-presentation, something that continues to be incredibly necessary.

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Scented candle collection 

First, let’s set the mood. A nice soy candle, with countless scents to choose from. Mahogany Apple, Pumpkin Pecan Waffle, Fall Farmhouse, the list goes on. With a bounty of options to choose from, and all so different, one must stock up. We are told that the only way to experience the season is to indulge all the senses. Can it really only be fall with an everpresent aroma of spice? Yes. These candles hold the scents of fall, which is why they can’t be used throughout the year. And so, long-lasting items such as candles become disposable before they are even exhausted. The candle itself serves as the perfect representation of all the money that gets burned through on fall items. 

Gourds, gourds and more gourds

  Someone once said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and so it goes to show some love for fall’s hues in home decor! New burnt orange pillow covers, a flannel blanket and an array of heirloom pumpkins and gourds. These are the things that make a house a home. Big-box retailers such as Homesense and Target, stock their shelves as early as July with collaborations for variations on fall home decor. This pre-emptive marketing is what builds the desire for the “aesthetic of autumn” on the hottest days of summer. Decor that brings the outside indoors suggests that one must fully immerse themself in the season to participate in it. Display it while you can, because this decor won’t match nature for long! 

Sweaters, scarves, socks

With the changing weather, of course we are going to need a change in wardrobe. Colder weather calls for bigger sweaters (like the Rory Gilmore one!), another scarf for the year, more fuzzy socks, earthy-toned clothes, and a new pair of UGGs. When you buy your new fall uniform, you’ll wash and wear them but how long will you keep them for? The cost of your new clothes comes with a price greater than the price tag itself. Fast fashion is polluting our earth by overusing water and generating waste that goes into landfills. Additionally, fast fashion contains many unethical practices such as the mistreatment of workers and the usage of child labor. Still, the microtrends on our FYPs keep changing each time we scroll, flowing with the speed of fast fashion. We invest in something shown in one TikTok, and then a week later, we forget about that cute sweater we just bought and want the fluffy quarter-zip this other influencer has. 

Pumpkin Spice

Don’t forget the iconic fall flavor: pumpkin spice. On August 26, the Pumpkin Spice Latte (PSL) returned to Starbucks. Run, don’t walk to your nearest coffee shop, because you surely need pumpkin spice to spice up your day, whether it be a latte or chai. While you’re drinking your yummy drink, you can think about how much PSLs have driven consumerism in the last decade. With everyone drinking the iconic fall drink, Starbucks sells over 20 million PSLs a year. That is about 20 million coffee cups used and thrown into a landfill each year. Depending on the material of the cup, it will take months to years for a singular coffee cup to be reabsorbed into the earth again. The 20 million coffee cups only address Starbucks’ sales. Pumpkin spice is a popular flavor in most popular coffee shops like Second Cup and Tim Hortons. The waste is neverending when it comes to pumpkin spice.

Bottom Line

What do we really love about the fall? Is it the cold and unreliable weather, the school work that starts to pile up, the shorter days, and less natural light? Does the temporal change really set the tone for the new season, or the marketing campaigns that accompany it? We’ve fallen in love with a curated seasonal aesthetic,  one that has made us extreme consumers. 

Companies and social media influencers alike use a tactic called “FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) Marketing” that preys on anxieties of missing out to drive purchases. Creating a fall wishlist of “must haves”, predicting fall beauty trends, and using the well-renowned “Lalalala” sound from Gilmore Girls to rope you into buying pumpkin-scented products; these are all examples of how social media tricks us into overconsumption.

We can use McGill students as a demographic to view how the marketing techniques play into our vulnerabilities. With Montreal’s vibrant social scene and going out culture, it can be easy to feel like one is missing out. This general “FOMO” is exploited and extrapolated into a fear of missing out on a whole season if we don’t participate in its consumerist trends. Furthermore, most of us are far away from home. Hence, it is possible that we long for coziness and comfort as we prepare for midterms in the Montreal cold. In line with this, the media promotes buying more seasonal items as the way to achieve these feelings of safety and solace. 

Additionally, seasonal marketing exploits human anxieties about the passing of time. Through pre-emptive seasonal marketing campaigns, we’re led to long for something in the future. This longing only shortens the amount of time we feel engaged in each season. In the fall, companies exploit the nostalgia for simpler times, and organize their aesthetic around the 80s, 90s and early 2000s to appeal to a large millennial audience. This is implied as a way to alleviate uncertainty for the future that accompanies the season as the year comes to a close. Hence, media from the past becomes “fall coded” and Bon Iver and Nora Ephron films make their resurgence. Either way we are deterred from enjoying the current moment and primed to prepare anxiously for the next season through our consumption choices. 

Whether or not we wear UGGs or indulge in PSLs everyday, we will still be participating in the season just by living through it. A brand new apple cinnamon candle can smell just as sweet as last year’s. In Montreal, there are so many ways to enjoy the season, like taking a hike up Mont Royal right behind campus! This fall, let’s take advantage of the season without letting it take advantage of us. 

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