Four plane crashes, two assassinations, two overdoses, one skiing accident and one drowning.

Whether these deaths occurred in a World War II detonation, on a presidential motorcade or on a private jet en route to Martha’s Vineyard, it is the last name they share that makes these tragedies worthy of a so-called curse.

The strange, recurring plane crashes are only scratching the surface of this disappearing family tree. Former President John F. Kennedy had two siblings die before his assassination, Joseph and Kathleen Kennedy, and then another, Robert F. Kennedy Sr., who was similarly assassinated on a campaign trail just several years later.

Contributing to the misfortune, in 1969, the youngest of these unlucky siblings, Edward “Ted” Kennedy, drove his car off a bridge, taking the life of his passenger. He failed to report her death until about 10 hours after the incident. To make matters worse, his passenger was not just anyone — Mary Jo Kopechne worked on Robert Kennedy’s campaign and had recently accepted a position as a political consultant. This went down in history as the Chappaquiddick incident, putting Ted Kennedy under intense scrutiny.

He later appeared on national television stating, “All kinds of scrambled thoughts … went through my mind … including such questions as … whether some awful curse did actually hang over all the Kennedys.”

His words leave us to ponder if Ted Kennedy was among the rest of America, believing in and fearing a potential curse, or if he simply found it as a scapegoat to cover his own wrongdoings.

Alibi or not, it was the first time a member of the Kennedy family publicly referenced the curse.

Wealth and power encompass this family. They are Ivy League alumni, veterans, senators and, as we know, the 35th president of the United States. These accomplishments put them at the top of social pyramids and in the spotlight. So when they die in unimaginably rare accidents, the press quickly constructs a compelling narrative — a cursed dynasty that captures public fascination, inviting Americans to buy into the myth.

With a family as intriguing as this one, we should expect Ryan Murphy to make a series of it. Murphy is known for creating boundary-pushing series that are grounded in real-life events and people but include fictionalized plot points.

Controversial is the only appropriate word to describe his work, seeing as the surviving members of the Kennedy family appear to have an issue with his latest release.

Murphy was the executive producer of “Love Story,” a new release that dramatizes John F. Kennedy Jr. and his wife Carolyn Bessette Kennedy’s iconic 90’s relationship. The series is certainly entertaining and, like clockwork, introduces a new audience — another generation drawn to these romantic tragedies and the enduring narrative of the Kennedy curse.

“Love Story“ paints John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette Kennedy as very cool, highly fashionable New Yorkers who experience a whirlwind romance. Then we are quickly reminded why this young couple is famous, and the truth is quite sad.

The Kennedys have always been a media spectacle. Constantly in the public eye, John F. Kennedy Jr. lived in the White House as a small child. He had to publicly mourn his father and later his mother, when Jackie Kennedy died of cancer. He received a great deal of backlash for failing the New York state bar exam twice, and then was met with skepticism when launching his political magazine, “George.”

Expectations for his career soared — the former president’s son was destined for greatness, and the media made it clear there was no room for failure.

Before Carolyn Bessette became Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, she was just as endearing. Known for her success within Calvin Klein, Bessette quickly rose through the ranks, making a lasting impact. If you have been on TikTok the past couple of weeks, you know that CBK’s style is all the rage. Women who have tuned in to “Love Story” are now trying to recreate her effortless, classy Calvin Klein-coded wardrobe.

Even years later, people speculate her intentions with JFK Jr., but she was well off without him, leading me to believe their relationship was somewhat genuine. Love brought them together and made Bessette a Kennedy. Heartbreakingly, their relationship ended far too soon, only three years into marriage, when their plane crashed.

In “Love Story,” we see Kennedy Jr. and Bessette’s characters undergo scrutiny by America’s media, which has turned out to be quite accurate in reality.

Could this be the curse at work? I argue that the media’s portrayal of the fall of the Kennedy dynasty reinforces the idea of the curse.

The trials and tribulations experienced by this family are genuine — there is no denying that. But the media is so saturated that a family of this status experiencing devastation is made to be supernatural.

In reality, these events are better explained by a combination of the family’s unique position, the risks they take and the immense pressure they face both from within their family and the public.

The first incident that framed the curse took place in 1944 when Joseph Kennedy’s plane exploded over Suffolk, England. Yet here in 2026, we remain on conspiracy theories, implying foul play and hidden motives. Does this family know something we don’t? Is there a reason they seem to be cut off so early in their careers?

Or are media outlets feeding us a story that they know will keep us distracted?

Let’s remember the Kennedys for what they are and not for the conspiracy that they’re anything more than a wealthy family in politics.

Isabell Norman is a freshman at UT this year studying journalism. She can be reached at [email protected].

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