Captured in an Image

Captured in an Image

Beyond the black and white haze of time, there is a young boy in a tailored blue coat and plaid shorts saluting his father’s coffin as it is driven through the streets of the Washington Capitol. It was this image that restored the hearts of the countless civilians who had been distraught by their leader’s sudden death. The American public was able to find some sort of comfort through the little boy they dubbed, “John-John”, the son of the overwhelmingly adored President John F. Kennedy. This young boy would grow to be a man forever seen in the spotlight. The pictures of his youth remain the pieces of a national photo album. JFK Jr. was just another seedling of the flourishing family tree that remained tied down through its deep roots of political royalty and legacy. It is these particular roots that have given such a definitive form to the short branch of his life.

On November 25, 1960, JFK Jr. became the first infant born to a president elect. As most members of his family, he too, would play a role in the country’s Kennedy obsession. Along with a constant presence in the political world, the Kennedy saga was comprised of an infamous propensity for adulterous relationships, scandals and run-ins with the law, and a substantial amount of tragedy. All of which were seemingly front page news throughout the decades. They were a family of mystique tainted by myth, and America found them to be a great source of fascination. They were often referred to as a type of American Royalty and JFK Jr. may be seen as the hesitant crowned prince caught in the mass of media attention and insurmountable expectation.

The pressure of withholding a name and the constant hounding of media were the typical endeavors that had such a strong and unavoidable force from Kennedy’s infancy in the White House until the career decisions of his adulthood. Despite this, he had made

great efforts to mask his image and be similar to his peers. He would attempt to dress and behave like the rest of blue-collared society. Yet, his world of entitlement was often debased by a lack of normalcy and privacy. Trying to fit in became an everyday struggle.

“Sometimes the weight of expectations, of doing anything, can be a little bit heavy”, he told The Washington Post in 1995 (Powell 2). He was considered a supposed royalty when all he wanted was standard treatment.

Kennedy’s every move was watched and criticized by the public. With a family of such immense political involvement, Kennedy was constantly considered for office. Meeting the expectations of his label was a consistent task. A task which Kennedy wanted to approach in his own respectable way. Rather than run for political office, one way which Kennedy took action was through the publication of his magazine, George. His magazine did explore politics but with a celebrity-type feature. This was a bold stride in his own personal direction. Yet, like most other undertakings in his life, he could not escape the power of his name. In an interview discussing the selling of his magazine issue, Kennedy openly stated, “I can’t pretend my last name didn’t sell this magazine.” (Powell 3). The aspiration of a true self imposed success may have seemed unfeasible with the presence of the tag that followed him.

Like his late father, Kennedy had been hailed for his charm and good looks. In 1988, People Magazine awarded him the title of “Sexiest Man Alive.”