Midway through the NBC miniseries "A Woman Named Jackie," there's a scene of President and Mrs. Kennedy taking off in a helicopter from the White House grounds.
The copter rises majestically behind a large, white mansion that's supposed to be the White House - but obviously isn't. Like much of this miniseries, it just doesn't make any sense.Like much of this miniseries, it's an insult to the viewers' intelligence.
Loaded with historical inaccuracies and outright fiction, "Jackie" is television's latest attempt to remake history as soap opera. And in the process, it manages to take the fascinating and controversial life of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis and make it dull and disjointed.
(The miniseries airs Sunday, Monday and Tuesday at 8 p.m. on Ch. 2.)
Allegedly based on C. David Heymann's book of the same name, it looks more like the book was run through the wash cycle several times before it ended up on TV.
Heymann's version of Jackie's life is less than flattering, to put it mildly. He portrays her as a scheming, money-hungry woman who cared more about clothes and interior decorating than she did about her husbands.
Hayman goes so far as to state that when JFK was assassinated, Jackie's first thought was to escape the limousine to save herself.
But you don't see much of this in the miniseries. Jackie somehow manages to come off, well, perhaps not saintly, but as a wonderful and misunderstood woman.
Whatever the historical accuracy of Hayman's book, it is certainly a great deal more entertaining than this six-hour turkey.
(And if you've ever wondered exactly how long a six-hour TV miniseries really is, taking out the repetition of the opening and closing credits, the recaps at the beginning of Part 2 and Part 3 and the commercials, this one runs a total of 3 hours, 42 minutes and 38 seconds.)
As to the cast, Irish actress Roma Downey, a veteran of daytime's "One Life to Live" has the title role. She approximates Jackie's breathless little voice - at least some of the time - but otherwise she could have been Pam Ewing or Krystal Carrington from a nighttime soap.
Stephen Collins, who plays JFK, insists he spent hours listening to and viewing tapes of Kennedy - but still only manages to remember his Boston accent from time to time.
And Joss Ackland as Aristotle Onassis is little more than a cartoon character.
Of course, this latest production begs the question - do we really need another TV movie about the Kennedys? To name just a few, we've had "The Kennedys of Massachussetts," "Young Joe - The Forgotten Kennedy" and even "Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy," which starred Jaclyn Smith in the title role.
And most offensive is that tired old docudrama trick of presenting conjecture and outright fiction as fact. "Jackie" purports to recreate private moments to which there were no witnesses and no corroboration. Among these flights of fancy:
- Joe Kennedy Sr. discussing a $1 million payment to Jackie to keep her from divorcing JFK in the late '50s. (A popular but completely unsubstantiated rumor.)
- Jackie answering a telephone call from Marilyn Monroe and offering to divorce JFK if Monroe agreed to marry him and live in the White House.
- Ted Kennedy negotiating Jackie's marriage to Aristotle Onassis as a business deal.
Oh, the producers will tell you that they've faithfully recreated literally hundreds of Jackie's dresses. But it might have been nice if they'd paid just a little bit of attention to historical accuracy.
"A Woman Named Jackie" also bounces from scene to scene, year to year with such confusing rapidity that what remains is a shallow, confusing skimming of a fascinating life.
The miniseries is so confusing even the NBC publicity crew couldn't figure it out. The network's own P.R. department released a chronology of events that included this item: January 1975, Jackie and Onassis are divorced.
Jackie and Ari were never divorced - she was still married to him when he died later that year.
Toss in a tasteless (and historically inaccurate) recreation of JFK's assassination and "Jackie" becomes a burden on viewers.
If you want to be entertained by Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis' life, read Heymann's book.
If you want to be entertained by television programming, avoid the miniseries "A Woman Named Jackie."
FAQs
Jackie would grow up to be universally regarded as one of the most beautiful and stylish women in the world, but among those who knew both sisters, Lee was seen as being equally—if not even more—beautiful and stylish, with a keener eye for fashion, color, and design.
Was Jackie Oa a good mother? ›
Jackie Kennedy was well known for being a groundbreaking style icon – but the former First Lady was also a pioneer when it came to parenting. Jackie Style author Pamela Keogh describes Jackie as being an “extremely hands-on, very involved” mother.
What First Lady was named Jackie? ›
Jacqueline "Jackie" Lee Kennedy Onassis (née Bouvier /ˈbuːvieɪ/; July 28, 1929 – May 19, 1994) was an American writer, book editor, and socialite who served as the first lady of the United States from 1961 to 1963, as the wife of former president John F. Kennedy.
What did Jackie do as First Lady? ›
Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy played a historic role during the Kennedy administration—in restoring the White House, supporting the arts, promoting historic preservation, and serving as a traveling ambassador. In January 1960, Senator John F.
Was Lee jealous of Jackie? ›
Kennedy, was elected president, imparting Kennedy Onassis with the title of First Lady — Leamer says the conflict became worse than ever. “Lee was obsessively jealous of her,” Leamer notes. “She couldn't get over it, and that was her first conversation with Truman.
Why did Jackie leave Lee out of her will? ›
“ Although Jackie granted Lee's children, Anthony and Tina, each $500,000, Jackie, who died in May 1994, two years after being diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma, wrote in her will that she made no provisions for her younger sister, “For whom I have great affection because I have already done so during my lifetime.”
What were Jackie Kennedy's last words? ›
The look on her husband's face after he was shot would haunt Jackie for the rest of her life, revealed Christopher Anderson's These Few Precious Days: The Final Year of Jack with Jackie. He looked puzzled, as The Mirror describes it. The last words she ever got to say to him were, “I love you, Jack.
Did Carolyn Bessette ever meet Jackie Kennedy? ›
In the upcoming biography that details the former life of the late Calvin Klein publicist, Once Upon a Time: The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, author Elizabeth Beller wrote that Bessette-Kennedy never met her mother-in-law, Jackie Kennedy Onassis.
How many miscarriages did Jackie Kennedy have? ›
Jackie is known to have had one miscarriage early in her marriage. She also had one stillbirth, a girl she named Arabella, and two premature babies: John Jr., who survived to adulthood, and Patrick, born prematurely in August 1963 only to die two days later.
Is Jackie an old name? ›
The name's first recorded appearance can be traced back to medieval England, where it gained popularity as a diminutive form of the name Jacqueline, itself derived from Jacques, a French version of Jacob. In modern-day usage, the name Jackie continues to find favor among various English-speaking countries.
Although the bulk of his estate went to his daughter after his death in 1975, Jacqueline inherited a sum variously estimated at $20 million to $26 million. Returning to an old interest, Jacqueline worked as a consulting editor at Viking Press and later as an associate and senior editor at Doubleday.
Who was the first black first lady? ›
First Lady Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama is a lawyer, writer, and the wife of the 44th President, Barack Obama. She is the first African-American First Lady of the United States.
Why is Jackie so important? ›
On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson became the first African American to play Major League Baseball in the modern era.
How many babies did Jackie have? ›
JFK and Jackie welcomed four children during their marriage, although only Caroline and JFK Jr. ever left the hospital. In 1956 — one year before Caroline's arrival — Jackie gave birth to a stillborn daughter, Arabella.
How was Jackie a hero? ›
He was the first African American to win batting title, to win Most Valuable Player, and to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. He was also the MLB's first official Rookie of the Year, and the first baseball player, black or white, to be on a US postage stamp.
Why did Jackie and Lee not get along? ›
While the sisters spent significant time together, it was often rumored that their relationship was a complicated one. “Lee was so jealous of Jackie she could hardly speak,” Laurence Leamer, who wrote the book Capote's Women: A True Story of Love, Betrayal, and a Swan Song for an Era, told People.
Was Jackie Kennedy intelligent? ›
Katherine Jellison, professor of U.S. gender and women's history at Ohio University, tells TIME that because of the quiet demeanor Kennedy Onassis put forth as First Lady, most people don't know “she had an incredibly wicked wit.” “She was very intelligent, she had this great sense of humor,” Jellison says.
Who was older, Lee or Jackie? ›
The early years. Caroline Lee Bouvier was born on March 3, 1933, four years after Jacqueline. From a young age she was known by her middle name, which she shared with her sister. After graduating from boarding school, Lee attended the famous Sarah Lawrence College in New York.
Was Jackie Kennedy shy? ›
John was in the middle of campaigning for reelection to the Senate, and Jackie campaigned with him when she could. Although she was rather shy and retiring by nature, the crowds who came to his campaign events found her immensely attractive, and she won her husband's considerable gratitude and approval.
