Jacqueline Kennedy, or “Faciality”: Media Icons and Political Iconography in Jackie (2016) by Pablo Larraín

Jackie (2016) is the seventh film by Chilean director Pablo Larraín. It is inspired by the events immediately following the assassination of U.S. President John Fitzgerald Kennedy and is entirely focused on the figure of the first lady: Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy, one of the most important media icons of the twentieth century, whose elegance and fascination turned her into the “other Marilyn”– a charismatic and influential character, not only aesthetically but also culturally and politically.

This article offers an analysis of Larraín’s film, by focusing on the female character of Jacqueline, played by Natalie Portman. What emerges is a reflection on the relationship between the production of the female body as a media icon, which characterizes capitalist society, and the forms of political iconography that find expression in state ceremonies.