Bad luck happens. But when it happens to the same family for eighty years, we start looking for a reason. We call it a curse of fate. It’s a heavy phrase. It suggests that no matter how much money you have, how many teeth you show in a campaign poster, or how much power you grab, the universe has already decided your ending.
Honestly, humans are wired to find patterns in chaos. If a glass falls off a table, it’s an accident. If every glass in the house breaks over a decade, we think the house is haunted. When people talk about a curse of fate, they are usually talking about the Kennedys. It is the gold standard for "tragic destiny." From the 1944 death of Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. in a wartime explosion to the 1999 plane crash of JFK Jr., the timeline feels less like a series of accidents and more like a targeted campaign by the Fates.
But is it actually a curse? Or is it just the statistical probability of a large, high-stakes family living life at 100 miles per hour?
The Anatomy of the So-Called Curse of Fate
To understand why this idea persists, you have to look at the sheer volume of tragedy. It isn’t just the big ones. Everyone knows Dallas in 1963. Everyone knows the Ambassador Hotel in 1968. But the "curse" narrative feeds on the smaller, equally brutal hits. Take Kathleen "Kick" Kennedy. She died in a plane crash in France in 1948. She was only 28. Then you have the 1973 leg amputation of Edward Kennedy Jr. due to bone cancer. Then David Kennedy’s overdose in 1984.
It never stops.
Experts in psychology, like those who study "apophenia"—the human tendency to perceive meaningful connections between unrelated things—suggest that we use the term curse of fate to make sense of the senseless. It’s comforting in a weird way. If there is a curse, there is a design. If it’s just random, that’s much scarier. It means it could happen to anyone.
Risk-Taking as a Genetic Trait
There is a legitimate scientific argument to be made here that has nothing to do with spirits or ancient hexes. It’s about the DRD4-7R gene. Often called the "wanderlust gene," it’s linked to novelty-seeking, risk-taking, and impulsivity.
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The Kennedys were bred for competition. Joe Sr. famously told his kids that "second place is last place." When you raise a dozen high-energy, wealthy, deeply competitive individuals and tell them to conquer the world, they are going to take risks. They fly their own planes. They ski fast. They play touch football on the lawn until someone gets hurt.
- Risk 1: Flying a private plane in hazy conditions without a flight instructor (JFK Jr.).
- Risk 2: Volunteering for a high-risk secret bombing mission in WWII (Joe Jr.).
- Risk 3: Driving a car off a bridge in Chappaquiddick (Ted Kennedy).
When you stack these behaviors over four generations, "fate" starts looking a lot like a lifestyle choice.
When Misfortune Becomes a Brand
The media plays a massive role in maintaining the curse of fate mythology. It sells. We love the "fallen royalty" trope. When Saoirse Kennedy Hill died of an overdose in 2019 at the family’s Hyannis Port compound, the headlines didn't just report a tragedy. They screamed about the "Kennedy Curse" again.
It’s a feedback loop. The family grows up under the weight of this narrative. Imagine being a twenty-year-old Kennedy and knowing the world is essentially waiting for you to have a tragic accident. That kind of pressure does things to a person’s psyche. It can lead to self-fulfilling prophecies. You might take more risks because you feel "doomed" anyway, or you might spiral into substance abuse to cope with the anxiety of the legacy.
Edward Kennedy actually addressed this directly in 1969. During a televised speech after the Chappaquiddick incident, he wondered aloud if some "awful curse" truly did hang over the family. That was a pivotal moment. When the victim starts believing in the curse, the myth becomes reality.
The Role of Probability and Size
Let’s get cold and analytical for a second. The Kennedy family is huge. Joseph and Rose had nine children. Those nine had dozens of grandchildren. By the time you get to the fourth generation, you are talking about hundreds of people.
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Statistically, in a group of 100 people over 80 years, you are going to see:
- Multiple cancer diagnoses.
- Several accidental deaths.
- Issues with addiction.
- Suicides.
The "curse" is amplified because we ignore the Kennedys who lived long, boring, successful lives. We don't write articles about Jean Kennedy Smith, who lived to be 92 and served as an ambassador. She doesn't fit the curse of fate narrative, so she gets relegated to the footnotes. We cherry-pick the trauma to build the story.
Cultural Impacts of the "Cursed" Archetype
We see this outside of the Kennedys, too. The Getty family. The Guinness family. Even the Lee family (Bruce and Brandon). In every instance, we see a combination of immense talent, high-risk environments, and sudden, shocking death.
- The Getty Fortune: J. Paul Getty was the richest man in the world, but his family was a wreck. His grandson was kidnapped and had his ear cut off. His son died of a drug overdose. Another son died of cancer at age 12.
- The Lee Legacy: Bruce Lee dies of a cerebral edema at 32. His son Brandon dies on a film set due to a prop gun mishap.
These aren't just stories; they are modern myths. They serve as a warning to the rest of us: wealth and fame won't save you. In fact, they might make you a target. This is why the curse of fate is such a sticky concept in our culture. It levels the playing field. It makes the average person feel a bit better about their own life. "I might not have a billion dollars," we think, "but at least my family isn't cursed."
How to Break a Cycle of "Fate"
If you feel like you're stuck in your own personal version of a curse—maybe your family has a history of bad divorces, failed businesses, or health issues—the answer isn't a psychic or a lucky charm. It’s awareness.
Break the pattern by identifying the behavioral triggers.
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If the "fate" is heart disease, the curse is actually the family diet. If the "fate" is poverty, the curse might be a lack of financial literacy passed down through generations. To flip the script, you have to look at the data.
- Step 1: Audit the History. Write down the "tragic" events. Look for the common thread. Is it luck, or is it a specific habit (like alcohol use or reckless spending)?
- Step 2: Change the Environment. The Kennedys kept returning to the same high-pressure social circles. Sometimes, you have to leave the "compound" to escape the expectations.
- Step 3: Redefine the Narrative. Stop calling it a curse. Start calling it a challenge. Language matters. "I am destined to fail" is a very different mindset than "My family has struggled with this, but I am doing something different."
We love the drama of a curse. It’s cinematic. It’s Shakespearean. But at the end of the day, fate is often just the result of the thousand small choices we make every morning. JFK Jr. decided to fly into a haze without being instrument-rated. That wasn't a ghost pulling the yoke; it was a man making a mistake.
The most actionable thing you can do is recognize where your "luck" ends and your agency begins. Don't let a story written by your ancestors dictate the ending of your own book. You aren't a character in a Greek tragedy unless you choose to play the part.
Actionable Takeaways for Reframing "Fate"
Stop looking at generational patterns as "inevitable." Start looking at them as "learned behaviors." If you want to avoid a family "curse," you need to actively disrupt the status quo.
- Seek objective outsiders: Family members are too close to the drama. Use a therapist or a neutral mentor to point out the patterns you're too blind to see.
- Limit the risk: If your family has a history of addiction, your "fate" is sealed only if you take the first drink. Total avoidance is a valid strategy for breaking a curse.
- Document the "Boring" Successes: Every time a family member succeeds or lives a quiet, healthy life, celebrate it. It weakens the myth of the curse.
The curse of fate only has power as long as we believe the outcome is out of our hands. Once you realize you’re the one holding the pen, the "curse" usually starts to fade into the background.