Indeed, it's Brimming with Gibberish, Extreme Hosting and Psychobabble. Yet I Truly Cherish Meghan's Festive Episode.
No matter the season, it's always fair game for criticism on the Meghan Markle's Netflix series, With Love, Meghan. Commentators, from seasoned journalists to online pundits, have seldom found such common ground as when eagerly tearing the lifestyle show's first and second seasons apart. The prevailing view held that a bigger monarchy-related faux pas had seldom occurred than the much-discussed pretzel-bagging incident.
Currently, like a merry renegade master, she has returned once again with a "Holiday Celebration" (or a Christmas special). But this time, things have shifted. The standard components viewers are accustomed to – vague self-help platitudes, overzealous entertaining – remain, but set of a holiday show, the purpose becomes clear. The pieces have fallen into place; it's a ideal seasonal storm.
By this point, Meghan resembles the eccentric aunt at the typical holiday get-together – providing random tips, and contributing the periodic peculiar declaration. ("I love spinach!" … "A tradition has to have a beginning." … "A tree is part of my memory and love of the holiday season.") She's a bit of a character, but her presence is familiar and oddly reassuring. And she looks content; she's not doing a bit of damage.
She knows her each tiny facial movement, word and look will be dissected and judged, but still appears unburdened and serenely untroubled.
Perhaps this is the only time in history where that clichéd phrase – "Don't listen, it's pure jealousy" – may well be true. Because, in all honesty, all aspects in Meghan's Holiday Celebration is delightful. Yes, it's all painfully excessive, nonsense and extravagant – but doesn't that represent precisely what Christmas is about? And the talk she's talking might be absurd, but the example she sets appears to be beautifully curated.
Anything she sets her mind to, she accomplishes with flair. Her culinary efforts looks tasty, the wreath she creates is gorgeous, her presents are almost too pretty to open. Nothing is mediocre or visually unappealing – including the way she ties her kitchen garment is creative and fashionable. She doesn't toss a meal in the oven, it "goes for a spin", and she folds wrapping paper like an craft master. She also seems to be genuinely relishing herself the entire time. How could any hate-watcher not be won over, overcome by holiday spirit and left with a powerful yearning for handmade crackers or a vegetable display where greens is positioned in the likeness of a festive circle?
Meghan had a career in acting for a living, naturally, but despite that, after the intensity of scrutiny she has faced since she became involved with Prince Harry, the love child of acting royalty would find it hard to appear this naturally. Her decision to modify or even soften her persona, despite it being so relentlessly, internationally ridiculed, is strangely reassuring. In our volatile world, here is one thing we can count on: Meghan will remain herself, no matter what. We will consistently know what to expect with her.
If you're remaining skeptical of her message, a reminder that will surely come as a relief: you aren't required to. We don't have the draft these days, and were it to return, it would be unlikely to include watching With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, conversely, you decide to tune in and are gripped with envy about her picture-perfect Christmas, there is hope either. Be you a royal or a everyday person, hardly any child completely grasps the dedication and labor their mother expends in December. So you can find comfort by imagining the young royals' faces when they reveal a beautifully scripted letter that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a DIY festive calendar, instead of a candy.
