Admittedly, it's Packed with Gibberish, Extreme Hosting and Self-Help Jargon. However, I Honestly Love Meghan's Christmas Special.
No concerned with the season, it's constantly open season for commentary on the Meghan Markle's Netflix series, With Love, Meghan. Critics, both professional and armchair, have rarely been so united as when gleefully ripping the lifestyle show's initial installments to pieces. The prevailing view held that a greater royal outrage had never been witnessed than the notorious pretzel-bagging incident.
Now, in the spirit of a holiday maverick, she is back for another round with a "Festive Special" (or a yuletide episode). Yet now, things have shifted. The usual elements viewers are accustomed to – psychobabble word salads, intense hospitality – are still present, but framed of a holiday show, suddenly it all makes sense. The puzzle has come together; it's a ideal seasonal storm.
Now, Meghan is like the oddball family member at Christmas celebrations everywhere – dispensing unasked-for guidance, and delivering 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 quite a personality, but her company is customary and unexpectedly soothing. And she looks pleased; she's inflicting any harm.
She knows her all subtle gestures, syllable and glance will be picked apart and criticised, but manages to seem carefree and remarkably at ease.
It could be this is the initial instance in history where that clichéd phrase – "Pay no mind, it's only envy" – might be true. The reason is, in all honesty, all aspects in Meghan's Holiday Celebration is charming. Granted, it's all cringily ultra-extra, nonsense and extravagant – but isn't that exactly what Christmas is about? And the advice she gives might be laughable, but the life she leads seems authentically beautifully curated.
Whatever she sets her mind to, she pulls off with style. Her cooking looks tasty, the wreath she creates is stunning, her gifts are practically too exquisite to open. Nothing is average or aesthetically displeasing – including the way she secures her apron is stylish and elegant. She doesn't bung a meal in the microwave, it "has a moment", and she wraps gift paper like an origami guru. She also seems to be completely savoring herself throughout. How could any skeptical viewer not be won over, overcome by festive joy and left with a powerful yearning for handmade crackers or a vegetable display where greens is positioned in the likeness of a Christmas ring?
Meghan was once an actress for a living, obviously, but nonetheless, after the level of attention she has weathered ever since she became involved with Prince Harry, a theoretical combination of acting royalty would struggle to act this authentically. Her unwillingness to modify or even soften her routine, even though it being so persistently, globally mocked, is oddly heartening. In our unpredictable world, here is something we can rely on: Meghan will stay true to form, whatever happens. We will consistently know where we are with her.
If you're remaining skeptical of what she's selling, a reminder that will undoubtedly come as a reassurance: you are not obligated to. We don't have the draft anymore, and if there were, it would be improbable to include viewing With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, on the other hand, you willingly check it out and are overcome with longing about her idyllic Christmas, you can take solace either. Be you a duchess or a everyday person, few children truly appreciates the dedication and labor their mum puts in in December. So you can take heart by picturing her children's faces when they reveal a beautifully scripted letter that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a homemade Advent calendar, rather than a sweet treat.