Yes, it's Full of Gibberish, Extreme Hosting and Psychobabble. However, I Honestly Cherish Meghan's Christmas Special.
No considering the season, it's perpetually open season for scrutiny on the Duchess of Sussex's Netflix series, With Love, Meghan. Critics, expert and amateur alike, have rarely been so united as when enthusiastically shredding the series' initial installments apart. The common opinion held that a bigger monarchy-related faux pas had seldom occurred than the notorious snack re-labeling incident.
Currently, like a merry renegade master, she is back once again with a "Christmas Special" (or a yuletide episode). Yet now, it's different. The standard components viewers are accustomed to – meaningless jargon salads, overzealous entertaining – are still present, but within the context of a Christmas special, it all clicks into place. The pieces have fallen into place; it's a ideal seasonal storm.
By this point, Meghan has become the quirky relative at most festive family gatherings – dispensing random tips, and contributing the occasional strange exclamation. ("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 seems happy enough; she's not doing the slightest hurt.
She is aware her each tiny facial movement, word and look will be picked apart and judged, but nonetheless looks relaxed and serenely untroubled.
Perhaps this is the first occasion in history where that clichéd phrase – "Pay no mind, it's only envy" – might be true. Because, in all honesty, all aspects in Meghan's Holiday Celebration honestly feels delightful. Yes, it's all awkwardly over-the-top, foolishness and over the top – but doesn't that represent precisely what the holiday season is all about? And the advice she gives might be ridiculous, but the walk she's walking genuinely looks shop-bought.
Anything she sets her mind to, she executes with flair. Her cooking looks delicious, the festive decoration she creates is stunning, her gifts are almost too pretty to tear into. Nothing is mediocre or ugly – including the way she ties her kitchen garment is stylish and elegant. She doesn't throw a meal in the microwave, it "goes for a spin", and she wraps gift paper like an paper-folding expert. She also seems to be completely savoring herself the entire time. How could any skeptical viewer not be charmed, overcome by festive joy and left with a powerful yearning for crafted festive snaps or a crudites platter where broccoli is arranged in the shape of a Christmas ring?
Meghan used to pretend for a living, of course, but even so, after the degree of scrutiny she has endured ever since she met Prince Harry, the love child of two legendary actresses would find it hard to appear this authentically. Her unwillingness to change or even soften her persona, regardless of it being so constantly, internationally ridiculed, is strangely reassuring. In our unpredictable world, here is one thing we can rely on: Meghan will be like this, whatever happens. We will forever know what to expect with her.
If you're still not buying her brand, a reminder that will surely come as a comfort: you don't have to. There isn't mandatory conscription anymore, and if there were, it would be improbable to include viewing With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, on the other hand, you choose to watch and are consumed by envy about her idyllic Christmas, all is not lost either. If you are a duchess or a everyday person, no kid completely grasps the dedication and labor their mum puts in in the holiday season. So you can find comfort by envisioning the young royals' faces when they unfold a beautifully scripted letter that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a DIY festive calendar, instead of a candy.
