Yes, it's Full of Gibberish, Extreme Hosting and Self-Help Jargon. But I Do Adore Meghan's Christmas Special.
No concerned with the season, it's perpetually hunting season for scrutiny on the Meghan Markle's Netflix series, With Love, Meghan. Commentators, expert and amateur alike, have seldom found such common ground as when gleefully ripping the program's first and second seasons apart. The common opinion seemed to be a bigger monarchy-related faux pas had hardly ever taken place than the now-infamous pretzel re-packaging incident.
Currently, in the spirit of a holiday maverick, she is back for another round with a "Holiday Celebration" (or a Christmas special). Yet now, things have shifted. The usual elements audiences anticipate – psychobabble word salads, extreme hosting – are still present, but within the context of a holiday show, it all clicks into place. The puzzle has come perfectly; it's a ideal seasonal storm.
By this point, Meghan resembles the quirky relative at most festive family gatherings – offering unasked-for guidance, and supplying 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 an interesting figure, but her presence is familiar and strangely comforting. And she seems happy enough; she's inflicting the slightest hurt.
She is aware her all subtle gestures, utterance and gaze will be dissected and criticised, but manages to seem unburdened and too blessed to be stressed.
Perhaps this is the initial instance in history where that clichéd phrase – "Don't listen, it's pure jealousy" – could actually be true. Since, you know what?, all aspects in Meghan's Holiday Celebration truly is charming. Granted, it's all awkwardly over-the-top, silliness and flamboyant – but isn't that just what Christmas is about? And the advice she gives might be absurd, but the life she leads appears to be beautifully curated.
Whatever she attempts, she accomplishes with panache. Her cooking looks scrumptious, the holiday arrangement she makes is breathtaking, her gifts are almost too pretty to unwrap. Not a single thing is mediocre or visually unappealing – even the way she secures her kitchen garment is creative and fashionable. She doesn't bung a meal in the microwave, it "takes a twirl", and she wraps wrapping paper like an origami guru. She also seems to be thoroughly enjoying herself throughout. How could any skeptical viewer not be won over, overcome by holiday spirit and left with a powerful yearning for handmade crackers or a crudites platter where broccoli is positioned in the form of a festive circle?
Meghan was once an actress for a living, obviously, but despite that, after the intensity of attention she has faced from the moment she started dating Prince Harry, a theoretical combination of Meryl Streep and Judi Dench would find it hard to appear this naturally. Her unwillingness to modify or even moderate her shtick, even though it being so persistently, globally mocked, is oddly heartening. In our volatile world, here is one thing we can rely on: Meghan will stay true to form, no matter what. We will always know what to expect with her.
If you're still not buying what she's selling, a thought that will certainly come as a relief: you don't have to. We don't have national service these days, and should it be reinstated, it would be doubtful to include viewing With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, however, you willingly check it out and are gripped with envy about her picture-perfect Christmas, all is not lost either. If you are a royal or a data administrator, no kid completely grasps the time and energy their mum expends in the holiday season. So you can find comfort by picturing Archie and Lilibet's faces when they unfold a beautifully scripted letter that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a handcrafted holiday countdown, rather than a chocolate.
