Yes, it's Full of Gibberish, Extreme Hosting and Self-Help Jargon. But I Do Adore Meghan's Holiday Special.
No matter the time of year, it's constantly fair game for commentary on the Meghan Markle's Netflix series, With Love, Meghan. Reviewers, expert and amateur alike, have hardly ever agreed so completely as when enthusiastically shredding the program's earlier episodes to pieces. The common opinion was that a more egregious regal scandal had never been witnessed than the notorious pretzel-bagging incident.
Presently, as a festive rebel, she makes a comeback once again with a "Holiday Celebration" (aka a yuletide episode). However on this occasion, things have shifted. The familiar ingredients audiences anticipate – vague self-help platitudes, intense hospitality – are still present, but framed of a yuletide episode, it all clicks into place. The puzzle has come perfectly; it's a ideal seasonal storm.
At this stage, Meghan has become the oddball family member at the typical holiday get-together – dispensing unasked-for guidance, and delivering the odd random outburst. ("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 oddly reassuring. And she seems pleased; she's not doing any harm.
She is aware her each tiny facial movement, syllable and look will be dissected and scrutinized, but nonetheless looks relaxed and serenely untroubled.
Maybe this is the only time in history where that old chestnut – "Don't listen, it's pure jealousy" – might be true. The reason is, you know what?, everything in Meghan's Holiday Celebration truly is charming. Granted, it's all awkwardly over-the-top, silliness and extravagant – but isn't that precisely what the holiday season is for? And the talk she's talking might be absurd, but the walk she's walking appears to be beautifully curated.
Anything she sets her mind to, she accomplishes with style. Her culinary efforts looks scrumptious, the holiday arrangement she makes is stunning, her presents are nearly too beautiful to tear into. Nothing is average or aesthetically displeasing – including the way she ties her apron is artful and chic. She doesn't toss a meal in the microwave, it "has a moment", and she creases gift paper like an craft master. She also seems to be genuinely relishing herself from start to finish. How could any cynical observer not be convinced, overcome by holiday spirit and left with a intense desire for crafted festive snaps or a vegetable display where greens is positioned in the form of a Christmas ring?
Meghan had a career in acting for a living, of course, but even so, after the degree of examination she has weathered since she met Prince Harry, a theoretical combination of acting royalty would have difficulty behaving this naturally. Her decision to change or even moderate her persona, despite it being so relentlessly, internationally ridiculed, is strangely reassuring. In our uncertain world, here is something we can count on: Meghan will stay true to form, whatever happens. We will consistently know what to expect with her.
If you're still not buying what she's selling, a point that will undoubtedly come as a relief: you aren't required to. The UK has abolished the draft anymore, and were it to return, it would be improbable to include watching With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, conversely, you choose to watch and are consumed by jealousy about her picture-perfect Christmas, you can take solace either. If you are a royal or a everyday person, few children fully understands the effort and hard work their mother expends in December. So you can take heart by picturing her children's faces when they open a handwritten message that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a handcrafted holiday countdown, rather than a chocolate.
