Indeed, it's Brimming with Absurdity, Extreme Hosting and Self-Help Jargon. Yet I Truly Love Meghan's Holiday Special.
No matter the season, it's constantly hunting season for criticism on the Duchess of Sussex's Netflix series, With Love, Meghan. Commentators, expert and amateur alike, have seldom found such common ground as when gleefully ripping the lifestyle show's first and second seasons to pieces. The prevailing view was that a more egregious regal scandal had hardly ever taken place than the much-discussed pretzel-bagging incident.
Now, like a merry renegade master, she is back with a new offering with a "Christmas Special" (aka a yuletide episode). However on this occasion, the dynamic has changed. The familiar ingredients we've come to expect – meaningless jargon salads, intense hospitality – are still present, but framed of a Christmas special, suddenly it all makes sense. The puzzle has come together; it's a flawless festive blizzard.
By this point, Meghan resembles the quirky relative at Christmas celebrations everywhere – dispensing random tips, and supplying 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 an interesting figure, but her aura is known and oddly reassuring. And she appears pleased; she's inflicting the slightest hurt.
She knows her all subtle gestures, utterance and glance will be analyzed and judged, but nonetheless looks relaxed and serenely untroubled.
It could be this is the initial instance in history where that old chestnut – "Pay no mind, it's only envy" – may well be true. Because, in all honesty, each element in Meghan's Holiday Celebration is charming. Yes, it's all awkwardly over-the-top, silliness and over the top – but doesn't that represent precisely what Christmas is all about? And the words she speaks might be absurd, but the life she leads seems authentically beautifully curated.
Whatever she attempts, she accomplishes with flair. Her recipes looks tasty, the wreath she crafts is stunning, her gifts are practically too exquisite to open. Nothing is mediocre or visually unappealing – even the way she secures her kitchen garment is creative and fashionable. She doesn't toss a meal in the microwave, it "takes a twirl", and she folds wrapping paper like an origami guru. She also seems to be genuinely relishing herself the entire time. How could any skeptical viewer not be convinced, filled with seasonal cheer and left with a powerful yearning for crafted festive snaps or a vegetable display where broccoli is arranged in the shape of a festive circle?
Meghan was once an actress for a living, obviously, but even so, after the level of scrutiny she has weathered ever since she started dating Prince Harry, the love child of two legendary actresses would find it hard to appear this naturally. Her refusal to change or even moderate her shtick, regardless of it being so constantly, widely parodied, is oddly heartening. In our uncertain world, here is something we can count on: Meghan will stay true to form, no matter what. We will consistently know where we are with her.
If you're not yet convinced by her message, a reminder that will certainly come as a reassurance: you don't have to. There isn't mandatory conscription anymore, and if there were, it would be doubtful to include streaming With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, on the other hand, you decide to tune in and are overcome with envy about her idyllic Christmas, you can take solace either. If you are a royal or a data administrator, few children truly appreciates the time and energy their mother expends in the holiday season. So you can find comfort by envisioning the young royals' faces when they open a beautifully scripted letter that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a homemade Advent calendar, rather than a chocolate.
