Indeed, it's Full of Nonsense, Extreme Hosting and Self-Help Jargon. However, I Honestly Cherish Meghan's Holiday Special.
No matter the season, it's perpetually open season for commentary on the Duchess of Sussex's Netflix series, With Love, Meghan. Reviewers, both professional and armchair, have rarely been so united as when enthusiastically shredding the program's earlier episodes apart. The prevailing view held that a greater royal outrage had never been witnessed than the much-discussed snack re-labeling incident.
Presently, like a merry renegade master, she has returned for another round with a "Holiday Celebration" (or a yuletide episode). But this time, things have shifted. The familiar ingredients audiences anticipate – meaningless jargon salads, intense hospitality – remain, but within the context of a holiday show, the purpose becomes clear. The elements have slid together; it's a ideal seasonal storm.
Now, Meghan is like the quirky relative at Christmas celebrations everywhere – providing unsolicited, unnecessary advice, 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 quite a personality, but her company is customary and oddly reassuring. And she seems content; she's inflicting the slightest hurt.
She knows her each tiny facial movement, syllable and glance will be analyzed and judged, but manages to seem relaxed and remarkably at ease.
Maybe this is the only time in history where that well-worn saying – "Ignore them, they're just jealous" – might be true. The reason is, let's face it, all aspects in Meghan's Holiday Celebration truly is delightful. Admittedly, it's all awkwardly over-the-top, foolishness and flamboyant – but is that not precisely what Yuletide is all about? And the advice she gives might be laughable, but the example she sets seems authentically impeccably styled.
Anything she sets her mind to, she pulls off with style. Her culinary efforts looks scrumptious, the wreath she creates is breathtaking, her presents are almost too pretty to tear into. Not a single thing is average or visually unappealing – including the way she ties her kitchen garment is creative and fashionable. She doesn't bung a dish in the oven, it "goes for a spin", and she wraps gift paper like an origami guru. She also seems to be genuinely relishing herself from start to finish. How could any skeptical viewer not be convinced, overcome by festive joy and left with a intense desire for crafted festive snaps or a vegetable display where greens is organized in the form of a Christmas ring?
Meghan had a career in acting for a living, naturally, but even so, after the degree of attention she has faced from the moment she became involved with Prince Harry, the love child of two legendary actresses would struggle to act this naturally. Her unwillingness to change or even tone down her routine, despite it being so relentlessly, globally mocked, is strangely reassuring. In our uncertain world, here is one thing we can rely on: Meghan will remain herself, no matter what. We will always know our position with her.
If you're still not buying what she's selling, a reminder that will certainly come as a relief: you are not obligated to. There isn't national service these days, and should it be reinstated, it would be unlikely to include viewing With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, conversely, you decide to tune in and are overcome with envy about her idyllic Christmas, you can take solace either. If you are a duchess or a everyday person, few children completely grasps the dedication and labor their mother expends in the holiday season. So you can take heart by imagining her children's faces when they open a beautifully scripted letter that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a handcrafted holiday countdown, rather than a sweet treat.
