Yes, it's Packed with Absurdity, Over-the-Top Hospitality and Self-Help Jargon. However, I Honestly Adore Meghan's Christmas Special.
No concerned with the time of year, it's always fair game for commentary on the Duchess of Sussex's Netflix series, With Love, Meghan. Critics, from seasoned journalists to online pundits, have hardly ever agreed so completely as when eagerly tearing the program's first and second seasons to pieces. The prevailing view seemed to be a greater royal outrage had seldom occurred than the notorious pretzel-bagging incident.
Presently, in the spirit of a holiday maverick, she makes a comeback once again with a "Holiday Celebration" (or a holiday episode). Yet now, it's different. The usual elements we've come to expect – meaningless jargon salads, extreme hosting – remain, but within the context of a holiday show, suddenly it all makes sense. The pieces have fallen into place; it's a perfect snow storm.
Now, Meghan is like the oddball family member at the typical holiday get-together – dispensing unasked-for guidance, and contributing 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 aura is known and strangely comforting. And she appears happy enough; she's not doing a bit of damage.
She knows her all subtle gestures, utterance and glance will be picked apart and judged, but still appears relaxed and remarkably at ease.
Maybe this is the only time in history where that well-worn saying – "Don't listen, it's pure jealousy" – might be true. The reason is, let's face it, everything in Meghan's Holiday Celebration honestly feels charming. Admittedly, it's all painfully excessive, nonsense and extravagant – but is that not precisely what Yuletide is all about? And the talk she's talking might be laughable, but the example she sets genuinely looks shop-bought.
Whatever she attempts, she pulls off with style. Her recipes looks scrumptious, the festive decoration she makes is breathtaking, her gifts are almost too pretty to tear into. Nothing is ordinary or aesthetically displeasing – even the way she secures her apron is stylish and elegant. She doesn't bung a meal in the oven, it "takes a twirl", and she folds gift paper like an craft master. She also seems to be completely savoring herself from start to finish. How could any skeptical viewer not be charmed, overcome by festive joy and left with a powerful yearning for personalized Christmas crackers or a crudites platter where greens is positioned in the shape of a Christmas ring?
Meghan used to pretend for a living, of course, but nonetheless, after the degree of examination she has endured from the moment she met Prince Harry, a theoretical combination of two legendary actresses would find it hard to appear this naturally. Her unwillingness to modify or even tone down her routine, regardless of it being so persistently, globally mocked, is weirdly comforting. In our volatile world, here is something we can count on: Meghan will remain herself, come what may. We will forever know what to expect with her.
If you're still not buying her brand, a thought that will surely come as a relief: you aren't required to. The UK has abolished mandatory conscription in this country, and if there were, it would be improbable to include streaming With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, on the other hand, you willingly check it out and are consumed by jealousy about her flawless Christmas, all is not lost either. Whether you're a royal or a data administrator, no kid completely grasps the effort and hard work their mum puts in in December. So you can find comfort by envisioning Archie and Lilibet's faces when they reveal a handwritten message that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a homemade Advent calendar, in place of a candy.
