Indeed, it's Packed with Absurdity, Over-the-Top Hospitality and Self-Help Jargon. However, I Honestly Cherish Meghan's Holiday Special.
No concerned with the time of year, it's constantly hunting season for criticism on the Meghan Markle's televisual offering, With Love, Meghan. Critics, from seasoned journalists to online pundits, have seldom found such common ground as when gleefully ripping the series' earlier episodes apart. The common opinion seemed to be a more egregious regal scandal had hardly ever taken place than the now-infamous pretzel re-packaging incident.
Now, like a merry renegade master, she makes a comeback with a new offering with a "Christmas Special" (aka a Christmas special). Yet now, things have shifted. The usual elements we've come to expect – psychobabble word salads, overzealous entertaining – remain, but within the context of a Christmas special, the purpose becomes clear. The pieces have fallen perfectly; it's a ideal seasonal storm.
Now, Meghan has become the quirky relative at the typical holiday get-together – offering unasked-for guidance, 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 unexpectedly soothing. And she seems content; she's causing the slightest hurt.
She is aware her all subtle gestures, utterance and glance will be analyzed and criticised, but nonetheless looks relaxed and remarkably at ease.
Maybe this is the first occasion in history where that well-worn saying – "Pay no mind, it's only envy" – might be true. The reason is, in all honesty, each element in Meghan's Holiday Celebration is lovely. Admittedly, it's all painfully excessive, nonsense and flamboyant – but doesn't that represent exactly what the holiday season is all about? And the talk she's talking might be absurd, but the example she sets genuinely looks beautifully curated.
Anything she turns her beautifully manicured, diamond-adorned hand to, she accomplishes with style. Her culinary efforts looks scrumptious, the festive decoration she crafts is breathtaking, her presents are nearly too beautiful to unwrap. Nothing is mediocre or ugly – even the way she secures her apron is artful and chic. She doesn't bung a meal in the microwave, it "goes for a spin", and she creases gift paper like an paper-folding expert. She also seems to be thoroughly enjoying herself from start to finish. How could any hate-watcher not be convinced, overcome by holiday spirit and left with a powerful yearning for handmade crackers or a vegetable display where greens is positioned in the form of a festive circle?
Meghan had a career in acting for a living, obviously, but despite that, after the level of examination she has faced ever since she met Prince Harry, the love child of two legendary actresses would struggle to act this authentically. Her unwillingness to alter or even tone down her routine, despite it being so relentlessly, widely parodied, is oddly heartening. In our unpredictable world, here is one thing we can rely on: Meghan will stay true to form, no matter what. We will consistently know our position with her.
If you're not yet convinced by her brand, a reminder that will surely come as a comfort: you are not obligated to. We don't have mandatory conscription these days, and if there were, it would be doubtful to include watching With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, on the other hand, you choose to watch and are overcome with longing about her idyllic Christmas, there is hope either. Be you a duchess or a office worker, no kid completely grasps the time and energy their mother puts in in the holiday season. So you can find comfort by imagining the young royals' faces when they unfold a beautifully scripted letter that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a homemade Advent calendar, rather than a chocolate.
