Indeed, it's Full of Nonsense, Over-the-Top Hospitality and Self-Help Jargon. Yet I Truly Adore Meghan's Christmas Special.
No concerned with the season, it's perpetually fair game for commentary on the Meghan Markle's Netflix series, With Love, Meghan. Critics, from seasoned journalists to online pundits, have hardly ever agreed so completely as when gleefully ripping the lifestyle show's initial installments to pieces. The general consensus seemed to be a greater royal outrage had never been witnessed than the now-infamous pretzel re-packaging incident.
Presently, like a merry renegade master, she makes a comeback once again with a "Christmas Special" (also known as a holiday episode). But this time, it's different. The standard components we've come to expect – meaningless jargon salads, extreme hosting – persist, but framed of a yuletide episode, it all clicks into place. The pieces have fallen perfectly; it's a perfect snow storm.
Now, Meghan is like the quirky relative at the typical holiday get-together – providing unasked-for guidance, and delivering the periodic peculiar declaration. ("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 looks pleased; she's causing the slightest hurt.
She knows her every micro expression, utterance and gaze will be dissected and judged, but nonetheless looks carefree and serenely untroubled.
Perhaps this is the first occasion in history where that well-worn saying – "Pay no mind, it's only envy" – may well be true. The reason is, let's face it, all aspects in Meghan's Holiday Celebration honestly feels delightful. Granted, it's all painfully excessive, foolishness and flamboyant – but isn't that exactly what Yuletide is for? And the talk she's talking might be absurd, but the example she sets seems authentically impeccably styled.
Whatever she sets her mind to, she accomplishes with panache. Her recipes looks delicious, the holiday arrangement she crafts is gorgeous, her gifts are nearly too beautiful to unwrap. Not a single thing is mediocre or ugly – even the way she ties her kitchen garment is stylish and elegant. She doesn't throw a dish in the microwave, it "goes for a spin", and she folds gift paper like an paper-folding expert. She also seems to be thoroughly enjoying herself throughout. How could any skeptical viewer not be charmed, overcome by festive joy and left with a deep longing for personalized Christmas crackers or a crudites platter where greens is positioned in the form of a Christmas ring?
Meghan had a career in acting for a living, obviously, but despite that, after the intensity of scrutiny she has weathered from the moment she started dating Prince Harry, even a hypothetical offspring of Meryl Streep and Judi Dench would struggle to act this genuinely. Her unwillingness to alter or even soften her shtick, regardless of it being so constantly, globally mocked, is weirdly comforting. In our unpredictable world, here is one thing 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 message, a reminder that will undoubtedly come as a comfort: you don't have to. We don't have the draft these days, and were it to return, it would be improbable to include watching With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, on the other hand, you decide to tune in and are consumed by envy about her flawless Christmas, you can take solace either. Whether you're a royal or a everyday person, no kid fully understands the effort and hard work their parent puts in in the holiday season. So you can find comfort by imagining her children's faces when they open a calligraphy note that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a handcrafted holiday countdown, instead of a chocolate.
