Indeed, it's Full of Gibberish, Over-the-Top Hospitality and Psychobabble. Yet I Truly Cherish Meghan's Festive Episode.
No considering the season, it's perpetually open season for scrutiny on the Duchess of Sussex's Netflix series, With Love, Meghan. Critics, expert and amateur alike, have seldom found such common ground as when enthusiastically shredding the lifestyle show's earlier episodes to shreds. The prevailing view was that a greater royal outrage had seldom occurred than the now-infamous pretzel re-packaging incident.
Currently, like a merry renegade master, she has returned for another round with a "Christmas Special" (or a Christmas special). Yet now, things have shifted. The familiar ingredients viewers are accustomed to – vague self-help platitudes, intense hospitality – persist, but framed of a yuletide episode, the purpose becomes clear. The elements have slid together; it's a flawless festive blizzard.
At this stage, Meghan resembles the quirky relative at most festive family gatherings – dispensing unasked-for guidance, and delivering 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 quite a personality, but her presence is familiar and strangely comforting. And she seems happy enough; she's causing the slightest hurt.
She understands her each tiny facial movement, utterance and look will be analyzed and scrutinized, but manages to seem unburdened and remarkably at ease.
Perhaps this is the only time in history where that clichéd phrase – "Pay no mind, it's only envy" – may well be true. Since, let's face it, all aspects in Meghan's Holiday Celebration honestly feels delightful. Admittedly, it's all cringily ultra-extra, foolishness and over the top – but is that not just what the holiday season is about? And the talk she's talking might be absurd, but the example she sets genuinely looks shop-bought.
Whatever she attempts, she accomplishes with flair. Her recipes looks delicious, the wreath she makes is breathtaking, her presents are nearly too beautiful to unwrap. Not a single thing is ordinary or ugly – even the way she fastens her kitchen garment is artful and chic. She doesn't toss a meal in the oven, it "goes for a spin", and she folds gift paper like an origami guru. She also seems to be thoroughly enjoying herself from start to finish. How could any cynical observer not be convinced, filled with holiday spirit and left with a intense desire for handmade crackers or a vegetable display where broccoli is positioned in the shape of a wreath?
Meghan had a career in acting for a living, naturally, but despite that, after the degree of examination she has weathered from the moment she became involved with Prince Harry, even a hypothetical offspring of acting royalty would find it hard to appear this authentically. Her decision to change or even tone down her persona, even though it being so constantly, internationally ridiculed, is weirdly comforting. In our volatile world, here is something we can depend on: Meghan will be like this, whatever happens. We will forever know what to expect with her.
If you're not yet convinced by her message, a reminder that will surely come as a relief: you are not obligated to. There isn't the draft in this country, and if there were, it would be unlikely to include watching With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, however, you decide to tune in and are consumed by jealousy about her picture-perfect Christmas, you can take solace either. If you are a duchess or a office worker, hardly any child fully understands the dedication and labor their mum expends in the holiday season. So you can find comfort by envisioning the young royals' faces when they unfold a beautifully scripted letter that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a handcrafted holiday countdown, instead of a sweet treat.
