Indeed, it's Full of Nonsense, Extreme Hosting and Self-Help Jargon. Yet I Truly Love Meghan's Holiday Special.
No concerned with the season, it's constantly open season for criticism on the Duchess of Sussex's TV show, With Love, Meghan. Commentators, expert and amateur alike, have rarely been so united as when eagerly tearing the series' earlier episodes to pieces. The prevailing view held that a greater royal outrage had seldom occurred than the now-infamous pretzel-bagging incident.
Currently, like a merry renegade master, she has returned for another round with a "Holiday Celebration" (aka a holiday episode). However on this occasion, it's different. The familiar ingredients audiences anticipate – vague self-help platitudes, intense hospitality – persist, but within the context of a yuletide episode, suddenly it all makes sense. The elements have slid together; it's a ideal seasonal storm.
At this stage, Meghan has become the eccentric aunt at Christmas celebrations everywhere – offering unasked-for guidance, and supplying 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 quite a personality, but her presence is familiar and strangely comforting. And she seems pleased; she's not doing the slightest hurt.
She is aware her every micro expression, utterance and glance will be analyzed and judged, but still appears unburdened and too blessed to be stressed.
Maybe this is the initial instance in history where that well-worn saying – "Pay no mind, it's only envy" – might be true. Since, in all honesty, everything in Meghan's Holiday Celebration is delightful. Yes, it's all awkwardly over-the-top, foolishness and flamboyant – but doesn't that represent precisely what Christmas is about? And the talk she's talking might be ridiculous, but the walk she's walking genuinely looks shop-bought.
Anything she sets her mind to, she executes with style. Her recipes looks scrumptious, the holiday arrangement she crafts is stunning, her gifts are practically too exquisite to unwrap. Not a single thing is mediocre or visually unappealing – including the way she fastens her kitchen garment is stylish and elegant. She doesn't throw a meal in the microwave, it "takes a twirl", and she creases wrapping paper like an origami guru. She also seems to be completely savoring herself the entire time. How could any cynical observer not be won over, overcome by seasonal cheer and left with a deep longing for handmade crackers or a vegetable display where greens is arranged in the form of a festive circle?
Meghan was once an actress for a living, obviously, but despite that, after the intensity of examination she has endured since she met Prince Harry, the love child of two legendary actresses would find it hard to appear this naturally. Her refusal to modify or even soften her persona, regardless of it being so constantly, globally mocked, is weirdly comforting. In our unpredictable world, here is one thing we can depend on: Meghan will be like this, come what may. We will forever know what to expect with her.
If you're remaining skeptical of what she's selling, a reminder that will undoubtedly come as a reassurance: you aren't required to. There isn't national service anymore, and if there were, it would be improbable to include watching With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, however, you decide to tune in and are overcome with jealousy about her flawless Christmas, all is not lost either. If you are a royal or a everyday person, no kid completely grasps the dedication and labor their parent expends in December. So you can take heart by picturing Archie and Lilibet's faces when they reveal a handwritten message that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a handcrafted holiday countdown, instead of a sweet treat.
