Indeed, it's Full of Gibberish, Over-the-Top Hospitality and Psychobabble. Yet I Truly Adore Meghan's Christmas Special.
No concerned with the season, it's perpetually fair game for criticism on the Meghan Markle's Netflix series, With Love, Meghan. Critics, expert and amateur alike, have rarely been so united as when eagerly tearing the program's initial installments apart. The common opinion seemed to be a bigger monarchy-related faux pas had never been witnessed than the notorious snack re-labeling incident.
Presently, like a merry renegade master, she has returned with a new offering with a "Christmas Special" (or a holiday episode). Yet now, things have shifted. The usual elements audiences anticipate – meaningless jargon salads, intense hospitality – remain, but set of a yuletide episode, suddenly it all makes sense. The puzzle has come into place; it's a ideal seasonal storm.
Now, Meghan is like the oddball family member at the typical holiday get-together – dispensing random tips, and delivering 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 a bit of a character, but her presence is familiar and oddly reassuring. And she looks pleased; she's inflicting any harm.
She knows her each tiny facial movement, word and glance will be dissected and scrutinized, but nonetheless looks unburdened and serenely untroubled.
It could be this is the initial instance in history where that old chestnut – "Pay no mind, it's only envy" – might be true. The reason is, let's face it, everything in Meghan's Holiday Celebration honestly feels delightful. Yes, it's all painfully excessive, nonsense and flamboyant – but isn't that exactly what the holiday season is for? And the talk she's talking might be laughable, but the example she sets appears to be shop-bought.
Anything she attempts, she accomplishes with style. Her cooking looks tasty, the festive decoration she creates is gorgeous, her gifts are nearly too beautiful to tear into. Not a single thing is mediocre or visually unappealing – even the way she secures her apron is creative and fashionable. She doesn't throw a dish in the microwave, it "takes a twirl", and she wraps wrapping paper like an craft master. She also seems to be completely savoring herself from start to finish. How could any cynical observer not be convinced, overcome by festive joy and left with a deep longing for handmade crackers or a vegetable display where broccoli is organized in the form of a festive circle?
Meghan used to pretend for a living, obviously, but even so, after the level of examination she has weathered from the moment she became involved with Prince Harry, a theoretical combination of two legendary actresses would have difficulty behaving this authentically. Her refusal to change or even moderate her routine, even though it being so persistently, widely parodied, is oddly heartening. In our uncertain world, here is one thing we can count on: Meghan will remain herself, come what may. We will forever know our position with her.
If you're still not buying her message, a point that will certainly come as a relief: you aren't required to. There isn't the draft these days, and were it to return, it would be improbable to include streaming With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, conversely, you willingly check it out and are consumed by envy about her picture-perfect Christmas, there is hope either. If you are a duchess or a data administrator, no kid truly appreciates the time and energy their parent expends in December. So you can console yourself by envisioning Archie and Lilibet's faces when they unfold a calligraphy note that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a handcrafted holiday countdown, rather than a candy.
