Yes, it's Packed with Gibberish, 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 always hunting season for scrutiny on the Meghan Markle's TV show, With Love, Meghan. Critics, from seasoned journalists to online pundits, have seldom found such common ground as when gleefully ripping the program's initial installments to pieces. The prevailing view was that a bigger monarchy-related faux pas had never been witnessed than the notorious pretzel-bagging incident.
Presently, like a merry renegade master, she has returned for another round with a "Holiday Celebration" (or a Christmas special). However on this occasion, the dynamic has changed. The usual elements viewers are accustomed to – vague self-help platitudes, extreme hosting – are still present, but framed of a Christmas special, it all clicks into place. The puzzle has come into place; it's a ideal seasonal storm.
Now, Meghan has become the eccentric aunt at most festive family gatherings – providing unasked-for guidance, and supplying 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 a bit of a character, but her company is customary and unexpectedly soothing. And she seems content; she's inflicting a bit of damage.
She knows her each tiny facial movement, syllable and glance will be dissected and criticised, but still appears unburdened and remarkably at ease.
Perhaps this is the initial instance in history where that well-worn saying – "Ignore them, they're just jealous" – might be true. Because, let's face it, each element in Meghan's Holiday Celebration truly is delightful. Admittedly, it's all awkwardly over-the-top, nonsense and over the top – but doesn't that represent precisely what Yuletide is about? And the advice she gives might be ridiculous, but the example she sets genuinely looks impeccably styled.
Whatever she turns her beautifully manicured, diamond-adorned hand to, she executes with flair. Her cooking looks tasty, the wreath she crafts is gorgeous, her presents are practically too exquisite to tear into. Not a single thing is mediocre or visually unappealing – even the way she fastens her apron is artful and chic. She doesn't bung a meal in the oven, it "has a moment", and she creases gift paper like an paper-folding expert. She also seems to be genuinely relishing herself from start to finish. How could any cynical observer not be charmed, filled with holiday spirit and left with a powerful yearning for personalized Christmas crackers or a crudites platter where broccoli is arranged in the shape of a wreath?
Meghan had a career in acting for a living, of course, but despite that, after the level of examination she has weathered since she started dating Prince Harry, a theoretical combination of acting royalty would have difficulty behaving this genuinely. Her decision to alter or even moderate her shtick, regardless of it being so persistently, widely parodied, is oddly heartening. In our uncertain world, here is something we can depend on: Meghan will be like this, no matter what. We will forever know where we are with her.
If you're remaining skeptical of what she's selling, a point that will certainly come as a relief: you don't have to. There isn't mandatory conscription anymore, and if there were, it would be doubtful to include streaming With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, on the other hand, you willingly check it out and are consumed by envy about her idyllic Christmas, all is not lost either. Be you a duchess or a office worker, few children completely grasps the time and energy their mum expends in the holiday season. So you can take heart by imagining Archie and Lilibet's faces when they reveal a handwritten message that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a DIY festive calendar, rather than a chocolate.
