Yes, it's Packed with Absurdity, Extreme Hosting and Self-Help Jargon. But I Do Love Meghan's Christmas Special.
No matter the time of year, it's constantly hunting season for scrutiny on the Meghan Markle's televisual offering, With Love, Meghan. Commentators, from seasoned journalists to online pundits, have seldom found such common ground as when eagerly tearing the program's earlier episodes apart. The common opinion seemed to be a bigger monarchy-related faux pas had seldom occurred than the now-infamous pretzel re-packaging incident.
Now, in the spirit of a holiday maverick, she is back for another round with a "Christmas Special" (or a yuletide episode). Yet now, the dynamic has changed. The standard components audiences anticipate – psychobabble word salads, overzealous entertaining – persist, but set of a yuletide episode, suddenly it all makes sense. The puzzle has come together; it's a perfect snow storm.
Now, Meghan has become the quirky relative at the typical holiday get-together – 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 quite a personality, but her aura is known and oddly reassuring. And she looks pleased; she's causing any harm.
She knows her each tiny facial movement, utterance and look will be dissected and scrutinized, but nonetheless looks relaxed and serenely untroubled.
It could be this is the first occasion in history where that old chestnut – "Don't listen, it's pure jealousy" – may well be true. The reason is, in all honesty, all aspects in Meghan's Holiday Celebration honestly feels charming. Admittedly, it's all painfully excessive, silliness and extravagant – but is that not exactly what the holiday season is all about? And the advice she gives might be absurd, but the example she sets seems authentically shop-bought.
Anything she attempts, she pulls off with style. Her cooking looks tasty, the wreath she crafts is stunning, her presents are practically too exquisite to unwrap. Nothing is ordinary or ugly – even the way she secures her kitchen garment is artful and chic. She doesn't bung a meal in the oven, it "has a moment", and she wraps wrapping paper like an craft master. She also seems to be genuinely relishing herself from start to finish. How could any skeptical viewer not be charmed, overcome by festive joy and left with a intense desire for crafted festive snaps or a crudites platter where broccoli is arranged in the form of a wreath?
Meghan was once an actress for a living, naturally, but nonetheless, after the level of scrutiny she has endured ever since she started dating Prince Harry, a theoretical combination of Meryl Streep and Judi Dench would struggle to act this naturally. Her decision to alter or even moderate her shtick, regardless of it being so relentlessly, widely parodied, is strangely reassuring. In our uncertain world, here is one thing we can depend on: Meghan will stay true to form, come what may. We will forever know what to expect with her.
If you're not yet convinced by her brand, a reminder that will undoubtedly come as a reassurance: you aren't required to. The UK has abolished the draft in this country, and were it to return, it would be improbable to include streaming With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, however, you willingly check it out and are consumed by longing about her picture-perfect Christmas, all is not lost either. Whether you're a duchess or a office worker, no kid completely grasps the dedication and labor their mother puts in in December. So you can console yourself by imagining Archie and Lilibet's faces when they open a beautifully scripted letter that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a DIY festive calendar, instead of a candy.
