Yes, it's Brimming with Absurdity, Over-the-Top Hospitality and Self-Help Jargon. Yet I Truly Adore Meghan's Holiday Special.
No matter the time of year, it's perpetually open season for commentary on the Meghan Markle's TV show, With Love, Meghan. Reviewers, expert and amateur alike, have seldom found such common ground as when eagerly tearing the series' first and second seasons apart. The common opinion was that a bigger monarchy-related faux pas had seldom occurred than the notorious snack re-labeling incident.
Currently, as a festive rebel, she makes a comeback with a new offering with a "Christmas Special" (or a holiday episode). But this time, things have shifted. The familiar ingredients audiences anticipate – vague self-help platitudes, intense hospitality – are still present, but set of a yuletide episode, the purpose becomes clear. The pieces have fallen together; it's a ideal seasonal storm.
Now, Meghan has become the eccentric aunt at most festive family gatherings – dispensing random tips, and supplying 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 company is customary and unexpectedly soothing. And she appears happy enough; she's inflicting the slightest hurt.
She understands her all subtle gestures, syllable and glance will be dissected and scrutinized, but nonetheless looks unburdened and remarkably at ease.
It could be this is the initial instance in history where that clichéd phrase – "Ignore them, they're just jealous" – may well be true. The reason is, in all honesty, all aspects in Meghan's Holiday Celebration is delightful. Yes, it's all cringily ultra-extra, foolishness and flamboyant – but is that not just what Yuletide is about? And the talk she's talking might be laughable, but the life she leads seems authentically beautifully curated.
Whatever she attempts, she pulls off with style. Her cooking looks tasty, the holiday arrangement she crafts is gorgeous, her presents are nearly too beautiful to open. Nothing is ordinary or visually unappealing – including the way she secures her apron is stylish and elegant. She doesn't toss a dish in the oven, it "has a moment", and she creases wrapping paper like an craft master. She also seems to be thoroughly enjoying herself the entire time. How could any cynical observer not be convinced, filled with holiday spirit and left with a intense desire for personalized Christmas crackers or a vegetable display where broccoli is positioned in the likeness of a festive circle?
Meghan had a career in acting for a living, naturally, but even so, after the degree of scrutiny she has faced ever since she became involved with Prince Harry, a theoretical combination of Meryl Streep and Judi Dench would find it hard to appear this naturally. Her unwillingness to modify or even soften her routine, despite it being so constantly, internationally ridiculed, is weirdly comforting. In our volatile world, here is one thing we can rely on: Meghan will stay true to form, come what may. We will always know where we are with her.
If you're not yet convinced by her brand, a reminder that will surely come as a comfort: you are not obligated to. There isn't the draft in this country, and if there were, it would be unlikely to include viewing With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, conversely, you willingly check it out and are overcome with envy about her picture-perfect Christmas, you can take solace either. Be you a duchess or a office worker, no kid completely grasps the time and energy their mother does in December. So you can find comfort by picturing the young royals' faces when they reveal a beautifully scripted letter that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a DIY festive calendar, instead of a sweet treat.
