Yes, it's Brimming with Gibberish, Over-the-Top Hospitality and Psychobabble. But I Do Cherish Meghan's Holiday Special.
No concerned with the season, it's constantly hunting season for commentary on the Duchess of Sussex's Netflix series, With Love, Meghan. Commentators, expert and amateur alike, have rarely been so united as when enthusiastically shredding the series' initial installments apart. The common opinion was that a bigger monarchy-related faux pas had hardly ever taken place than the notorious snack re-labeling incident.
Now, in the spirit of a holiday maverick, she makes a comeback with a new offering with a "Christmas Special" (or a holiday episode). Yet now, things have shifted. The standard components viewers are accustomed to – vague self-help platitudes, extreme hosting – remain, but framed of a holiday show, it all clicks into place. The puzzle has come into place; it's a perfect snow storm.
By this point, Meghan is like the quirky relative at the typical holiday get-together – offering unasked-for guidance, and delivering 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 presence is familiar and unexpectedly soothing. And she seems happy enough; she's causing the slightest hurt.
She knows her all subtle gestures, word and look will be analyzed and judged, but still appears relaxed and serenely untroubled.
Maybe this is the first occasion in history where that clichéd phrase – "Pay no mind, it's only envy" – might be true. Because, in all honesty, all aspects in Meghan's Holiday Celebration is lovely. Admittedly, it's all painfully excessive, silliness and extravagant – but isn't that exactly what the holiday season is for? And the talk she's talking might be absurd, but the life she leads appears to be impeccably styled.
Whatever she sets her mind to, she accomplishes with flair. Her cooking looks scrumptious, the festive decoration she crafts is stunning, her gifts are practically too exquisite to tear into. Not a single thing is mediocre or aesthetically displeasing – including the way she ties her apron is artful and chic. She doesn't throw a dish in the oven, it "goes for a spin", and she creases wrapping paper like an origami guru. She also seems to be genuinely relishing herself throughout. How could any skeptical viewer not be won over, bursting with seasonal cheer and left with a intense desire for personalized Christmas crackers or a vegetable display where greens is organized in the form of a festive circle?
Meghan was once an actress for a living, of course, but nonetheless, after the level of scrutiny she has faced ever since she became involved with Prince Harry, a theoretical combination of two legendary actresses would find it hard to appear this naturally. Her decision to alter or even moderate her routine, despite it being so persistently, globally mocked, is strangely reassuring. In our volatile world, here is one thing we can count on: Meghan will remain herself, whatever happens. We will consistently know our position with her.
If you're still not buying her message, a point that will certainly come as a reassurance: you aren't required to. We don't have mandatory conscription anymore, and were it to return, it would be improbable to include viewing With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, on the other hand, you willingly check it out and are gripped with jealousy about her idyllic Christmas, there is hope either. If you are a duchess or a office worker, few children completely grasps the time and energy their mother puts in in the holiday season. So you can take heart by imagining the young royals' faces when they unfold a calligraphy note that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a handcrafted holiday countdown, rather than a sweet treat.
