Indeed, it's Packed with Nonsense, Over-the-Top Hospitality and Self-Help Jargon. However, I Honestly Cherish Meghan's Holiday Special.
No concerned with the season, it's always hunting season for criticism on the Duchess of Sussex's Netflix series, With Love, Meghan. Commentators, expert and amateur alike, have seldom found such common ground as when enthusiastically shredding the program's initial installments apart. The prevailing view was that a more egregious regal scandal had seldom occurred than the now-infamous snack re-labeling incident.
Now, as a festive rebel, she has returned for another round with a "Festive Special" (or a Christmas special). Yet now, the dynamic has changed. The usual elements viewers are accustomed to – vague self-help platitudes, intense hospitality – persist, but within the context of a holiday show, it all clicks into place. The pieces have fallen perfectly; it's a ideal seasonal storm.
By this point, Meghan is like the oddball family member at most festive family gatherings – offering unsolicited, unnecessary advice, and contributing 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 company is customary and oddly reassuring. And she appears pleased; she's inflicting a bit of damage.
She is aware her all subtle gestures, word and gaze will be dissected and judged, but manages to seem unburdened and serenely untroubled.
Maybe this is the only time in history where that well-worn saying – "Pay no mind, it's only envy" – may well be true. Since, let's face it, all aspects in Meghan's Holiday Celebration truly is charming. Granted, it's all cringily ultra-extra, foolishness and flamboyant – but is that not precisely what Yuletide is about? And the talk she's talking might be ridiculous, but the life she leads genuinely looks shop-bought.
Anything she attempts, she accomplishes with flair. Her cooking looks scrumptious, the holiday arrangement she creates is stunning, her presents are almost too pretty to open. Nothing is ordinary or aesthetically displeasing – even the way she ties her apron is creative and fashionable. She doesn't throw a dish in the oven, it "has a moment", and she wraps gift paper like an paper-folding expert. She also seems to be thoroughly enjoying herself throughout. How could any skeptical viewer not be won over, overcome by festive joy and left with a deep longing for crafted festive snaps or a crudites platter where greens is arranged in the shape of a Christmas ring?
Meghan was once an actress for a living, naturally, but nonetheless, after the level of examination she has faced from the moment she met Prince Harry, even a hypothetical offspring of Meryl Streep and Judi Dench would struggle to act this authentically. Her refusal to change or even moderate her shtick, even though it being so constantly, widely parodied, is weirdly comforting. In our unpredictable world, here is one thing we can rely on: Meghan will stay true to form, no matter what. We will forever know where we are with her.
If you're remaining skeptical of her brand, a point that will undoubtedly come as a comfort: you are not obligated to. We don't have the draft in this country, and should it be reinstated, it would be doubtful to include viewing With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, however, you decide to tune in and are gripped with jealousy about her picture-perfect Christmas, you can take solace either. If you are a duchess or a data administrator, no kid fully understands the time and energy their parent does in December. So you can take heart by envisioning 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, in place of a chocolate.
