Indeed, it's Brimming with Absurdity, Extreme Hosting and Self-Help Jargon. However, I Honestly Cherish Meghan's Holiday Special.
No concerned with the time of year, it's constantly fair game for scrutiny on the Duchess of Sussex's televisual offering, With Love, Meghan. Commentators, both professional and armchair, have rarely been so united as when gleefully ripping the series' first and second seasons apart. The general consensus held that a greater royal outrage had hardly ever taken place than the now-infamous pretzel re-packaging incident.
Currently, as a festive rebel, she makes a comeback for another round with a "Christmas Special" (aka a holiday episode). However on this occasion, things have shifted. The usual elements viewers are accustomed to – psychobabble word salads, intense hospitality – remain, but framed of a yuletide episode, suddenly it all makes sense. The puzzle has come perfectly; it's a ideal seasonal storm.
By this point, Meghan is like the oddball family member at the typical holiday get-together – providing unsolicited, unnecessary advice, 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 an interesting figure, but her presence is familiar and unexpectedly soothing. And she looks pleased; she's inflicting a bit of damage.
She knows her all subtle gestures, utterance and gaze will be picked apart and judged, but still appears relaxed and too blessed to be stressed.
Maybe this is the first occasion in history where that well-worn saying – "Ignore them, they're just jealous" – might be true. Since, in all honesty, everything in Meghan's Holiday Celebration honestly feels lovely. Admittedly, it's all cringily ultra-extra, silliness and extravagant – but isn't that just what the holiday season is about? And the talk she's talking might be absurd, but the walk she's walking genuinely looks beautifully curated.
Whatever she sets her mind to, she pulls off with flair. Her recipes looks delicious, the holiday arrangement she crafts is stunning, her presents are practically too exquisite to tear into. Not a single thing is average or visually unappealing – even the way she ties her kitchen garment is stylish and elegant. She doesn't bung a meal in the microwave, it "goes for a spin", and she creases wrapping paper like an craft master. She also seems to be completely savoring herself from start to finish. How could any skeptical viewer not be won over, bursting with seasonal cheer and left with a deep longing for handmade crackers or a vegetable display where broccoli is organized in the form of a festive circle?
Meghan had a career in acting for a living, of course, but even so, after the level of scrutiny she has weathered from the moment she started dating Prince Harry, even a hypothetical offspring of acting royalty would have difficulty behaving this authentically. Her decision to alter or even tone down her persona, despite it being so constantly, widely parodied, is oddly heartening. In our uncertain world, here is something we can rely on: Meghan will remain herself, whatever happens. We will forever know our position with her.
If you're not yet convinced by her brand, a reminder that will surely come as a relief: you don't have to. We don't have the draft anymore, and should it be reinstated, it would be improbable to include streaming With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, conversely, you decide to tune in and are consumed by envy about her idyllic Christmas, there is hope either. Be you a duchess or a data administrator, few children truly appreciates the dedication and labor their parent expends in December. So you can console yourself by imagining her children's faces when they unfold a handwritten message that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a homemade Advent calendar, in place of a chocolate.
