Yes, it's Full of Gibberish, Over-the-Top Hospitality and Psychobabble. But I Do Cherish Meghan's Christmas Special.
No concerned with the season, it's perpetually fair game for commentary on the Duchess of Sussex's TV show, With Love, Meghan. Critics, expert and amateur alike, have hardly ever agreed so completely as when eagerly tearing the program's earlier episodes to shreds. The prevailing view held that a bigger monarchy-related faux pas had never been witnessed than the much-discussed pretzel-bagging incident.
Currently, like a merry renegade master, she has returned with a new offering with a "Festive Special" (aka a Christmas special). But this time, things have shifted. The standard components we've come to expect – meaningless jargon salads, extreme hosting – remain, but framed of a Christmas special, suddenly it all makes sense. The puzzle has come together; it's a flawless festive blizzard.
Now, Meghan has become the oddball family member at the typical holiday get-together – offering unsolicited, unnecessary advice, 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 an interesting figure, but her company is customary and unexpectedly soothing. And she appears pleased; she's causing any harm.
She understands her each tiny facial movement, syllable and gaze will be analyzed and judged, but nonetheless looks carefree and serenely untroubled.
Perhaps this is the only time in history where that well-worn saying – "Pay no mind, it's only envy" – could actually be true. The reason is, in all honesty, each element in Meghan's Holiday Celebration honestly feels lovely. Admittedly, it's all painfully excessive, foolishness and over the top – but doesn't that represent precisely what Christmas is about? And the talk she's talking might be laughable, but the example she sets seems authentically impeccably styled.
Anything she turns her beautifully manicured, diamond-adorned hand to, she executes with flair. Her cooking looks delicious, the festive decoration she crafts is gorgeous, her gifts are almost too pretty to open. Not a single thing is average or aesthetically displeasing – even the way she ties her kitchen garment is stylish and elegant. She doesn't bung a dish in the microwave, it "takes a twirl", and she creases wrapping paper like an paper-folding expert. She also seems to be genuinely relishing herself from start to finish. How could any hate-watcher not be convinced, bursting with holiday spirit and left with a powerful yearning for personalized Christmas crackers or a vegetable display where broccoli is positioned in the shape of a wreath?
Meghan used to pretend for a living, obviously, but even so, after the intensity of examination she has faced ever since she met Prince Harry, the love child of two legendary actresses would have difficulty behaving this genuinely. Her decision to change or even tone down her shtick, despite it being so relentlessly, internationally ridiculed, is weirdly comforting. In our volatile world, here is something we can depend on: Meghan will be like this, come what may. We will forever know our position with her.
If you're still not buying her message, a thought that will undoubtedly come as a relief: you are not obligated to. We don't have the draft in this country, and if there were, it would be unlikely to include watching With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, conversely, you decide to tune in and are gripped with jealousy about her picture-perfect Christmas, there is hope either. If you are a royal or a everyday person, few children truly appreciates the dedication and labor their parent does in the holiday season. So you can console yourself by imagining her children's faces when they unfold a beautifully scripted letter that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a homemade Advent calendar, rather than a chocolate.
