Yes, it's Full of Absurdity, Over-the-Top Hospitality and Self-Help Jargon. But I Do Cherish Meghan's Holiday Special.
No matter the time of year, it's constantly hunting season for commentary on the Duchess of Sussex's Netflix series, With Love, Meghan. Commentators, expert and amateur alike, have seldom found such common ground as when eagerly tearing the series' first and second seasons apart. The common opinion held that a greater royal outrage had seldom occurred than the now-infamous pretzel-bagging incident.
Presently, like a merry renegade master, she is back once again with a "Christmas Special" (or a Christmas special). Yet now, the dynamic has changed. The usual elements we've come to expect – meaningless jargon salads, intense hospitality – are still present, but framed of a yuletide episode, suddenly it all makes sense. The elements have slid together; it's a perfect snow storm.
By this point, Meghan has become the quirky relative at most festive family gatherings – offering random tips, and supplying the periodic peculiar declaration. ("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 aura is known and oddly reassuring. And she looks content; she's not doing the slightest hurt.
She is aware her every micro expression, syllable and gaze will be picked apart and scrutinized, but still appears relaxed and remarkably at ease.
It could be this is the initial instance in history where that well-worn saying – "Ignore them, they're just jealous" – could actually be true. Because, you know what?, everything in Meghan's Holiday Celebration is lovely. Granted, it's all awkwardly over-the-top, silliness and extravagant – but is that not precisely what the holiday season is about? And the talk she's talking might be laughable, but the walk she's walking seems authentically impeccably styled.
Anything she turns her beautifully manicured, diamond-adorned hand to, she executes with flair. Her culinary efforts looks scrumptious, the wreath she creates is stunning, her gifts are nearly too beautiful to unwrap. Nothing is mediocre or aesthetically displeasing – even the way she ties her kitchen garment is artful and chic. She doesn't throw a meal in the microwave, it "goes for a spin", and she creases gift paper like an paper-folding expert. She also seems to be completely savoring herself from start to finish. How could any hate-watcher not be convinced, overcome by seasonal cheer and left with a intense desire for personalized Christmas crackers or a crudites platter where greens is arranged in the shape of a festive circle?
Meghan was once an actress for a living, of course, but even so, after the degree of scrutiny she has faced ever since she became involved with Prince Harry, even a hypothetical offspring of two legendary actresses would have difficulty behaving this authentically. Her unwillingness to modify or even moderate her persona, regardless of it being so persistently, globally mocked, is strangely reassuring. In our unpredictable world, here is one thing we can rely on: Meghan will remain herself, come what may. We will always know what to expect with her.
If you're still not buying her brand, a point that will undoubtedly come as a comfort: you don't have to. We don't have the draft in this country, and should it be reinstated, it would be unlikely to include watching With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, however, you willingly check it out and are consumed by envy about her idyllic Christmas, you can take solace either. If you are a duchess or a office worker, few children fully understands the dedication and labor their mother puts in in the holiday season. So you can console yourself by imagining her children's faces when they open a handwritten message that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a DIY festive calendar, rather than a chocolate.
