Admittedly, it's Brimming with Gibberish, Over-the-Top Hospitality and Self-Help Jargon. But I Do Love Meghan's Holiday Special.
No matter the season, it's always fair game for criticism on the Meghan Markle's Netflix series, With Love, Meghan. Commentators, both professional and armchair, have seldom found such common ground as when gleefully ripping the lifestyle show's first and second seasons to pieces. The common opinion seemed to be a bigger monarchy-related faux pas had hardly ever taken place than the now-infamous pretzel-bagging incident.
Currently, like a merry renegade master, she has returned with a new offering with a "Christmas Special" (also known as a Christmas special). Yet now, the dynamic has changed. The standard components audiences anticipate – meaningless jargon salads, extreme hosting – remain, but set of a Christmas special, suddenly it all makes sense. The elements have slid into place; it's a perfect snow storm.
At this stage, Meghan is like the eccentric aunt at Christmas celebrations everywhere – dispensing unsolicited, unnecessary advice, 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 aura is known and unexpectedly soothing. And she appears happy enough; she's inflicting a bit of damage.
She understands her each tiny facial movement, word and gaze will be analyzed and scrutinized, but nonetheless looks unburdened and serenely untroubled.
It could be this is the initial instance in history where that well-worn saying – "Pay no mind, it's only envy" – might be true. Because, in all honesty, each element in Meghan's Holiday Celebration honestly feels charming. Admittedly, it's all awkwardly over-the-top, nonsense and flamboyant – but is that not precisely what Yuletide is all about? And the words she speaks might be laughable, but the example she sets appears to be shop-bought.
Whatever she attempts, she executes with panache. Her cooking looks tasty, the festive decoration she creates is gorgeous, her gifts are almost too pretty to unwrap. Not a single thing is mediocre or aesthetically displeasing – including the way she secures her kitchen garment is creative and fashionable. She doesn't throw a dish in the oven, it "takes a twirl", and she creases wrapping paper like an origami guru. She also seems to be completely savoring herself from start to finish. How could any cynical observer not be charmed, bursting with festive joy and left with a powerful yearning for personalized Christmas crackers or a vegetable display where broccoli is organized in the form of a wreath?
Meghan had a career in acting for a living, naturally, but nonetheless, after the degree of examination she has endured from the moment she started dating Prince Harry, even a hypothetical offspring of acting royalty would struggle to act this authentically. Her decision to modify or even soften her shtick, even though it being so relentlessly, globally mocked, is weirdly comforting. In our uncertain world, here is something we can rely on: Meghan will stay true to form, whatever happens. We will always know our position with her.
If you're remaining skeptical of her message, a point that will surely come as a comfort: you are not obligated to. The UK has abolished the draft these days, and should it be reinstated, it would be doubtful 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, all is not lost either. If you are a royal or a data administrator, few children fully understands the effort and hard work their mum does in the holiday season. So you can find comfort by envisioning her children's faces when they reveal a beautifully scripted letter that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a DIY festive calendar, in place of a chocolate.
