Yes, it's Packed with Gibberish, Extreme Hosting and Self-Help Jargon. However, I Honestly Cherish Meghan's Festive Episode.
No considering the season, it's always open season for commentary on the Duchess of Sussex's TV show, With Love, Meghan. Critics, from seasoned journalists to online pundits, have rarely been so united as when enthusiastically shredding the lifestyle show's first and second seasons to pieces. The common opinion held that a more egregious regal scandal had hardly ever taken place than the now-infamous snack re-labeling incident.
Currently, in the spirit of a holiday maverick, she makes a comeback with a new offering with a "Festive Special" (aka a Christmas special). However on this occasion, the dynamic has changed. The standard components we've come to expect – meaningless jargon salads, intense hospitality – are still present, but set of a yuletide episode, the purpose becomes clear. The elements have slid together; it's a flawless festive blizzard.
By this point, Meghan resembles the quirky relative at the typical holiday get-together – providing unasked-for guidance, 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 presence is familiar and strangely comforting. And she appears happy enough; she's causing a bit of damage.
She is aware her all subtle gestures, syllable and glance will be picked apart and scrutinized, but nonetheless looks unburdened and serenely untroubled.
Perhaps this is the initial instance in history where that well-worn saying – "Pay no mind, it's only envy" – may well be true. Since, you know what?, everything in Meghan's Holiday Celebration truly is charming. Yes, it's all painfully excessive, foolishness and extravagant – but is that not precisely what Yuletide is all about? And the talk she's talking might be ridiculous, but the example she sets appears to be shop-bought.
Whatever she sets her mind to, she pulls off with style. Her culinary efforts looks tasty, the holiday arrangement she makes is breathtaking, her gifts are nearly too beautiful to unwrap. Nothing is ordinary or ugly – including the way she ties her kitchen garment is stylish and elegant. She doesn't throw a meal in the microwave, it "has a moment", and she creases wrapping paper like an origami guru. She also seems to be completely savoring herself throughout. How could any hate-watcher not be won over, bursting with holiday spirit and left with a intense desire for crafted festive snaps or a crudites platter where greens is arranged in the likeness of a wreath?
Meghan used to pretend for a living, naturally, but even so, after the intensity of examination she has faced from the moment she met Prince Harry, a theoretical combination of acting royalty would have difficulty behaving this genuinely. Her unwillingness to modify or even moderate her persona, regardless of it being so relentlessly, widely parodied, is weirdly comforting. In our unpredictable world, here is something we can count on: Meghan will stay true to form, come what may. We will consistently know what to expect with her.
If you're still not buying what she's selling, a thought that will surely come as a reassurance: you are not obligated to. There isn't national service these days, and should it be reinstated, it would be unlikely to include streaming With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, on the other hand, you willingly check it out and are consumed by envy about her picture-perfect Christmas, there is hope either. Be you a duchess or a office worker, hardly any child fully understands the effort and hard work their mother expends in the holiday season. So you can console yourself by envisioning Archie and Lilibet's faces when they open a calligraphy note that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a handcrafted holiday countdown, in place of a sweet treat.
