Admittedly, it's Full of Absurdity, Extreme Hosting and Psychobabble. Yet I Truly Love Meghan's Festive Episode.
No concerned with the time of year, it's constantly open season for commentary on the Duchess of Sussex's televisual offering, With Love, Meghan. Critics, from seasoned journalists to online pundits, have hardly ever agreed so completely as when enthusiastically shredding the program's first and second seasons apart. The common opinion seemed to be a greater royal outrage had seldom occurred than the much-discussed snack re-labeling incident.
Presently, as a festive rebel, she has returned for another round with a "Festive Special" (also known as a Christmas special). However on this occasion, it's different. The usual elements viewers are accustomed to – meaningless jargon salads, intense hospitality – persist, but framed of a Christmas special, suddenly it all makes sense. The pieces have fallen together; it's a perfect snow storm.
At this stage, Meghan is like the quirky relative at Christmas celebrations everywhere – offering random tips, 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 quite a personality, but her presence is familiar and strangely comforting. And she appears pleased; she's inflicting the slightest hurt.
She understands her each tiny facial movement, utterance and look will be analyzed and scrutinized, but nonetheless looks unburdened and remarkably at ease.
Maybe this is the only time in history where that clichéd phrase – "Don't listen, it's pure jealousy" – could actually be true. Because, you know what?, each element in Meghan's Holiday Celebration truly is delightful. Yes, it's all awkwardly over-the-top, nonsense and over the top – but isn't that exactly what the holiday season is about? And the talk she's talking might be laughable, but the life she leads seems authentically impeccably styled.
Whatever she turns her beautifully manicured, diamond-adorned hand to, she executes with flair. Her recipes looks delicious, the festive decoration she creates is breathtaking, her gifts are nearly too beautiful to tear into. Not a single thing is average or ugly – even the way she ties her kitchen garment is stylish and elegant. She doesn't throw a dish in the microwave, it "takes a twirl", and she creases gift paper like an craft master. She also seems to be genuinely relishing herself from start to finish. How could any hate-watcher not be won over, filled with holiday spirit and left with a intense desire for crafted festive snaps or a vegetable display where greens is positioned in the likeness of a Christmas ring?
Meghan was once an actress for a living, of course, but nonetheless, after the degree of attention she has faced since she started dating Prince Harry, a theoretical combination of Meryl Streep and Judi Dench would have difficulty behaving this authentically. Her unwillingness to alter or even soften her shtick, even though it being so relentlessly, widely parodied, is weirdly comforting. In our volatile world, here is something we can depend on: Meghan will remain herself, come what may. We will consistently know our position with her.
If you're still not buying her brand, a point that will surely come as a reassurance: you aren't required to. The UK has abolished national service in this country, and were it to return, it would be unlikely to include viewing With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, however, you willingly check it out and are consumed by jealousy about her flawless Christmas, all is not lost either. If you are a duchess or a office worker, hardly any child fully understands the dedication and labor their mum does in the holiday season. So you can take heart by envisioning Archie and Lilibet's faces when they unfold a calligraphy note that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a DIY festive calendar, in place of a sweet treat.
