Yes, it's Brimming with Gibberish, Over-the-Top Hospitality and Psychobabble. However, I Honestly Adore Meghan's Christmas Special.
No concerned with the time of year, it's perpetually fair game for scrutiny on the Meghan Markle's Netflix series, With Love, Meghan. Critics, from seasoned journalists to online pundits, have seldom found such common ground as when enthusiastically shredding the program's earlier episodes apart. The general consensus was that a more egregious regal scandal had never been witnessed than the notorious pretzel-bagging incident.
Now, like a merry renegade master, she is back with a new offering with a "Christmas Special" (also known as a Christmas special). However on this occasion, the dynamic has changed. The standard components audiences anticipate – psychobabble word salads, extreme hosting – remain, but framed of a Christmas special, the purpose becomes clear. The puzzle has come into place; it's a ideal seasonal storm.
Now, Meghan has become the quirky relative at most festive family gatherings – dispensing 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 seems happy enough; she's causing any harm.
She knows her all subtle gestures, syllable and glance will be dissected and scrutinized, but manages to seem carefree and remarkably at ease.
Maybe this is the only time in history where that clichéd phrase – "Pay no mind, it's only envy" – may well be true. The reason is, let's face it, each element in Meghan's Holiday Celebration is lovely. Yes, it's all painfully excessive, nonsense and flamboyant – but is that not just what Yuletide is for? And the advice she gives might be absurd, but the walk she's walking appears to be impeccably styled.
Whatever she turns her beautifully manicured, diamond-adorned hand to, she accomplishes with flair. Her cooking looks delicious, the festive decoration she creates is breathtaking, her presents are nearly too beautiful to tear into. Not a single thing is ordinary or visually unappealing – even the way she fastens her apron 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 origami guru. She also seems to be completely savoring herself throughout. How could any skeptical viewer not be won over, filled with holiday spirit and left with a powerful yearning for handmade crackers or a vegetable display where greens is positioned in the likeness of a Christmas ring?
Meghan had a career in acting for a living, obviously, but nonetheless, after the degree of scrutiny she has endured ever since she met Prince Harry, even a hypothetical offspring of two legendary actresses would have difficulty behaving this authentically. Her unwillingness to change or even moderate her routine, regardless of it being so constantly, widely parodied, is strangely reassuring. In our volatile world, here is one thing we can rely on: Meghan will be like this, no matter what. We will consistently know where we are with her.
If you're not yet convinced by her brand, a reminder that will undoubtedly come as a comfort: you aren't required to. We don't have the draft these days, and should it be reinstated, it would be doubtful to include watching With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, however, you willingly check it out and are gripped with longing about her idyllic Christmas, all is not lost either. If you are a duchess or a data administrator, hardly any child completely grasps the time and energy their parent expends in the holiday season. So you can console yourself by envisioning the young royals' faces when they reveal a calligraphy note that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a homemade Advent calendar, instead of a candy.