Admittedly, it's Brimming with Nonsense, Extreme Hosting and Self-Help Jargon. Yet I Truly Love Meghan's Festive Episode.
No considering the time of year, it's always open season for criticism on the Meghan Markle's Netflix series, With Love, Meghan. Commentators, from seasoned journalists to online pundits, have rarely been so united as when eagerly tearing the series' initial installments to pieces. The general consensus held that a more egregious regal scandal had never been witnessed than the now-infamous pretzel re-packaging incident.
Presently, like a merry renegade master, she is back with a new offering with a "Christmas Special" (also known as a holiday episode). But this time, the dynamic has changed. The familiar ingredients we've come to expect – vague self-help platitudes, overzealous entertaining – remain, but framed of a yuletide episode, it all clicks into place. The pieces have fallen together; it's a ideal seasonal storm.
Now, Meghan is like the quirky relative at the typical holiday get-together – providing unsolicited, unnecessary advice, and contributing 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 quite a personality, but her presence is familiar and oddly reassuring. And she looks happy enough; she's causing the slightest hurt.
She understands her all subtle gestures, syllable and glance will be dissected and judged, but still appears unburdened and serenely untroubled.
It could be this is the only time in history where that clichéd phrase – "Don't listen, it's pure jealousy" – may well be true. The reason is, let's face it, each element in Meghan's Holiday Celebration honestly feels charming. Admittedly, it's all painfully excessive, nonsense and over the top – but is that not precisely what Christmas is all about? And the advice she gives might be absurd, but the example she sets genuinely looks impeccably styled.
Whatever she attempts, she executes with flair. Her culinary efforts looks delicious, the holiday arrangement she crafts is stunning, her gifts are nearly too beautiful to unwrap. Not a single thing is average or visually unappealing – even the way she ties her kitchen garment is stylish and elegant. She doesn't throw a meal in the microwave, it "takes a twirl", and she folds gift paper like an craft master. 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 crafted festive snaps or a crudites platter where broccoli is positioned in the form of a festive circle?
Meghan used to pretend for a living, of course, but despite that, after the degree of examination she has endured from the moment she became involved with Prince Harry, the love child of acting royalty would find it hard to appear this naturally. Her unwillingness to change or even tone down her routine, regardless of it being so relentlessly, widely parodied, is oddly heartening. In our volatile world, here is one thing we can count on: Meghan will be like this, whatever happens. We will consistently know where we are with her.
If you're remaining skeptical of what she's selling, a reminder that will undoubtedly come as a reassurance: you aren't required to. We don't have the draft these days, and if there were, it would be unlikely to include streaming With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, however, you decide to tune in and are consumed by jealousy about her idyllic Christmas, you can take solace either. Whether you're a royal or a data administrator, few children truly appreciates the dedication and labor their parent expends in the holiday season. So you can find comfort by picturing the young royals' faces when they open a beautifully scripted letter that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a handcrafted holiday countdown, rather than a chocolate.
