Admittedly, it's Brimming with Absurdity, Extreme Hosting and Self-Help Jargon. However, I Honestly Love Meghan's Christmas Special.
No concerned with the season, it's always hunting season for commentary on the Duchess of Sussex's TV show, With Love, Meghan. Reviewers, both professional and armchair, have rarely been so united as when gleefully ripping the lifestyle show's initial installments apart. The prevailing view was that a more egregious regal scandal had never been witnessed than the notorious pretzel-bagging incident.
Presently, as a festive rebel, she is back once again with a "Holiday Celebration" (also known as a yuletide episode). But this time, the dynamic has changed. The standard components audiences anticipate – vague self-help platitudes, intense hospitality – are still present, but set of a holiday show, the purpose becomes clear. The elements have slid perfectly; it's a ideal seasonal storm.
By this point, Meghan is like the quirky relative at the typical holiday get-together – providing unasked-for guidance, and supplying 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 a bit of a character, but her aura is known and oddly reassuring. And she seems happy enough; she's causing any harm.
She knows her every micro expression, word and glance will be picked apart and judged, but nonetheless looks carefree and serenely untroubled.
It could be this is the initial instance in history where that old chestnut – "Ignore them, they're just jealous" – might be true. Since, in all honesty, all aspects in Meghan's Holiday Celebration honestly feels charming. Yes, it's all awkwardly over-the-top, silliness and over the top – but doesn't that represent precisely what the holiday season is for? And the advice she gives might be ridiculous, but the life she leads genuinely looks impeccably styled.
Whatever she sets her mind to, she executes with style. Her recipes looks delicious, the wreath she crafts is breathtaking, her gifts are almost too pretty to open. Not a single thing is mediocre or visually unappealing – including the way she ties her apron is creative and fashionable. She doesn't throw a dish in the microwave, it "takes a twirl", and she folds gift paper like an paper-folding expert. She also seems to be completely savoring herself from start to finish. How could any hate-watcher not be convinced, overcome by festive joy and left with a powerful yearning for crafted festive snaps or a vegetable display where broccoli is organized in the shape of a festive circle?
Meghan was once an actress for a living, of course, but nonetheless, after the degree of scrutiny she has weathered since she met Prince Harry, the love child of Meryl Streep and Judi Dench would find it hard to appear this naturally. Her decision to change or even soften her persona, despite it being so constantly, widely parodied, is weirdly comforting. In our unpredictable world, here is one thing we can count on: Meghan will be like this, whatever happens. We will consistently know our position with her.
If you're still not buying her message, a point that will certainly come as a comfort: you are not obligated to. The UK has abolished mandatory conscription in this country, and should it be reinstated, it would be improbable to include viewing With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, conversely, you choose to watch and are overcome with longing about her flawless Christmas, you can take solace either. Whether you're a duchess or a office worker, no kid truly appreciates the effort and hard work their mother does in December. So you can find comfort by picturing the young royals' faces when they open a handwritten message that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a DIY festive calendar, in place of a sweet treat.
