Yes, it's Packed with Nonsense, Over-the-Top Hospitality and Psychobabble. Yet I Truly Cherish Meghan's Christmas Special.
No considering the season, it's perpetually open season for scrutiny on the Meghan Markle's Netflix series, With Love, Meghan. Reviewers, from seasoned journalists to online pundits, have rarely been so united as when enthusiastically shredding the program's first and second seasons to shreds. The common opinion seemed to be a greater royal outrage had seldom occurred than the now-infamous snack re-labeling incident.
Presently, in the spirit of a holiday maverick, she makes a comeback once again with a "Holiday Celebration" (also known as a holiday episode). But this time, it's different. The usual elements audiences anticipate – vague self-help platitudes, intense hospitality – remain, but within the context of a holiday show, it all clicks into place. The elements have slid into place; it's a ideal seasonal storm.
At this stage, Meghan resembles the quirky relative at most festive family gatherings – dispensing unasked-for guidance, and delivering 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 an interesting figure, but her aura is known and strangely comforting. And she appears content; she's causing any harm.
She knows her every micro expression, utterance and glance will be dissected and criticised, but manages to seem unburdened and serenely untroubled.
Perhaps this is the initial instance in history where that well-worn saying – "Ignore them, they're just jealous" – might be true. Because, let's face it, each element in Meghan's Holiday Celebration honestly feels charming. Granted, it's all cringily ultra-extra, silliness and flamboyant – but doesn't that represent just what Yuletide is all about? And the talk she's talking might be ridiculous, but the example she sets genuinely looks shop-bought.
Whatever she turns her beautifully manicured, diamond-adorned hand to, she executes with panache. Her cooking looks delicious, the wreath she crafts is stunning, her gifts are almost too pretty to unwrap. Nothing is ordinary or aesthetically displeasing – even the way she fastens her apron is artful and chic. 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 thoroughly enjoying herself throughout. How could any skeptical viewer not be charmed, bursting with festive joy and left with a deep longing for personalized Christmas crackers or a vegetable display where greens is arranged in the shape of a Christmas ring?
Meghan was once an actress for a living, of course, but even so, after the degree of attention she has endured from the moment she met Prince Harry, even a hypothetical offspring of two legendary actresses would struggle to act this authentically. Her unwillingness to alter or even soften her shtick, despite it being so constantly, internationally ridiculed, is oddly heartening. In our uncertain world, here is something we can depend on: Meghan will stay true to form, come what may. We will forever know where we are with her.
If you're still not buying what she's selling, a reminder that will undoubtedly come as a relief: you aren't required to. We don't have mandatory conscription anymore, and if there were, it would be doubtful to include watching With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, however, you willingly check it out and are overcome with longing about her flawless Christmas, there is hope either. Be you a royal or a office worker, no kid fully understands the dedication and labor their mum does in December. So you can find comfort by picturing Archie and Lilibet's faces when they reveal a handwritten message that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a homemade Advent calendar, in place of a chocolate.
