Admittedly, it's Packed with Absurdity, Extreme Hosting and Psychobabble. Yet I Truly Adore Meghan's Christmas Special.
No concerned with the time of year, it's perpetually fair game for criticism on the Meghan Markle's televisual offering, With Love, Meghan. Commentators, from seasoned journalists to online pundits, have hardly ever agreed so completely as when enthusiastically shredding the series' first and second seasons to shreds. The common opinion seemed to be a more egregious regal scandal had seldom occurred than the notorious snack re-labeling incident.
Now, like a merry renegade master, she makes a comeback once again with a "Holiday Celebration" (also known as a yuletide episode). However on this occasion, the dynamic has changed. The familiar ingredients viewers are accustomed to – psychobabble word salads, overzealous entertaining – persist, but framed of a holiday show, suddenly it all makes sense. The elements have slid into place; it's a flawless festive blizzard.
Now, Meghan has become the oddball family member at Christmas celebrations everywhere – offering random tips, 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 presence is familiar and unexpectedly soothing. And she looks content; she's not doing any harm.
She knows her all subtle gestures, utterance and look will be analyzed and criticised, but still appears unburdened and remarkably at ease.
It could be this is the first occasion in history where that old chestnut – "Don't listen, it's pure jealousy" – could actually be true. The reason is, let's face it, all aspects in Meghan's Holiday Celebration truly is delightful. Admittedly, it's all painfully excessive, nonsense and flamboyant – but doesn't that represent exactly what the holiday season is about? And the advice she gives might be absurd, but the life she leads seems authentically impeccably styled.
Anything she attempts, she accomplishes with flair. Her cooking looks scrumptious, the festive decoration she creates is breathtaking, her presents are nearly too beautiful to tear into. Nothing is ordinary or aesthetically displeasing – including the way she ties her kitchen garment is creative and fashionable. She doesn't bung a dish in the microwave, it "goes for a spin", and she wraps gift paper like an paper-folding expert. She also seems to be genuinely relishing herself throughout. How could any cynical observer not be charmed, filled with seasonal cheer and left with a powerful yearning for handmade crackers or a crudites platter where broccoli is arranged in the likeness of a wreath?
Meghan was once an actress for a living, of course, but nonetheless, after the level of attention she has weathered ever since she started dating Prince Harry, even a hypothetical offspring of two legendary actresses would find it hard to appear this genuinely. Her decision to alter or even tone down her shtick, regardless of it being so persistently, widely parodied, is weirdly comforting. In our volatile world, here is one thing we can depend on: Meghan will remain herself, no matter what. We will consistently know what to expect with her.
If you're not yet convinced by what she's selling, a point that will undoubtedly come as a comfort: you are not obligated to. There isn't the draft in this country, and should it be reinstated, it would be improbable to include viewing With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, on the other hand, you choose to watch and are gripped with longing about her flawless Christmas, there is hope either. Be you a royal or a office worker, few children completely grasps the effort and hard work their parent does in December. So you can take heart by picturing her children's faces when they reveal a handwritten message that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a DIY festive calendar, rather than a chocolate.
