Yes, it's Full of Nonsense, Over-the-Top Hospitality and Self-Help Jargon. However, I Honestly Cherish Meghan's Christmas Special.
No considering the season, it's constantly fair game for criticism on the Duchess of Sussex's TV show, With Love, Meghan. Commentators, expert and amateur alike, have rarely been so united as when eagerly tearing the series' earlier episodes to pieces. The common opinion seemed to be a bigger monarchy-related faux pas had never been witnessed than the notorious snack re-labeling incident.
Now, like a merry renegade master, she has returned once again with a "Christmas Special" (also known as a holiday episode). However on this occasion, things have shifted. The standard components we've come to expect – vague self-help platitudes, overzealous entertaining – remain, but within the context of a yuletide episode, suddenly it all makes sense. The elements have slid perfectly; it's a ideal seasonal storm.
Now, Meghan is like the eccentric aunt at the typical holiday get-together – dispensing random tips, 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 aura is known and oddly reassuring. And she looks content; she's causing the slightest hurt.
She knows her every micro expression, syllable and gaze will be picked apart and criticised, but manages to seem unburdened and remarkably at ease.
Perhaps this is the only time in history where that old chestnut – "Don't listen, it's pure jealousy" – may well be true. Because, you know what?, everything in Meghan's Holiday Celebration is delightful. Admittedly, it's all cringily ultra-extra, silliness and extravagant – but doesn't that represent just what the holiday season is about? And the words she speaks might be absurd, but the example she sets appears to be impeccably styled.
Anything she attempts, she executes with style. Her recipes looks delicious, the festive decoration she creates is breathtaking, her gifts are practically too exquisite to unwrap. Nothing is average or ugly – including the way she ties her kitchen garment is stylish and elegant. She doesn't bung a meal in the oven, it "has a moment", and she folds gift paper like an paper-folding expert. She also seems to be completely savoring herself the entire time. How could any skeptical viewer not be charmed, overcome by seasonal cheer and left with a powerful yearning for crafted festive snaps or a crudites platter where greens is organized in the shape of a wreath?
Meghan had a career in acting for a living, obviously, but despite that, after the intensity of examination she has endured since she became involved with Prince Harry, even a hypothetical offspring of two legendary actresses would have difficulty behaving this authentically. Her unwillingness to modify or even soften her shtick, even though it being so relentlessly, internationally ridiculed, is strangely reassuring. In our volatile world, here is something we can rely on: Meghan will remain herself, whatever happens. We will consistently know where we are with her.
If you're not yet convinced by her brand, a thought that will surely come as a comfort: you are not obligated to. We don't have national service these days, and were it to return, it would be doubtful to include streaming With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, conversely, you choose to watch and are gripped with longing about her flawless Christmas, all is not lost either. If you are a duchess or a data administrator, hardly any child fully understands the time and energy their mother expends in December. So you can take heart by imagining her children's faces when they unfold a handwritten message that says, 'I love you because you are brave,' from a handcrafted holiday countdown, rather than a chocolate.
