Indeed, it's Brimming with Gibberish, Extreme Hosting and Psychobabble. However, I Honestly Adore Meghan's Christmas Special.
No concerned with the season, it's constantly fair game for criticism on the Meghan Markle's TV show, With Love, Meghan. Commentators, both professional and armchair, have rarely been so united as when enthusiastically shredding the program's first and second seasons apart. The common opinion held that a greater royal outrage had seldom occurred than the now-infamous snack re-labeling incident.
Presently, as a festive rebel, she has returned for another round with a "Festive Special" (also known as a yuletide episode). Yet now, it's different. The standard components viewers are accustomed to – vague self-help platitudes, extreme hosting – persist, but framed of a yuletide episode, the purpose becomes clear. The puzzle has come perfectly; it's a flawless festive blizzard.
By this point, Meghan has become the eccentric aunt at Christmas celebrations everywhere – providing unasked-for guidance, and contributing the occasional strange exclamation. ("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 pleased; she's causing the slightest hurt.
She understands her all subtle gestures, word and look will be analyzed and criticised, but still appears carefree and too blessed to be stressed.
It could be this is the initial instance in history where that clichéd phrase – "Ignore them, they're just jealous" – could actually be true. Because, let's face it, each element in Meghan's Holiday Celebration truly is charming. Granted, it's all cringily ultra-extra, foolishness and flamboyant – but isn't that precisely what the holiday season is all about? And the talk she's talking might be absurd, but the life she leads genuinely looks beautifully curated.
Anything she sets her mind to, she executes with flair. Her cooking looks tasty, the wreath she creates is gorgeous, her gifts are nearly too beautiful to tear into. Not a single thing is ordinary or ugly – even the way she secures her kitchen garment is creative and fashionable. She doesn't throw a dish in the microwave, it "has a moment", and she creases 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 won over, filled with festive joy and left with a deep longing for crafted festive snaps or a crudites platter where greens is arranged in the shape of a festive circle?
Meghan was once an actress for a living, obviously, but despite that, after the level of scrutiny she has faced from the moment she started dating Prince Harry, even a hypothetical offspring of acting royalty would have difficulty behaving this naturally. Her decision to modify or even tone down her routine, regardless of it being so persistently, widely parodied, is oddly heartening. In our unpredictable world, here is something we can depend on: Meghan will remain herself, come what may. We will consistently know our position with her.
If you're still not buying her message, a point that will undoubtedly come as a relief: you aren't required to. The UK has abolished national service in this country, and if there were, it would be improbable to include viewing With Love, Meghan: Holiday Celebration. If, on the other hand, you willingly check it out and are gripped with envy about her picture-perfect Christmas, there is hope either. Whether you're a royal or a everyday person, hardly any child fully understands the time and energy their mother puts in in December. So you can take heart by imagining her children'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 candy.