Meghan Markle? – Let Her Live!
Was the show boring? Inauthentic? Maybe. But don't confuse criticism with racism and misogyny.
Here’s my two cents on Netflix's new lifestyle series With Love, Meghan by Meghan Markle. She’s world-famous, rich, and beautiful, and the promise of her new show was to give the audience a glimpse of how to embody that in their own lives.
How did she do? To some, With Love, Meghan was quite boring and didn’t feel very authentic. To me, it felt like any other cooking show. Everything looked beautiful, and I actually enjoyed her ideas and conversations with her guests.
It seemed like there was a lot of pressure for her to be perfect and to give the audience what they wanted—maybe even to change the narrative. The public's reaction to Meghan has never been simple. Was this time any different?
The audience wanted her to be authentic, but when has anyone from the royal family—or that world—ever felt real? Celebrities are not just like us. No royal or ultra-rich person has ever seemed relatable to me. So why were people surprised that she wasn’t “real” enough?
The vast majority of the critics’ takes have echoed the same tone the press has always used when covering her.
As Alanna Bennett wrote for Refinery29:
“The press and the public's relationship to Markle has been rooted in misogynoir since the moment her relationship with Prince Harry became public. They called her ‘straight out of Compton’ and used a white woman's alleged tears to vilify her. Markle was so horrifically treated by the press, the public, and reportedly the royal family that the experience very directly drove her to suicidal ideation. ‘I didn't want to be alive anymore,’ Markle told Oprah.”
This time around, the criticism has been so heavily affected by misogyny and racism that it is heartbreaking. It says an awful lot about our time. Suddenly, the media is back with stories like “Meghan robbed Harry from us” and “She is too this and that.”
There is this persistent narrative that Black women are either “never enough” or “too much.” She remains the media’s favorite villain. Allison Pearson even wrote for The Telegraph, “I hate to think what the late Queen would have made of With Love, Meghan.” That is just ridiculous.
I don’t think she did a better or worse job than any other public figure turned TV host. Yes, she spent some time with the Firm, and people wanted to hear about it. Maybe in season two? Maybe never.
Ultimately, it’s not about whether With Love, Meghan was good or bad. It’s about the fact that her story has always been in someone else’s hands, viewed through a misogynistic and racist lens.
This time, let her have her own narrative. Let her live.