I have never seen any other production of South Pacific, but one thing that I was surprised by was that the primary emotion in "Happy Talk" was desperation. Bloody Mary must sell her vision to Cable, and as you say, there's nothing really "happy" about her "Happy Talk."
For all the reasons stated by others in this thread, I'm not thrilled that Bloody Mary sings this song with a generic "exotic" accent rather than one that is likely to be accurate, but that's a reflection of the period when it was written. Part of the reason why it doesn't bother me is because Bloody Mary is singing the song as a salesperson, selling the fantasy to the white guy. And throughout the show, she's selling and deal-making, and part of her sales persona is being the "exotic" native. I'm not saying it's conscious on her part, but being the "exotic" native probably makes her seem more naive and less threatening to the men. It probably helps her get better deals. If she were singing the song to her friends at home, it might bother me more, but here, the "exotic" accent and broken grammar is just part of her sales uniform with the sailors. |
