Review: The Simpsons “The Sound of Bleeding Gums”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Lisa meets the son of the late musician Bleeding Gums Murphy and attempts to improve his life.

Our Take:

The Simpsons are back again after their one-week hiatus, and it appears that their latest adventure is about to make history once again. This episode reintroduces another memorable supporting character in the form of Bleeding Gums Murphy (voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson), but only as a ghost. More importantly, it introduces a new character for the season: Murphy’s son Monk (John Autry II), who is born deaf and needs a cochlear implant.

This episode is pretty essential for plenty of reasons. The main one is that it marks the first time in the show’s history to feature a deaf actor. Additionally, it’ll have the characters using American Sign Language. This couldn’t have come at a better time, as the deaf community reigned supreme at the Oscars two weeks ago with “CODA” winning Best Picture. Even though the story wasn’t developed after the release of the fantastic drama, it was nice to see The Simpsons take the opportunity to represent the deaf community in animation. It took them three decades to finally showcase the community, and it paid off reasonably well.

Along with its good portrayal of deaf people, “The Sound of Bleeding Gums” offers an enjoyable Lisa-focused plot that sees her discovering Murphy’s past and fighting against the mistreatment of jazz music in commercials. It also has Lisa learning to listen to others about what they want instead of what she thinks they want. For example, Lisa wants to help make Monk’s life better by saving his late father’s music and getting his implant, but Monk is happy with who he is. This prompted Lisa to create a record player that allowed Monk to hear Murphy’s music for the first time.  

The Simpsons may be known for some crass humor and pop culture references, but in this episode’s case, it shows that the creators have much care in representing real-life issues, especially people from different communities. John Autry II makes for a stellar guest star with his performance as Monk, and the script was handled thoughtfully by Loni Steele Sosthand, whose brother is also deaf. Those elements showcase the creators’ admirable attempt to provide authenticity in the show, both on and behind the scenes. I would also give it credit for trying to have characters perform ASL with only four fingers. That must be challenging for them to animate, which would explain why it’s only showcased at the end of the episode. It’s pretty brief, but it’s also a neat treat to see the characters perform the impossible without their fifth finger.

Overall, “The Sound of Bleeding Gums” sees the show making history once again in its 33-season run. Its representation of the deaf community and a solid Lisa-focused storyline makes this a worthy historic moment for The Simpsons. Its humor also injected some enjoyment into the episode, mainly from Bart bothering Lisa and the flashback involving Lisa and Murphy performing “Driving Miss Daisy”. With “CODA” winning Best Picture and this week’s episode, it’s safe to say that the deaf community has a bright future in the media industry, especially in animation.