Recap of Simpsons “deaf” episode
Here is a recap of The Simpsons episode last night that featured a deaf character named Monk Murphy that was voiced by a hard of hearing actor, John Autry II.
I watched it and there was one short scene with sign language. The majority of the scenes with Monk had him lipreading and using his voice to speak to others.
The episode opened with Lisa Simpson being shocked and angered that music from her idol Bleeding Gums Murphy, who has already died and speaks to her through dreams and visions, is being used in lotto advertisements. Lisa wants to stop this, and in her journey, ends up finding out that Bleeding Gums had a son, Monk.
Lisa meets Monk at his home and they speak to each other like two hearing people would. But when Lisa uses her phone to play music by his father, Monk says, “I can’t enjoy music because I am profoundly deaf.”
Monk then shared how his father found out he couldn’t hear. A flashback cutscene showed a younger Bleeding Gums and his musician partner coming home late at night, in which they stumble and accidentally clang their cymbals. Monk is only a baby at the time and doesn’t react. Bleeding Gums then clangs the cymbals at close range and weeps when he realizes his baby is deaf.
The next scene is at a hospital. A doctor explains that with cochlear implant surgery combined with auditory and language therapy, he could hear quite well, but that it is only for rich people.
So -- I’m pausing the recap here — this is an antiquated concept of cochlear implants, that people would have to pay thousands out of pocket. The cost of the surgery became a major storyline in a similar way as the film “Sound of Metal” when its main character, after losing his hearing, decided to sell his RV and music equipment to pay for cochlear implant surgery. But health insurance companies and Medicare/Medicaid have been covering the cost of cochlear implant surgery since 2004.
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Now, back to the recap of this episode. Monk tells Lisa that he wants to pay for a cochlear implant, but can’t because of the costs. Monk did say he does like being deaf because he can simply close his eyes and turn it all off.
Later, Monk takes Lisa to a deaf school, and it appears to be an oral school because all the students speak and lipread. But there is one scene in which a student and Monk sign, “Son of York” as a part of a stage reading for a play. The animated ASL was perfect. It would have been cool to see more ASL throughout the episode.
The episode ends with Monk finding the money to pay for a cochlear implant surgery because he ironically bought a winning lotto ticket. The last scene is Monk getting his implant tested and turned on. He cries when he hears his father’s music in a scene that is familiar to many of us — those videos of children or adults crying when their implants are activated.
So, that’s the episode recap. It is notable that a hard of hearing actor voiced Monk but the concepts about deafness, cochlear implants, lipreading, and sign language are outdated and the episode feels dismissive of sign language and the Deaf community.
https://www.dailyo.in/arts/monk-murphy-the-simpsons-deaf-asl-character-season-33/story/1/35736.html
https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/cochlear-implants/frequently-asked-questions