The latest episode of The Simpsons makes history by featuring both a deaf voice actor and the use of American Sign Language (ASL) for the first time in the show's run. The Simpsons is the longest running scripted animated television series in the history of American television, debuting all the way back in 1989. The hit animated show has accumulated over 30 Emmy awards and countless other accolades in its long run, and is showing no signs of slowing down. With new episodes still airing weekly, The Simpsons season 33 still continues to produce episodes that manage to have firsts for the series.
This past Sunday, The Simpsons continued its historic run, releasing season 33, episode 17, entitled “The Sounds of Bleeding Gums.” The episode follows Lisa as she meets Monk Murphy, the son of her late musical idol “Bleeding Gums” Murphy, and finds out that he was born deaf and originally desired to have a cochlear implant. At first, Lisa is eager to help Monk but is ultimately humbled when she realizes that his life doesn’t need changing.
As reported by Variety, this latest episode of The Simpsons marks the first time the show has ever featured the use of ASL, as well as including the show's first-ever deaf voice actor. The episode features actor John Autry II, who is a deaf person, as well as the talents of other deaf performers, including comedian Kathy Buckley. Episode writer Loni Steele Sosthand said the Simpsons episode was inspired by her life growing up with her father who loved jazz, and her brother who was born deaf. Sosthand goes on to explain how the episode has moments from her childhood with her brother, but also influences from Autry’s life.
"When we were talking about this Bleeding Gums character in our initial brainstorms, we thought, wouldn’t it be cool if Lisa discovers this whole other side of his life. That led to him having a son, and then we based that character at least somewhat on my brother. And the story grew from there.”
The latest Simpsons episode is both a historic first for the long-running animation, as well as a touching tribute to the deaf community. The Simpsons has helped shine a spotlight on both ASL and the deaf community by partnering with No Limits (a non-profit organizationn devoted to deaf children), from which three youngsters offer their talents to the new episode. Originally, creators were worried about including ASL in The Simpsons due to the fact that the characters famously only have four fingers. While this was a "tricky" feat, Sosthand believes they ultimately "pulled it off."
In recent years, on-screen representation of the deaf community has been increasing. In 2019, The Sound of Metal, a film about a drummer struggling with the sudden loss of his hearing, released on Prime Video and won both Best Sound and Best Editing at the Oscars. In 2021, Marvel's Eternals brought the first deaf superhero to the screen in Lauren Ridloff's Makkari. Additionally, CODA, a film about an aspiring singer who comes from a deaf family, released on Apple TV+ and landed both Best Writing and Best Picture awards at the 2022 Oscars. Sosthand admits that the release of this episode of The Simpsons so close to CODA winning Best Picture was truly “serendipitous” timing, emphasising that "there are so many stories to be told” from the deaf community, and now a series as iconic as The Simpsons has added to these.
Source: Variety