If You Could See What I Hear

Plot summary

Tom Sullivan (Marc Singer) is a blind college student who wants to be normal. When not in class, Tom hangs out with his friend, Will Sly (R. H. Thomson), who does not treat him like a blind person. In fact, he goes out of his way to challenge Tom. Tom likes to go jogging while Will leads him on his bicycle. Will leads him past obstacles such as park benches, shouting out "Bench!" at the last moment so Tom has to jump over it.

On campus, Tom meets a black woman named Heather Johnson (Shari Belafonte), with whom he falls in love. But she breaks off the relationship because "the black and white thing," coupled with Tom's blindness, is too complicated for her. Crushed by Heather's abandonment and experiencing loneliness, Tom continues to struggle with himself, still denying that his blindness affects his "normalcy". Then he meets his future wife, Patti Steffen (Sarah Torgov), and his life changes irreversibly.

The movie is most infamous for the scene where while Tom is on the phone with someone, his stepdaughter, Blythe, falls in their indoor pool and nearly drowns, and he, upon realizing she is missing, manages to find her at the bottom of the pool and save her life.

Cast

Reception

The film was critically panned. Roger Ebert pointed out that the film was intended to be "inspirational and uplifting" and stated that Sullivan "comes across in this movie like a refugee from Animal House. His idea of overcoming his handicap is to party all night." He and Gene Siskel selected the film as one of the worst of the year in a 1982 episode of Sneak Previews.