Tell Them You Love Me

"Tell Them You Love Me" is guaranteed to blow your mind. This thought-provoking documentary tells the extraordinary and controversial story of Anna Stubblefield and Derrick Johnson, challenging our perceptions of disability and consent. Anna, an esteemed university professor, claimed to unlock Derrick's mind from his body through facilitated communication, sparking a complex and shocking relationship that led to a sensational criminal trial. The film skillfully uses exclusive footage and interviews to create a narrative that is as riveting as it is nuanced, exploring deep themes of communication, race, and sexuality.

"Tell Them You Love Me" sucks you in from the very start, making it impossible to take your eyes off the screen. The way it's filmed captures the raw and unexpected turns of this fascinating case in human psychology, offering a unique perspective on true crime. It draws you into a story that is both shocking and profoundly interesting. The documentary not only highlights the ethical and legal dilemmas faced by those involved but also raises important questions about the nature of love and agency in the context of severe disability. This is a must-watch for anyone interested in the complexities of human psychology.

From the beginning, it was made clear that, to tell this story, we had to present all angles and involve all those who were part of it. Newark ethics professor originally convicted in 2015 of sexually assaulting Derrick Johnson, a nonverbal man with cerebral palsy. The two met in 2009 through his brother, John Johnson, a student of Stubblefield's. After John Johnson approached the professor, then 39, about his brother's condition, Stubblefield offered to help Derrick Johnson, then 28, with his communication skills. He soon learned to use a keyboard with an LED screen to type and, with Stubblefield's assistance, began taking a university class. The film explores the unsettling case of Dr. Anna Stubblefield, a white Rutgers University philosophy professor and disability theorist who began working with Derrick Johnson, a non-verbal Black man with cerebral palsy and intellectual disabilities, using a scientifically questionable method to help him communicate. That method, called Facilitated Communication, involves supporting the hand of a person with motor skill issues so they can point to letters on a board or tap letters on a keyboard to express thoughts.

That movie scream racism and control... but a lot of it from personal experience. Both disability and having some interracial relationships in the past.

From the start you could see the family was going to be the issue. Example, mother seriously needs to cut the apron strings, she's just keeping Derrick tied down and isolated because she doesn't want to be alone. Her husband left her due time him. Like they said and she don't want the child she choose over husband to leave. She acts just like my dude mom has acted and has said the same things. She even guilt trips him whenever he tries to stand up to her. Brings up the time he was in the hospital for 5 months in a coma and having seizures, that she was there everyday and no one else.

The brother is super raciest as well. Saying Derrick doesn't like our gospel music, because of Anna. That he never cried like that in front is a white woman. Why does it matter if she's whites. Why not just say, I never cried like that in front of a woman in a professional setting? Everything was about black and white with him.

As far as, Anna I'm conflicted. It's hard to know exactly Derrick's mindset, but I do believe he's a grown man. Even if they act like his mentality is of that of a 12 month old. I do find it odd she knew so much about him and his life for her manipulating his hand and thoughts. Specially after Anna stopped coming around, he was showing signs of distress and self harm.

However, common sense like never bring up your sex life with anyone outside your lover and friend zone... never parents or in-laws. That's why I feel if she really was raping him she wouldn't bring it up.

I agree and believe people with special needs don't have low intelligence and that we can all learn to communicate. My son whose autistic show's me this everyday. He might not be verbal, but we find ways around to communicate. Be it pictures or sign language, that way he's not getting frustrated as easily and so he knows that he's not being isolated and not heard; and so he knows he has a voice.

I do think that what Ana did with Derek is disgusting, I can't even imagine the scene in her office with him.

However, I am very angry at Derek's family too, including mother and brother.

Derek was masturbating, so what if he was? Doesn't he have the right to do so?

I know that being sexually abused can cause people to masturbate excessively and that's a different thing, but just because he is masturbating when he is 40 in an adult body and you still think he is 2 years old and can't forget going with him to hospitals doesn't mean he is not a human being with instincts and needs.

The brother was also often irrational being on mother's side and focused on defeating Ana at any cost. I felt very angry that they did not talk about how Derek was affected by all of this, the trial, and separation from Ana , because even he didn't love her the way Ana says, there was a bond and attachment created between them that I am sure caused him much distress and pain after separation.

And the fact that the jury or other people can't even imagine a severely disabled person being loved by someone who is not disabled or loving someone himself is very undermining of the worth of people with disability and their capacities.

As much as everyone wants Derrick to be a vegetable who doesn't mind being a virgin living with his mom until he dies, he isn't. Telepathy tapes justifies the professor and it's just sad the jealous brother got in the way of the love of his life. The brother got his way tho, he stopped the perpetrator and now he's brother can live by himself with his mom decade after decade not getting any of his sexual needs met and then age and die slowly always remembering Anna as this bright spot in his youth that could've blossomed him into the sun but now he gets to act like a vegetable to please his brother.