In the documentary Tell Them You Love Me, a relationship between a married white professor and a Black man with cerebral palsy sparks controversy when the man’s mother alleges that her son is incapable of consent — leading to a nationwide debate over power dynamics, disability, and race. Directed by Nick August-Perna (The Swell Season) and executive produced by Louis Theroux (My Scientology Movie) and Arron Fellows (Louis Theroux Interviews ... ) for Mindhouse (Can I Tell You a Secret?), the film documents the true story of Anna Stubblefield and Derrick Johnson.
“It’s a complex film about some very nuanced ideas,” August-Perna tells Tudum. “For me, it’s about people who became enmeshed in a tragedy together.”
“I came to this story originally via a New York Times article, maybe 10 years ago, and I was riveted by it,” Theroux tells Tudum. “It sat on the fault lines of so many big social questions — around race, sexuality, and, yes, disability.”
The documentary details the case against Anna Stubblefield, a former Rutgers University-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.
Over the course of their meetings, Stubblefield — who was married at the time — says the two fell in love and had a consensual sexual relationship. However, Derrick Johnson’s mother, Daisy Johnson, says her son didn’t have the capacity to engage in physical or emotional intimacy, and the extent to which he used a keyboard to communicate with her wouldn’t have been possible unless Stubblefield was manipulating his hands.
About tackling the sensitivities involved in the project, August-Perna says striking the right tone was paramount. “More than anything, I knew I had to get the balance and the integrity of the storylines just right, to reveal things at just the right times.”
The film — which includes interviews with Stubblefield, Daisy Johnson, John Johnson, facilitated communication advocate Rosemary Crossley, and Dr. Howard Shane, director of Boston Children’s Center for Communication Enhancement — traces the beginning of Derrick Johnson and Stubblefield’s time together and the trial that followed.
“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,” co-executive producer Fellows tells Tudum. “The film is all the more powerful because of that.”
Anna Stubblefield in Tell Them You Love Me
Daisy Johnson in Tell Them You Love Me
Facilitated communication — also referred to as FC, assisted typing, or supported typing — is a widely scientifically discredited method used to assist people with communication disabilities. The practice typically involves a facilitator physically supporting a person with disabilities as they type on a keyboard or point to letters and pictures in an effort to help them communicate. According to a position statement by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), “There is no scientific evidence of the validity of FC,” citing extensive evidence that suggests messages that emerge from using this technique are from the facilitator, not the person with the disability. In addition to ASHA, the American Psychological Association and the Association for Science in Autism Treatment are among the organizations that have rejected the practice.
“Facilitated communication is definitely, in my view, a flawed methodology, though I believe it can work for some people in some cases,” Theroux says of what he’s learned about the technique. But the question of whether the method is to blame for what occurred between the film’s subjects, Theroux says, is a bit more complicated. “I think the other culprit is the vanity of presuming we know what is best for someone,” he adds. “Disabled people who are nonverbal or who struggle to speak [are] by definition more vulnerable to misinterpretation, which raises the stakes and makes it all potentially catastrophic.”
Adds August-Perna, “Communication is power. We have a moral obligation to take it incredibly seriously when it’s either missing, or when it gets hijacked.”
Derrick Johnson and his brother, John Johnson
The documentary takes place in Irvington, New Jersey, where the Johnsons live, and West Orange, New Jersey, where Stubblefield lives.
In 2015, Stubblefield was found guilty on two counts of first degree aggravated sexual assault and sentenced to 12 years in prison. In 2017, the former professor’s appeal was granted and her conviction revoked, on a technicality: In her initial trial, the court had dismissed testimony related to facilitated communication. Stubblefield accepted a plea deal for a lesser charge and was released from prison after serving two years. Having been suspended from Rutgers-Newark before her arrest for allegations of improper conduct with Derrick Johnson, she obtained a job as a restaurant server upon her release. Within a year, she was let go from that position due to publicity surrounding her plea bargain, and now does unspecified part-time work from home.
In regard to the conviction being overturned, August-Perna says there’s not a simple answer. “It’s complicated because of the material evidence that was barred from the courtroom in the original trial,” he says. “I don’t know if it would have made a difference in the outcome, but most legal experts I’ve spoken to agree with the appellate decision.”
After summarizing Stubblefield’s trial, sentencing, and her eventual release, the documentary ends by paying a visit to Derrick Johnson at his New Jersey home, where he lives with his mother. Regarding the director’s decision to show Derrick Johnson in the final scene, Theroux says, “It was important to remind viewers of who the central character in the film is, and to tune out all the other voices for a moment. The bigger picture is, he’s healthy, he’s safe, he’s provided for, he’s loved, but we’re also maybe wondering how much more he may be capable of, how much more life might have to offer him were his circumstances different.”
“It’s a film where each dramatic reveal unlocks new questions, and we wanted that unlocking to play out until the very last images,” August-Perna says.
Stream Tell Them You Love Me on Netflix now.
