Tell Them You Love Me

Tell Them You Love Me explores the extraordinary story of Anna Stubblefield, an esteemed university professor who becomes embroiled in a controversial affair with Derrick Johnson, a non-verbal man with cerebral palsy. The relationship, and the criminal trial that followed, would challenge our perceptions of disability and the nature of consent.

Anna Stubblefield was a respected academic and a disability rights advocate; passionate in her belief that the most essential part of the human experience is the ability to communicate.

Derrick Johnson was a 30-year-old man with cerebral palsy and had never spoken a word in his life. As a child it was also determined that he had severely limited intellectual capacity.

But Anna disagreed with this diagnosis, and when she first told Derrick’s family that she could help him communicate they were thrilled. His mother and brother had always sensed there was more going on inside Derrick, and they were eager to know what he thought about all day long, when he might be in pain, what his hopes and dreams were.

Anna began working with him using a highly controversial technique that involved training him to overcome his physical impairments so that he could type on a keyboard. After two years she was delighted to report that not only could Derrick communicate, but he had learned to express complex thoughts, attend college classes, and write thoughtful essays. Derrick, she said, was a highly intelligent man.

But there was more. Despite tremendous risks to her career and her personal life, she had become intimate with Derrick. They were in love, she said. But when the relationship was disclosed to Derrick’s family Anna was arrested and charged with sexual assault.

The trial that followed would be one of the most complex and divisive criminal cases in recent times. It would raise questions about Anna’s motivations and the validity of the relationship itself.

Through exclusive footage and interviews with those on both sides of the case, this feature documentary weaves a riveting and endlessly nuanced story about communication, race, and sex.

I watched this recently with great interest. I came away wondering why the family was prepared to accept Derrick’s academic intelligence, but yet found it so difficult to see him as an adult who could understand an adult relationship.

More of my thoughts on FC can be found here.