What you should know about the Netflix documentary “Tell Them You Love Me”
Netflix is no stranger to complicated documentaries, but this month the company released one of its wackiest yet.
The true crime film “Tell Them You Love Me” has been added to the streaming giant’s program and tells the story of the controversial events between white ethics professor Anna Stubblefield and black, non-speaking man Derrick Johnson, for whose sexual abuse she was later convicted in New Jersey.
Over the course of the documentary, director Nick August-Perna and producer Louis Theroux explore the role that race, disability and power played in their dynamic and the events that unfolded. The project includes interviews with Stubblefield and Johnson, as well as several of their family members, who have passionately opposing views on their relationship.
“It’s a film where every dramatic reveal raises new questions, and we wanted that reveal to last until the very last frame,” August-Perna said in a Netflix press release. “More than anything, I knew I had to get the balance and integrity of the storylines just right to reveal things at just the right time.”
What is “Tell Them You Love Me” about?
“Tell Them You Love Me” traces the case against former Rutgers University-Newark ethics professor Anna Stubblefield, who was convicted in 2015 of sexually abusing Derrick Johnson.
Stubblefield met Johnson, who has cerebral palsy and cannot speak, in 2009 through his brother John Johnson. As one of Stubblefield’s students, John asked her to help him with Johnson’s communication skills. Stubblefield was 39 and Johnson was 28 when she began helping him with a university course by using an LED screen for him to type on.
The professor, who was married at the time, said the two developed a consensual sexual relationship after falling in love. However, Johnson’s mother, Daisy Johnson, said his condition prevented her son from displaying physical or emotional intimacy and accused Stubblefield of manipulating his hands through the keyboard.
Where is Anna Stubblefield now?
Stubblefield was found guilty of two counts of first-degree aggravated sexual assault in 2015 and sentenced to 12 years in prison. In 2017, her conviction was overturned after a judge found her trial was unfair.
After Stubblefield agreed to a plea deal that gave her a lesser sentence, she was released from prison and only had to serve two years of her original sentence.
After her release, she worked as a waitress in a restaurant, but was then fired due to the publicity of her settlement. According to the documentary, she now works “an unspecified part-time job from home.”
The documentary ends with the revelation that Derrick Johnson is living with his mother in her home in Irvington, New Jersey. The film portrays him as healthy, safe and loved.
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