What is Louis Theroux’s Tell Them You Love Me about? Netflix documentary dubbed the ‘new’ Baby Reindeer explained
LOUIS Theroux is no stranger to controversy, having made shows about Scientology, neo-Nazis and even Jimmy Saville.
And his new documentary Tell Them You Love Me is no exception — here’s everything you need to know.
What is Louis Theroux’s Tell Them You Love Me about?
Hailed by some as the ‘new’ Baby Reindeer, Louis’ documentary Tell Them You Love me has topped Netflix’s global chart in the US.
The show centres on Professor Anna Stubblefield, the sexual relationship she had with a disabled man in her care, and the ensuing court case.
Louis told The Sun’s Felicity Cross: “At its heart is a mystery — whether two people were in a Romeo and Juliet love story or whether it is a horrific crime.
“I think its success speaks to how powerful and emotionally complex the story is. You never quite know where it will go next.
“It was nearly ten years ago that I first came across this story. It was a struggle to get the film commissioned.”
Executive producer Arron Fellows said: “Its success shows how captivated audiences are by real-life stories, even sensitive ones.”
Louis added: “It shows films you might think are risky or troubling or ‘difficult’ can also be compelling and reach a big audience.”
Who is Anna Stubblefield from Tell Them You Love Me and what did she do?
Stubblefield is a female professor who had an affair with a non-speaking man with cerebral palsy and the mental age of an 18-month-old child.
When Stubblefield, then 39, met Derrick Johnson in 2009, his family hoped her expertise in “facilitated communication” could help their nearly mute son, then 28, to communicate using a keypad.
However, within a few months their relationship had become sexual in nature
Johnson’s family were horrified and doubted if he had consented, as Stubblefield was driving his thoughts on the keypad.
The following court case captivated America — Stubblefield was eventually found guilty of aggravated sexual assault and sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Her actions were “a perfect example of a predator preying,” Superior Court Judge Siobhan Teare said before pronouncing her sentence, according to WCAU.
In October 2016, DJ and his family were awarded $4 million in a civil lawsuit against Stubblefield.
She was granted a retrial in 2017 and pled guilty to a charge of criminal sexual contact, crediting the time she had already served.
Stubblefield served only two years of her sentence before being released.
She is now divorced and lives a private life in New Jersey.
DJ is still in the care of his mother.
What happened to Derrick Johnson in Tell Them You Love Me?
Stubblefield and Johnson, aka DJ, met in 2009 when DJ’s brother John was one of the professor’s philosophy and ethics students at Rutgers University’s Newark, New Jersey campus, according to The Direct.
She believed “a person’s intellect — and the degree to which he or she is ‘disabled’ — could be as much a social construct, as much a venue for tyranny, as race, gender or sexuality,” per The New York Times.
Stubblefield started to work with DJ and his family using facilitated communication — “a technique that involves a person with a disability pointing to letters, pictures, or objects on a keyboard or a communication board, typically with physical support from a ‘facilitator,'” as defined by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.
The sessions were initially supervised, but as they became more frequent, Stubblefield started to go to DJ’s home, where he lived with his mother and caregiver Daisy.
After spending time with Stubblefield, DJ learned how to communicate using a keyboard and computer screen, and was even eventually able to take a college class.
By 2011, the teacher and student had begun a romantic relationship and planned to tell DJ’s family.
The announcement, which they made to the family on Memorial Day, was teased in the documentary’s trailer.
“We all sit down and there just seemed to be this awkwardness,” John said.
“She grabs Derrick’s hand and on the keyboard comes up, ‘We are in love.'”
Daisy chimed in saying, “She said, ‘Yes, we have made love.'”
She added that Stubblefield said DJ is “a man in every sense of the word.”
Stubblefield told DJ’s family she planned to leave her husband and children for him.
Daisy and John, shocked by the news and confused about how it could be possible, reported Stubblefield to the police.
What condition does Derrick Johnson from Tell Them You Love Me have?
DJ surfers from cerebral palsy — a group of lifelong conditions that affect muscle control, movement and coordination.
The condition affects an estimated 30,000 children in the UK, with an additional 1,800 children diagnosed each year.
It’s usually caused by a problem with the brain that occurs before, during or after birth.
Symptoms of cerebral palsy aren’t obvious immediately after a baby is born, but they tend to become noticeable during the first two or three years of a child’s life.
According to the NHS, symptoms can include:
- delays in reaching development milestones – eg. not sitting up by eight months or not walking by 18 months
- seeming too stiff or too floppy
- weakness in arms or legs
- jerky or clumsy movements
- walking on tip-toes
- swallowing difficulties
- speaking problems
- learning disabilities
- The severity of symptoms can vary – some of those with the condition only experience minor problems, while others may be severely disabled.
How to watch Tell Them You Love Me
Tell Them You Love Me is a Sky Original documentary, which is currently available on Netflix in the US — but not the UK.
A UK release date for Netflix hasn’t been reported yet.
On this side of the Atlantic, it is available either on Sky Documentaries, or to stream on NOW.