Is it Love or Abuse of Power? Shadow and Archetype in TELL THEM YOU LOVE ME

Jul 25, 2024

Director Nick August-Perna discusses the controversial documentary 'Tell Them You Love Me' focusing on race, power, and consent. They explore societal attitudes towards race, disability, and consent, the complexities of love and power dynamics, and the challenges of communication and perception in films involving individuals with disabilities. The podcast delves into unconscious projections in relationships and explores archetypal themes impacting human behavior.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

ANECDOTE

Documentary's Complex True Story

Director Nick August-Perna recounts how Anna Stubblefield used facilitated communication to claim unlocking Derek Johnson, leading to a controversial sexual relationship.
The relationship's revelation led to Anna's trial and conviction for sexual assault, sparking complex ethical debates.

INSIGHT

Understanding Facilitated Communication

Facilitated communication claims to enable nonverbal individuals to express thoughts by physical support, though it remains highly controversial.
The ambitious goal is independent typing after progressive reduction of facilitator contact, though success is rare.

INSIGHT

Scientific Rejection of Facilitated Communication

Facilitated communication was widely discredited due to evidence facilitators, not disabled persons, often authored the messages.
Double-blind tests revealed facilitators unknowingly guide the typing, undermining method credibility.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

Can we protect ourselves and others from powerful projections that confuse reality and make us vulnerable in ways we cannot imagine?

In honest and open discussion, we meet with director Nick August-Perna, whose controversial documentary, "Tell Them You Love Me," has set off a firestorm. Rutgers professor Anna Stubblefield claimed to unlock Derrick Johnson through facilitated communication. Debate erupted about whether Johnson, a nonverbal Black man with cerebral palsy, could give consent. Was this true love, or an abuse of power? Race, informed consent, the personal autonomy of people with intellectual disabilities, and overwhelming archetypal dynamics must be grasped to understand the complex forces at work in their relationship, and the reactions others felt when it was discovered.

Prepare to discover what disrupts the balance between love and power; how personal biases and psychological projections shape our interactions and ethical decisions; which societal attitudes towards race, disability, and consent need critical examination and reform; whether facilitated communication can authentically reflect the thoughts of nonverbal individuals or merely the facilitator’s fantasies; why we need multiple voices, divergent feelings, and cultural tensions to surface without simple resolutions to expand consciousness.

LOOK & GROW

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Join THIS JUNGIAN LIFE DREAM SCHOOL⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Do you have a topic you want us to cover?⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠WE NEED YOUR HELP! Become a patron to keep TJL running.⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Lisa’s leading a retreat in ITALY!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠We've got totally NEW MERCH!⁠⁠⁠⁠

If you’ve been struggling in the dark trying to find the keys to unlock your dreams, help has arrived. Order your copy of ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Dream Wise: Unlocking the Meaning of Your Dreams⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ from the hosts of This Jungian Life podcast and open the secret door.