Is the “Soft White Underbelly” Exploiting People on the Fringes of Society?
By: Amy The Maritimer
Tags: Social Media, News, YouTube, Media, Equality

Meet the Whitaker family

I have decided to talk about one of the newer videos on the Soft White Underbelly Youtube channel. I chose this video because the way the family was treated during the video really bothered me.

This video was about a family of elderly people who reside in a small town in the Appalachian region of the United States.

The title for this video? “Inbred Family- The Whitakers”.

The video depicts a family of three siblings and a cousin living in a small home with several dogs.

This is what Mark Laita states in the video description:

“The individuals in this video are brothers and sisters, except for Timmy who is a cousin. There is no way I would be able to confirm that the Whitaker parents were related, but given that this does happen in this part of the country and the Whitakers are the most extreme case I’ve seen so far, I would bet that inbreeding was at least partly responsible for the mental and physical abnormalities seen in Lorraine, Freddie, Ray, and Timmy.

“To be clear about my interaction with the family, I brought them pizzas and soft drinks and paid them nicely, which goes a long way in southwestern West Virginia where the average yearly income is as low as $12K a year in some counties. This was my fourth visit and I’ve given the family a financial gift each time“.

In a disclaimer shown at the beginning of the video, it reveals that a neighbor showed up during the filming of the interview with a shotgun and threatened Mark Laita to leave the Whitakers alone.

The neighbor left after Laita spoke to him.

Ray, the only living son in the Whitaker family, is eager to talk and welcomes Laita into their home.

Ray’s sisters (The more talkative sister did not give her name and Lorraine, who may be non-verbal as well) and the cousin Timmy seem almost apprehensive about Laita’s presence at their home. They sit on old armchairs on their dilapidated porch, silent and aware.

Their parents died long ago.

Ray is obviously a kind soul, cradling a dog as Laita “interviews” him.

Ray is non-verbal and can only communicate by barking like the tiny dog he has in his lap.

While taking us on a very brief tour of their property, Ray has a big smile on his face and barks at the camera as if he is saying “What a nice day we are having today, thank you for visiting me!”

When Laita asks him about his life, he gesticulates and it is fully apparent that while he can understand the questions he is being asked, he is not capable to answer them verbally.

Ray’s two sisters are relaxing on their porch while Laita asks them invasive questions about their parents such as “Were your parents brother and sister, or cousins or something?” and “The mental disorder that Ray has, what is that from?”.

Obviously embarrassed, the sisters shake their heads to say no and the verbal sister gives one or two-word answers to these inquires. She is not fully answering Laita’s questions even though she is able to.

The interview clips are separated by a slow-motion “zoom-in” on the Whitaker’s family photos. The camera makes it obvious that it is focusing on their dirty clothes.

They look blissfully happy in these photographs, which were shot by Laita.

Laita asks Ray about his brother Freddy who died of a heart attack. Ray looks like he wants to talk about Freddy, but he can’t.

Ray’s verbal sister is clearly exhibiting closed-off body language. Whenever Laita asks her a question, she looks like she knows more than she’s comfortable saying.

She has the right to protect her family’s privacy and if she doesn’t want to answer Laita’s questions, she shouldn’t.

When Laita says goodbye, the three family members sit on the couch and barely acknowledge him.

Ray looks happy.

I think he was just happy to have someone new to talk to.