'I met US's most inbred family - one thing from this day haunts me'
Mark Laita, who initially produced a video about the Whittakers in Odd, West Virginia, five years ago, has repeatedly returned to provide updates on the family which he posts on YouTube.
The inbreeding within the Whittaker family began when the offspring of identical twin brothers Henry and John wed and produced children. This led to generations of inbreeding, resulting in many of the children enduring severe disabilities.
Laita explained when he first learnt of the family, it proved difficult to approach them as the locals are extremely protective of them. Eventually, he located a police officer to escort him to their home.
The filmmaker recounted in an episode of the Koncrete Klips podcast: "We came around to this road, which turns into a country road, which turns into a dirt road.", reports the Mirror US. The documentary maker has created several films about the family (Image: Youtube/, Soft White Underbelly)
He added: "Then we come to this trailer and then a little shack on the other side of the road. And there's these people walking around and their eyes are going in different directions and they are barking at us."
Laita described his initial encounter with the family as resembling something from the thriller film Deliverance. He said: "One guy, you would look him in the eye or say anything and he would just scream and go running away, and his pants would fall around his ankles, and he would go running off and go and kick a garbage can. And this would happen over and over. It was out of control - the craziest thing I have ever seen."
Initially, the family were reluctant to speak with Laita, but he gradually developed a rapport with them after offering to snap photographs of them to place in a relative's coffin.
He returned subsequently to film Inbred Family - The Whittakers in 2020. The Whittaker family suffer from a range of issues (Image: Soft White Underbelly /Youtube)
He confessed it was "hard to communicate with them" but has since produced videos for his YouTube channel, Soft White Underbelly, chronicling their existence.
The clips bear titles such as "Christmas season with the Whittakers", "The Whittaker family cemetery", and "The Whittakers go to the state fair".
Laita revealed that throughout the years, he has encountered varied responses from audiences regarding his footage.
He said some brand him an "exploitative b******" whilst others consider the content "incredible".
He acknowledged his work was exploitative, but argued it was inescapable in existence, stating: "It feels exploitative but I think it's good for us all to know that these things exist. The hotel I'm staying at, they're exploiting my need for sleep. The restaurant I ate breakfast at is exploiting my hunger. Everything is exploitative. Photography and video are especially by nature exploitative."
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