Mark Laita - Soft White Underbelly | The Magnificent Others with Billy Corgan
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What motivates Mark Laita to document society's invisible people?
So if your work didn't exist, what happens? Are these people in a better situation? Does the world get better without your work? At least to me, your work is one step in the right direction. They act like they want help or you think they need help, but at the end of the day, they really don't. What is the default there? Is it a lack of self-worth?
That's really why I'm doing this. That's really the core of it. The solution is not going to be fixing all these people that are already broken.
Well, thank you so much for being here. I've been obsessed with your channel.
How does Mark Laita gain the trust of his subjects?
I found it on YouTube, which is Softweight Underbelly, but you also have softweightunderbelly.com.
I do.
which is the subscription portal. For those that don't know, and I'm obsessed with your channel, and everybody I've talked to, because I said I was going to interview you, that knows your channel is obsessed with it too. So I don't know what it is about your channel. It's pretty funny. It's like once you go in, you can't get out.
I try to keep myself off camera as much as possible, and I don't really let anybody know who I am, but I still get recognized now.
Yeah, well, your voice is very distinctive. So I was in getting ready and I heard your voice in the hallway and I knew you were here because I know that voice. But for those that don't know, your channel, and I'm going to give you my characterization, but I want you to correct me. Sure.
What systemic issues contribute to homelessness and addiction?
You basically talk to people who don't get paid any attention to. I mean, we know there are people who are homeless. We know there are people who are drug addicts. We know there are pimps. Heck, the cops in every city know where the prostitutes and the pimps hang out. It's not a secret. And you give them a voice, and to me, a very warm, open voice. way to tell their story, which is sort of surprising. There's no judgment. It's just, just share your story. Um, and I, I was taken by that because, um, it was nothing to me that felt exploitative.
How does Mark Laita view the limits of charity?
It's like, this is the real world that operates on the edge of the other world that we all pretend that we're in. Is that a fair?
Yeah, that's a good, that's one of the best assessments of what I do. Oh, thank you.
That I've heard. Um, and I really, um, not to make it about me, but I really resonate. Some people know my father used to deal drugs.
What role does self-worth play in the lives of those Laita interviews?
And so I kind of lived at different times in that world, not me personally, but you know, I would be in the kitchen and open a bag looking for something. There'd be 14 pounds of weed, you know, and we lived always. Which was illegal back then. Oh yeah. It's probably still legal. You might as well say it was cocaine. Well, there was that too, but he tried to hide that. But I would go, you know, I would be told as a kid, go in the basement and they would party all night in the basement or something. I'd go in the basement and there would be like a black Sabbath mirror with Coke and a rolled up $20 bill. And I was, you know, I was nine years old, but I was told to clean up. But it became this thing I knew enough to know that the powder on this was like, I would be in trouble if I got rid of that.
So it's this weird thing of like, and then I would ask my dad questions like, what is that? Oh, we were playing a game or, you know, just lie to me. But, you know, eventually you figure out what's going on. Did you ever get tempted by that stuff? No, not really. When I come on your show, we'll talk about my issues with drugs.
How does Mark Laita's upbringing influence his work?
I would love that. I want to talk about your work. So I know that you were born in Chicago. I'm sorry, born in Detroit.
I was born in Detroit, but I moved to Chicago right after the Tigers won the World Series in 68. So I was a little kid. So I moved to Chicago in 68, 69. We moved to what was Hinsdale at the time, but it was actually Darien. Hinsdale is a very wealthy suburb. It wasn't that. It was the exact opposite.
Sure.
And they've since changed the name to Hinsdale isn't wanted anymore, so now it's Derry.
Is this a parents needed move for work or type of thing?
Yeah, my dad used to work at General Motors Styling in Detroit, and then he quit that job to become a sales rep for Industrial Racks.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What motivates Mark Laita to document society's invisible people?
0:00–0:35
2
How does Mark Laita gain the trust of his subjects?
0:35–1:19
3
What systemic issues contribute to homelessness and addiction?
1:19–1:55
4
How does Mark Laita view the limits of charity?
1:55–2:13
5
What role does self-worth play in the lives of those Laita interviews?
2:13–3:12
6
How does Mark Laita's upbringing influence his work?
3:12–4:05
7
What are the ethical considerations in documenting vulnerable communities?
4:05–5:00
8
How do music and storytelling intertwine in Laita's life?
5:00–1:13:41
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