THE town of Odd, West Virginia is a quiet, rural countryside, despite all the buzz surrounding the infamous inbred family, The Whittakers, who live within it.
Two YouTubers have shared an inside look into Odd as they documented themselves traveling down a windy two-lane road.
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Shane and Melody from Real Appalachia came right off the local interstate to explore the West Virginian community, located along Tommy Creek in Raleigh County.
The town of Odd isn't actually a town at all, but an unincorporated community, meaning that there is no local government.
When choosing a name for their community the people "wanted something odd and unique and so they chose odd and it stuck," Melody said in the video.
Shane and Melody originally thought that there were only two buildings in town - the post office and the church.
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However, during the video, they stumbled upon an elementary school that they believe was converted into a home.
"That is the cutest little school," Melody said.
She added: "It just looks like a cheerful little place."
"I bet that was a happy elementary school to go to, don't you think?" said Shane.
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"Oh yeah," Melody agreed.
The landscape was "beautiful" with rolling hills and a small pond.
"Looks like a nice peaceful place to live," Melody said.
Shane even said it "feels like home."
The houses in the coal mining country are scattered around the overgrown land.
In the distance, the pair even found a mansion, although most homes are modest.
"People seem very nice, " Melody said.
"They do," Shane agreed.
They passed the Whittakers' home but didn't explore further to be respectful of their privacy.
THE WHITTAKERS
The inbred family has been featured in a series of videos by filmmaker Mark Laita from Soft White Underbelly.
Laita's first video of the family was released in 2020 and has been viewed on YouTube more than 28million times.
The Whitakers suffer from physical and mental abnormalities which could be due to generations of inbreeding, Laita suggests, but this remains unconfirmed.
In this first documentary with the Whitakers, Laita speaks with three siblings: Betty, Lorraine, and Ray. Other family members appear as well, including a nephew named Timmy.
At first, Betty would not confirm whether her parents were related to one another.
"There is no way I would be able to confirm that the Whitaker parents were related, but I would bet that inbreeding was at least partly responsible for the mental and physical abnormalities seen in Lorraine, Freddie, Ray, and Timmy," Laita wrote in acaptionaccompanying his film.
But a year later, in 2021, when Laita again followed up with the family, Betty did confirm that her parents were related - they were double first cousins, the filmmaker said.
SPEAKING IN GRUNTS
In a recent video shared two months ago, Laita documented the familyaround their home while breakfast was being made.
In thevideo, you can hear one of the family members grunting as it's his means of communication.
"They understand what you talking about," one of the Whittakers said.
"If they don't like it, they start yelling, let you know they don't like that idea."
After breakfast, a tour of the Whittaker home was given.
It's in a decrepit state with trash all over and flies coming out of the freezer.
There's a bed in the small kitchen, and their bathroom is covered in filth.
Their bath doesn't have a showerhead, and there's a bucket filled with an unknown liquid in the tub.
While they live in squalor, they don't seem to go hungry.
Their fridge and freezer were filled with food, and in another video, the family membersfilled three shopping cartswith an assortment of food, clothes, and other household goods during a trip toWalmart.
PERPETUATING STEREOTYPES
Shane and Melody have shared their views about the Whittakers and how their documentation reinforces inbreeding stereotypes.
The pair claimed that Laita "ostensibly is doing all this good work for them and raising money for them" but that the documentary "perpetuates the stereotype that has been around for decades" relating to inbreeding in Appalachia.
Shane and Melody claimed that the more than $50,000 raised for the family from a GoFundMe created by Laita for the Whittakers was given to them "in parts."
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"I just feel like a lot more could be done for these people," Melody continued.
"I think he's trying to act like he's doing a lot for them."
