Joe Rogan Experience #1910 — Mark Laita Transcript

Transcript

0:00 The Joe Rogan Experience. And now today I binged a bunch of them preparing for this. about. I don't hear that term anymore, but I remember it back then. And I always thought it from society? And you do that for decades, and you get burnt out, I wanted to do something different. While I was doing advertising, I would sneak away whenever I had a hole in my schedule, which wasn't often.

3:51 but you didn't really know if, you know. But it didn't really – like I would sit at a table when somebody's looking at it And I realized if I'm going to make this really stick the way I wanted it to, And I loved doing it, but I never really did anything with that until I started. Jesus, I just hit a grand slam my first time at bat. My mom died, went through a divorce.

6:44 and I'll start doing those portraits and those interviews I was doing on Skid Row before They had to be perfect. I decided this was my project. This is what I'm going to do. But when I first started, it was like, by the end, I was like, I remember I wanted to photograph the Hells Angels, the motorcycle junkyard dog of a biker opens the door and says, what the fuck do you want? And I'm like,

9:46 Cisco Valderrama and Flash, Did you ever read Hunter Thompson's book Yeah. Yeah. Because it doesn't bother me. This is the main concern with advertising of pharmaceutical drugs because it's all people having the best time, like at a picnic, running through a wheat field. And like you, this could be you. I love what I did in advertising, and I'm so proud of that work.

12:46 Or do you think we should leave that up to people or educate people on the effects of it the same way people are trying to educate people on the effects of social media and what it what because of like people that actually review things and talk about things on social media It's that simple. your own mental health with interviewing these people? I've heard that many times.

14:57 great you know they're gonna great they're big you don't need to do eight or ten in a day like it's just yeah do you have children i do i have two daughters 19 and 22 yeah so that to me was No, no, no, no, no. Yeah, it's a big, And, you know, people say, oh, your work is exploitive. And it's going to repeat the pattern over and over and over. Like where are the dads?

18:01 and even though they've done it doesn't mean they didn't break down and relapse tomorrow, you know, today. change their routine and change their environment and eventually broke through. But I think you need And they're doing the drug just to escape the pain of what happened to them when they were seven years old with their dad or uncle or brother or whoever.

20:14 Well, it seems like it has to come from the individual. them, to transport them, to get them therapy, to, you know, all the drugs, all that mental health I'm doing a YouTube channel, shooting or editing. And these people are sitting on their phones telling me what to do. They can't get off their ass and maybe clear off their bank account to save somebody?

21:47 Skid Row is a neighborhood. If you go to visit Chicago, you spend the whole time downtown. In LA, you should not go downtown. The cops will roll by. when we were filming Fear Factor downtown we filmed a lot of episodes of Are you aware of that story? Cecil. Cecil's notorious. Oh, I've heard like hundreds, I think. And it's always, none of these stories are as simple as,

25:35 It's really bad in L.A. and San Francisco. None of these people are down and out and just like, oh, my God, I'm homeless. So you peel back the layer of drug addiction, and you've got mental health. health issues somewhat, but they still don't know how to do all the things that we all know how to like if I had something like that or a meeting to go to,

27:42 you could be handed a million dollars. Here's a winning lottery ticket. No. Yeah, yeah. raised me was like, I can't imagine a better... I really think the problem... So you start going Boyfriends were abusive. And if you're a dude, you're going to become a drug dealer or a gang member, and you're going I was cool with it. Yeah, yeah. He's probably in his 70s.

31:23 I'm talking to him as if I'm talking to you right now. Like I could be interviewing or interacting with, it's not I asked him about that, and he said, I suspect something might have, and who knows if that's the truth or what. or the president yeah well it comes across and it you have a very good way of getting these people over the course of my life,

32:51 that makes people just relax and trust me condemn him and say, you're so fucked up. It's just like, let me just hear your story. Because It's all over the city. I'm one person. from one of your videos are very small. Yeah, I'm a Pollyanna. I don't think that'll ever change. You name it. I'm not eating anything different. I think it was on your show,

36:23 that I'm interviewing, Right. I'm already starting to do that. as the drug addict Young kid, 20, I think he's 28, I think. Held him for a while, and then he fell 4,000 feet. He blacked out, and he hit the ground, broke his— My friend Brian, his dad worked with this lady who was a skydiver, says not a drug addiction it's not a sex addiction it's it's a adrenaline addiction yeah

39:14 Do you go through them yourself? Yeah. They just happened to get caught up in some quicksand that they just cannot get out of. And he was a great guy, a really intelligent guy, could play musical instruments, could do complex math in his head. to get him to get off of them. to come clean and feel better and that was the last time I saw him. And he was so funny and he's so smart and so interesting.

42:55 and they're also so self-destructive. But back then I didn't do anything. you know, spend his time trying to rob people in pool games, who just couldn't stop. They just couldn't get their life in order. They kept sabotaging their watch him just in just could not escape whatever the the gravity the magnetic pull the the addiction I suspect, you know, there's a lot of these people that are schizophrenic or they have

46:09 so that's why you're a drug addict. but I have not encountered anyone Skin grafts? It'll come on the news if it's successful. CRISPR-modified skin grafts to treat addiction. Interesting. Right. Yeah. And you're living in the streets. It's just going to take you down They'd all be gone in the fourth week. I mean, it's just the human condition is very fascinating to people

50:44 another one that i encountered when I was in the pool halls, Yeah, procrastination. impulsiveness. Well, that's a lot of people that get into running, marathon runners and triathletes But we have this drive to do something extreme, it seems. Yeah. I really consider when I started it maybe, you know, I kind of started and I've had three studios down on Skid Row.

53:50 just get a job. and they just, every day of the year, I know what you're saying. I used to go down there, safely and not get hassled yeah so I've and especially on skid row I've handed out so much Part of the reason I'm just doing drug addicts is because I'm in L.A. and Skid Row is right here. So, I mean, I just came back from New Orleans. Because, God, I get emails every day of the year, people wanting to buy that book.

56:52 Coal miners. Wow. They're all diptychs. Oh, my goodness. so right there top right oh no right there that one these are polygamists in utah on the left and a detroit pimp and his girls cool. So they're kind of Yeah. I knew Bishop Don Magic Juan from Chicago. because he's been in movies with Snoop. Most of the new age pimps are just gang members that are, they found a new hustle.

59:46 That's the culture. wants that. But, except maybe some pimps, but what they don't understand is these guys, going nowhere. So he provides some benefits and security and guidance. interviewed a lot of people that have done that. Really? and I, you know, I got away with it and I people, I say, yeah, I robbed a liquor store I would love to, but I've only interviewed

1:02:59 he witnessed a murder he was told to shut the fuck up when he came to my studio he approached me and And I'm listening to the way he talks. he's such a great speaker. And I love listening to him, even when he's just talking about what time he's going to be there. a single noise i said thank you at the very end and that was it and that's the way i love

1:04:43 photograph. The reason why I asked you about cops is I feel about cops the same way I'm not good at that anyway. That's not my strength. My strength is the photograph. The reason why I asked you about cops is I feel about cops the same way I'm feeling about you, Every time they pull up to a car that has tinted windows, they have no idea what's going on. No, after doing what I'm doing, which is not as

1:05:59 One of them is police posts and faces of Rampart is another one. And then they also develop this horrible cynicism I'm like, listen, man, I know cops. because of my martial arts background i grew up with cops i was around cops from the And then someone gets a cell phone video of that and they post someone planting a gun or doing this but you can't really just shoot back

1:08:21 killed both of them. and you come home to your wife and like how was your day honey yeah and you're in simi valley with of society is, we sort of formulate our idea I sleep really well. them that are very hard to unfuck and when things go sideways and their life is fucked, like trying to bring them back and to somehow or another pump money and resources into community centers and education

1:12:14 this is the way to do it. Yes. I mean, why are we looking at all the doing all these crazy things in other countries or going to the Mars or wherever the wherever we're thinking? How about even run the same way if that happened because don't you need all these poor and disenfranchised also got this ultra super the billionaires and the multi multi-millionaires and they're both

1:14:09 oh, they're not spending enough money to fix this homeless problem. And then he talked to someone raises. Like what the fuck is going on here? It becomes an industry. And then fixing the homeless, and you think that must be effective we're going to fix this but nothing gets done no And I don't... When you think about what are the strategies that these people are employing,

1:16:49 They're teaching trigonometry and algebra and all these things. All of the above. you just well it hurts my feelings if you say it to me yeah but but mostly you're carrying it And we're not told that. And it's the rarest of rare of people that lead like that, Yeah. Love is bullshit. Like the way my mom loved me. That she would have loved me the exact same way.

1:20:23 that had a mom like mine. They want the fast buck. Yeah. Well, they're not taught that that's something you should strive for. And when Yeah. Which is so strange that we have this sort of watermark in our mind of what our value is. Right. Maybe. Yes. Stephanie, and they were talking about how when they get apart from each other, and it's infected this and that

1:24:36 gabor mate's work in schools oh my god we'd be a different society yeah. Yeah, we would be a different society. And just a few classes like that could community. And it was the first time I'd ever been around like a really positive community of people who valued hard work and also valued people who excelled at that hard work and really admired And from that one day, it changed my whole life.

1:27:08 You're fucked from birth. No opportunities. He was like, oh my God, this is just corruption and systemic racism. And you're not going to fix The thing in front of your face. Unfortunately, there's a lot of culture that has emphasized that. being a pillar of the community, you aspire instead to being this thing that's very difficult And that's a sign of a good, strong, healthy community that we do look out for people that are less fortunate than us.

1:31:11 There's a lot of us. Your channel is part of that. I think that's spreading. And then also if you do give them to your kids, So they have to kind of brag a little and tell you a little of this they've done, a This is an old expression. Right, but the thing is like what our society values in terms of when we look at someone who's great. Well, I try to instill in my kids the value of hard work,

1:35:06 combination makes me a successful artist and I remember watching my dad my dad never came home Yeah. And stayed married forever. and it's 1130 at night and you've got to figure it out. Yeah, that's real. And there's a value And I still think of myself as a Chicagoan who's just, but I am a Chicagoan through and through. Like you're getting into what? You're going to what event? What club? And they eventually

1:38:09 And you're smiling and, but they live for that moment. That's true. Yes. But what are you doing? A lot. uh, six of the top 10 have been demonetized or deleted, deleted, deleted. Which ones got deleted? So somebody reported it and it got deleted. Even the foot fetish guy? No, I think it's because, but it's very valuable. And the idea that someone at YouTube

1:42:21 I spend in the first two weeks of every month. So they can find that one that was deleted from Instagram? There's a lot of videos that are not, that's going to get my whole channel taken down. than what I'm doing, and the spirit behind it is that this is cool. Whereas the spirit of mine is like, Yeah. When you want things censored that you don't agree with, what you have to understand is that you're setting in motion something that will look for more things that are offensive, more things that are not allowed, and will decide even further and further to push this

1:45:37 I mean, the best example is like when a gang member or a prostitute video gets demonetized, which really means I can't make money on it, So you can't be under 18 watching this. It's got millions of views. And it is, in a way, it's educational. Yeah. Oh, yeah. All these people. the antelope. That's just the way it happened that day. The antelope Well, I mean look at what's happening

1:49:35 Yeah. Listen to anybody who's done like, like Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Jerry West, all Right. it's Michael Jordan Because he was angry at- Like he had them on a sheet, None. Yeah. Fire. Yeah, fire. She went through college in three years. That's harsh. spiral downward or you silently get angry and my sister and i joke about all the time now the

1:53:28 The wanting to understand why we self-destruct, why we self-sabotage, why the society is broken, But I know what you're saying. gives me the confidence to proceed and do more. And like, oh my God, this is so much fun. going to prove him wrong I'm going to prove everybody wrong I'm going to show everybody But you wanted him to know. Well, that's great.

1:56:24 Right. I could make a strong argument for why it is. I mean, I always was soft and nice and loving, which I've already heard, and they're horrifying, Yeah, for sure. But if you hear the whole story and what they went through So many people liked it because it was just like, oh, my God, that's me. That's what the second half of our talk is all about, is how he views life and values where he's at in life.

2:00:17 And I'm like, this is great timing. Hemorrhage. and I want to get her up to speed on everything. But right I need to see how you speak, right? Yeah, that is that's a problem that I've had just telling me your name and where you're from. and I'm from advertising I'm slick storytelling is what I'm looking for. I tell people all the time, rather than telling me the

2:03:05 How often do you consume these videos? set. I'm using natural light. So the sun is going behind the clouds. The sun is moving a day so I have to remember like were you molested by your uncle or your dad I does those interviews and they you know a lot of people will bring me somebody that they know or How'd you find them? to photograph. It was just like, let's just see what we can find. And we're in a truck stop,

2:05:56 So we did. And the first day we did this, we shot this person, we shot that, we shot a third, and then it started raining. So we come back, and he says, when you come back, make sure you bring video cameras. I'm like, I don't do video i'm sorry just and then turns into a dirt road. So we're going down this dirt road and then we come around this bend

2:08:38 at it's like their eyeballs are going this way and a single tooth among them not a single tooth The inbred family, the Whitakers. I'm not right. You graduated from what? come on out Here he is right here. And, you know, we pull the cars over me and the cop get out I think one of the sisters just points to the trailer home across the road. So I just like, okay, I'll check in with you later.

2:12:45 So I have the ability to take pictures of the family. It's a bit of a production. and they're all respectful. yeah. Because a lot of people in that area know about them and like to drive by and throw eggs What if I took photos of the family and I gave it to you guys? Timmy and Freddie were cool. and I'll take your photo with your brothers. So his pants fall around his ankles.

2:16:18 dude, you just got to pull over the car. I just need to soak in what just happened. So years go by. and they're my favorites. You can't because I have these rules that I set for my project for Soft White Underbelly where I kind of do it in a studio. I have a video camera in my pocket. think I could use it, but then, but then I, I just proceeded. I made it as long as I could. I asked

2:19:21 And then the parents were cousins on top of it. Yeah. And then who knows what other I don't understand it. uh, this family, first double cousins share all four grandparents. Okay. So this family was deeply Because even though YouTube demonetized that video, I've given them lots of money now. Family tree someone put together. There you go. People want more videos from them all the time,

2:22:26 People want to see them weekly. but, man, some of the most horrific. I still see her. between the vagina Who's going to do something? But it's interesting because I'll put up gang member videos and some of the audience is like, oh, I hate these gang members. and the only sort of value that he found ever Eventually, I'd like to go to every state There's an about section up at the top of the screen, I think,

2:25:02 After this. It's showing the massive problems that we have in raising human beings in these gigantic cities. That's what's even more fucked, right? Thank you very much. Appreciate you.