In our weekly seriesAnatomy of a Nude Scene, we're going to be taking a look at (in)famous sexscenes and nude scenes throughout cinema history and examining their construction, their relationship to the film around it, and their legacy. This week, the king of all media himself, Howard Stern, brings his schtick—but thankfully not his dick—to Private Parts!
Howard Stern's narrative is as familiar to his legions of fans—many of whom are likely readers of this site—as their own, with Howard's personal story being a crucial part of his entire persona. His 1993 autobiography "Private Parts" was the first comprehensive distillation of his life and fame, and while fans predictably ate it up, it proved an enormously popular gateway for outsiders to see Stern in an entirely new light. Diehard fans were already privy to the fact that most of Stern's famously confrontational schtick was indeed just that, schtick. An act. A character he played on the radio for four hours a day to their delight and his detractors' chagrin.
Stern has since become as close to a beloved household institution as someone whobecame famous for talking about their own penis can become. However,it's this dichotomy that made Stern such a legendary figure in the first place. He can simultaneously appeal to both sides of a given argument because half the audience knows that it's an act and he likely believes the opposite of whatever he says, while the other half of the audience clings just as adamantly to the fantasy of the fictional Stern.
Like any bestselling book, Hollywood was eager toturn "Private Parts" into a movie, and Howard was eager to rebound from his failed attempts to turn his superhero parody character Fartman into a feature film. In 1992, J.F. Lawton—the writer behind Pretty Woman andUnder Siege—was hired to write and direct the film, but they were undermined by the studio's desire for a PG-13 product, which was a bit absurd considering the parties involved.Stern would be met with this same reluctance to produce an R-rated film after the success of Private Parts when he tried to revive that particular project.One can see why Howard might have been reticent to ever make a film.
In an interview with Rolling Stone at the time of the Private Parts' release, Stern told Rich Cohen that he was most upset by the Fartman deal falling through because he had promised his fans he was going to finally make a movie...
When the deal fell through, he accordingly felt a kind of shame most people suffer only in private. It was like bragging about a girl, then she breaks the date. “I was really in a depression,” he says, rubbing his neck. “Here I’d gone on air and said, ‘I’m going to make a movie.’ I sort of felt like a liar. I looked like I had failed.”
In that great circle of entertainment life sort of way, this failure would be the impetus for Stern creating the book "Private Parts," which in turn became Simon Schuster's fastest selling book in their history, making it inevitable that Hollywood would eventually come calling to turn this thing into a movie. Several versions manifested over the years, one with Jeff Goldblum playing Stern, another had Rocky director John G. Avildsen pitching Stern as a man againsta corrupt broadcasting system.
Howard played hardball and got final script approval, signing off on the 1997 classic we know and love today. He ultimately wanted no compromises in terms of content, bringing all the sex and nudity one might expect from a Howard Stern production, where it made sense aesthetically with the plot, of course. Oftentimes the nudity is gratuitous, such as when Howard welcomes a fully nude Jenna Jameson into the studio for a chat...
Other times, it's used as a humorous plot device, such as when B-movie queen Melanie Good strips down in the tub with Howard and Fred...
The film also uses a handful of interesting documentary-styleinterstitials to get members of Stern's Wack Pack—such as Crackhead Bob and bodybuilder Nicole Bass,both of whom are no longer with us—into a story in which they don't really figure. This gives them more opportunities for nudity like when Carrie Flaska plays a topless woman in the car who refuses to be nude in the movie...
Probably the most talked-about scene in the film, however, involves the buxom Theresa Lynn calling in to Howard's show wanting to be brought to orgasm by the shock jock. He gives her some directions to straddle her subwoofer on her sound system while he makes a series of crazy noises to pull off an on-air first...
Just as the literary world embraced Stern, so too did the equally snobbish world offilm criticism. It may be anecdotal to say that the film got good to great reviews at the time of its release, but even Rotten Tomatoes' current score for the film of 75% is mostly comprised of reviews contemporary to the film's theatrical debut. The serious critics had sanctioned Howard's buffoonery and the film was a box office hit. It more or less launched Paul Giamatti's career—so brilliant as Pig Vomit—and showed that Stern was capable of being a Hollywood leading man.Of course, he didn't needor want to go down that path.
I hope you'll excuse a personal digression, but assomeone who came of age in North Jersey during Howard's renaissance, I've always had a personal connection to this film. I was 17 when it hit theaters and I had a license and a car, so I was the guy who saw Private Parts a half dozen times so all of my buddies who didn't have transportation—or weren't allowed to see R-rated movies—could become Howard acolytes for all time. The more people at my school listening to Howard every morning, the better, because it gave us all something to talk about. That's what Howard has always done better than anyone else in the business. Sorry Bonnie Raitt.
Catch up withour most recent editions ofAnatomy of a Nude Scene
—Neve Campbell Wastes No Time Making Her Nude Debut in When Will I Be Loved
—Amy Locane GetsCarried Awayfrom Melrose Place to Bang Dennis Hopper
—The Shape of WaterOpens with Sally Hawkins Masturbating in the Tub
—Jennifer Jason Leigh Gets the Drop on Bridget Fonda inSingle White Female
—Monique Gabrielle EnsuresBachelor Partyis an Affair to Remember
—An Entire Generation of Men Saw Bare Breasts for the First Time inCaddyshack
—Maggie Gyllenhaal Holds Nothing Back inSecretary
—Demi Moore Took a Record Paycheck to HeadlineStriptease
—That Time We All Fell in Love with Kelly Preston inMischief
—What Happened with Marisa Tomei's Nude Scene fromUntamed Heart
—Cybill Shepherd is Uncomfortably Relatable inThe Last Picture Show
—Penelope Cruz Does Very Different Nude Scenes Playing the Same Role inOpen Your EyesandVanilla Sky
—Joyce Hyser Becomes an 80s Icon inJust One of the Guys
—Charlize Theron Lands on the Map with2 Days in the Valley
**Click Here to Read All Past Editions of Anatomy of a Nude Scene/Anatomy of a Scene's Anatomy**
