Never before have one man's Private Parts been so widely revered. But, then again, never before has there been anyone quite like Howard Stern. The self-anointed King of All Media-who already boasts the number one-rated, nationally syndicated radio show-plans to add another jewel to his already well-adorned crown with the release of his cinematic debut this Friday. The crown fits rather nicely-and, in vintage Stern form, he will not mince words in telling you so.
"First of all, the movie is funny," asserts Stern in an exclusive interview with R&R. "We've got people rolling in the fucking aisles when we're testing this movie. The whole thing I ever wanted to do with this movie is make people laugh just like I do with my radio show....We're giving you a movie that you can really fucking laugh at."
Private Parts-based on Stern's 1993 best-selling autobiography of the same name-has, according to Stern, tested higher than any other movie in Paramount Pictures history, including Forrest Gump. Such success is a testament to Stern's status-for better or worse, depending on who you ask-as a bonafide American cultural icon.
"I believe that I am the most interesting person on this planet right now," proclaims Stern without a moment's hesitation. "Why so? Let's go through history-who do you think has been more interesting? I mean, look at what the fuck I've done. I'm doing it. I've been fined by the United States government $1.7 million. I mean, nobody causes this kind of action. I can't even walk out of my house without some fucking celebrity wanting to kill me.
"Right now, the timing is right and there's a fascination with me. But there are people who don't get the radio show and have these preconceived notions-and those are the people I'm trying to reach."
And because he does swing so drastically on both ends of the public opinion pendulum, Stern recognizes the challenge in appealing not only to those who love to hate him, but also to those who simply hate him-from puritanical parents to the Federal Communications Commission. There is, after all, good reason why the word "taboo" has never found its way into Stern's vocabulary.
"There are people who have preconceived notions about me-mainly that I'm humorless," explains Stern. "There are people who will read [this] article and go, 'Hey man, fuck Howard Stern-I hate the guy. He's a scumbag and all he does is say "penis" on the radio.' And while I do say 'penis' on the radio, I also say a lot of other things. We do a lot of pretty good comedy, I think. The show is about making people laugh."
And during his rise from obscurity to celebrity over the past twenty years, Stern's name recognition has known no limits because Stern himself has not. This is a man who invented Lesbian Dial-a-Date and a gay God to do his show's weather-and who once even joked about his wife's miscarriage on the air. For four hours every morning, Stern and his on-air cronies-sidekick Robin Quivers, producer Gary Dell'Abate and writers Jackie "The Jokeman" Martling and Fred Norris-take their celebration of puberty to lofty heights. Simple formula, overwhelming popularity.
Yet Stern's is a success story that came only after enduring years of frustration and head-butting with radio management, who fought him in his quest to hijack the airwaves with his no-holds-barred schtick. And, as Stern reveals, the heart of the movie lies precisely in the tale of this struggle.
"This is the story of a guy who sucked in radio and somehow, through sheer force and through some inspiration, became the number one radio star," he says. "The management fought him, every station I went to tried to fire me, tried to boot me out of there or tried to sabotage what I was doing. And as wild as I got, there was a woman who stuck by me: my wife. For the first time, I can reveal to the audience what I'm like at home, what that personal life is like, what kind of woman would travel the country with the king of toilet radio. It makes for a really good personal story and a really good professional story."
Howard Stern prides himself on, above all else, his originality. And, therefore, he holds disdain for those disc jockeys-like rival Don Imus-who he believes swipe his material and fail miserably in their attempts to imitate him. But, in the end, to out-Stern Stern continually proves a most futile task.
"To me, when I heard I was a 'shock jock,' it kind of implies that there are so many guys out there who are talentless, who have been inspired by what I do and they get on the air and say 'penis' and 'tampon,' I mean like third graders," offers Stern. "What I've always tried to do is reach into my memories and into my experiences, and everytime I feel like I'm censoring myself, just go ahead and blurt out what it is I wanted to say."
Such a self-uninhibited approach earned Stern the label of "shock jock," a moniker he particularly resents. The real shock, he contends, lies not in his routine but rather in his surprise at people's reactions to what he does.
"What's amazing to me is that, after the show is done and people call up and complain or write letters and complain to the FCC, I am genuinely shocked by what they're offended by-because I'm offended by almost nothing," says Stern. "I go, 'You're kidding, you're offended by this. It's funny shit, why would you be offended by it?!' So I am truly the 'shocked jock,' not a 'shock jock.'"
The 43-year-old father of three daughters, who currently reaches more than 18 million listeners in 35 major markets with his daily radio show, first began with an audience of one. Ever since he was a kid watching "all the great comics," he recalls amusingly, "I used to do little shows into my tape recorder and they almost sound like my radio show today. Maybe those were on a third grade level; my show's on a fourth grade level."
Fans who have read his autobiography can rest assured that the movie will retain Stern's trademark polished immaturity which they have come to know and love-and, in many instances, worship. While the medium may change, the task-to portray himself-does not.
"When I wrote the book, it was the hardest thing I ever did," says Stern. "I gotta say that actually being in the movie, and this particular movie, was probably the most gratifying experience of my career. The reason I liked it so much is that I always felt deep down inside that I could make a movie that would really entertain the masses, I mean make people really laugh."
Tomorrow, Howard Stern's Private Parts goes public. It's his newest endeavor, though in it he maintains his oldest objective, one that has sustained him through the high and low points characteristic of his life-quite simply, to make people laugh.
"It always sounds so weird for a guy who's in a movie to tell people, 'Go see this movie, it's really different,'" says Stern. "All I can tell you is that the test audiences have proved to me-when I see people rolling in the aisles and laughing-we haven't seen a good comedy in a real long time. This thing, I think, is the real deal....This is not some kind of fucking Pauly Shore movie or Coneheads. I mean, this a real movie."
Words directly from the horse's mouth-or the horse's ass. It depends on who you ask.
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