Film: Crowd Pleasers (Private Parts; Selena)

WHAT makes a star? Why do crowds fall in love with A rather than B, when the sober observer can see no difference, and may even find both insipid or distasteful? Two new movies, however obliquely or indeed unconsciously, address this topic.

Private Parts, based on Howard Stern’s first quasi-autobiography, is amusing and goes down all too smoothly. It is the story of a father-bossed, gangly Jewish youth from Long Island, who evolves into an enormously popular disc jockey. I am at a disadvantage here, never having seen Stern on TV or heard him on radio; the more outrageous, Sterner stuff is soft-pedaled in the movie. Some find this craven and dishonest; I myself am not sure whether, in the case of Howard Stern, less isn’t more.

JS

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John Simon

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WHAT makes a star? Why do crowds fall in love with A rather than B, when the sober observer can see no difference, and may even find both insipid or distasteful? Two new movies, however obliquely or indeed unconsciously, address this topic.

Private Parts, based on Howard Stern’s first quasi-autobiography, is amusing and goes down all too smoothly. It is the story of a father-bossed, gangly Jewish youth from Long Island, who evolves into an enormously popular disc jockey. I am at a disadvantage here, never having seen Stern on TV or heard him on radio; the more outrageous, Sterner stuff is soft-pedaled in the movie. Some find this craven and dishonest; I myself am not sure whether, in the case of Howard Stern, less isn’t more.