Younger people might not realize how bizarre Dark Star was when it was in theaters in 1974. There were outraged citizens organizing a few scattered boycotts and pickets---mostly in redneck small towns.
At the time there was very little science fiction in movie theaters, and an SF movie that was full of bizarre black comedy really disturbed a lot of people....the usual objection was the tired old "my kids watched it and how dare you make such a cynical nasty un-Christian film!"
True story: watch the computer displays for "FUCK YOU HARRIS". That was the name of the distributor.