A famous American television screenwriter swapped fame for a career as a marriage and family therapist years after writing the script for a huge 2000 film. Philip Stark is best known for his work on South Park and the film Dude, Where’s My Car?, which features Ashton Kutcher and Seann William Scott as two goofy characters. The stoner comedy movie received mostly negative reviews from critics, but it did achieve box office success at the time of its release. Writing in The Hollywood Reporter this month, Stark reflected on his life as a young screenwriter and explained why the cult classic would « never be made today ».
« It made its production costs back the first weekend, and ended up being solidly profitable. Not exactly a smash hit, but certainly a success, » Stark wrote in his opinion piece.
He then went on to explain that 25 years since the film’s release, he rewatched Dude, Where’s My Car? and « cringed at the humour ».
He also pointed to jokes targeting “transgender people, ethnic minorities, women, gay men, religious cults, and Fabio ».
« What made me cringe is how, 25 years later, some of the comedy feels so dated, even offensive. Sure, the tone is light and silly, and the humour comes largely from the charming and stone-y performances of Ashton and Seann, » he said.
Stark also said that after this happened, nothing he wrote got made into anything, and commented that he was « experiencing defeat » after so much early success as a screenwriter.
« I went back to graduate school, got my master’s degree in psychology and became a therapist. That’s right, the guy who wrote a movie about two stoners who can’t find their car now wants to ask you about your mother, » he continued.
Dude, Where’s My Car? is the only film Stark has ever written during his career. He is also the author of a book on talk therapy, which is titled « Dude, Where’s My Car-tharsis? »
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