The 3 Shells From Demolition Man

I have to admit that I have an unhealthy admiration for the movie Demolition Man.  I also have to thank DenofGeek UK edition for giving me something to write about on a freakishly slow day in movie news.

As the author of the article Simon Brew states, Stallone was more Judge Dredd in this movie than he was in the movie of the same name.  Stallone, Wesley Snipes, Sandra Bullock and Nigel Hawthorne (may he rest in piece) all starred in this absurdly fun action comedy.  It really had no plot, except a killer wakes up from hibernation and sets out to kill and destroy.  My kind of film.  But there was one scene, well..actually it came up a couple of times, for the need for our recently thawed out hero to "use the facilities."  The problem was, toilet paper apparently was obsolete and was replaced by 3 shells.  The picture above is a scene where after Stallone can't figure out how to use them (famously mocked by Rob Schneider) he curses his way into enough tickets to wipe his ass.  When you are given a problem, you create a solution.

But the question has been, at least since 1993 when the movie came out, was how did you use the 3 shells to clean yourself?  The question was never answered in the film, and inquiring minds want to know..how did they work?

While we may not know the how they work, we are one step closer to understanding them.  We now know how they came into being.  Screen writer Daniel Waters explained their inspiration at a question and answer period in 2014 at a screening of The Adventures of Ford Fairlane ("My hair!")  Here's what Waters said:

There's a scene where Stallone has to use a restroom.  I'm trying to come up with futuristic things you'd find in there.  I was having trouble, so I called my buddy, another screenwriter across town, asked him if he had any ideas.  Ironically enough that guy was taking a dump when he answered the phone, looked around his bathroom and said, 'I have a bag of seashells on my toilet as a decoration?'  I said 'Okay, I'll make something out of that.'"

So we still don't know how the 3 shells work in the future so one can wipe their ass, but at least we know how the idea came to be.  Maybe in another 25 years the true meaning behind this world changing device will be known, and we can enjoy the 3 shells while listening to Bill and Ted's music changing the World!