According to the science fiction film “Demolition Man”, in 2032, toilet paper will be replaced by… three shells. But how to use them? Stallone, who plays the hero of the film, has his own idea.
As the famous Demolition Man celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, we take a look back at a very specific element of the film which has long captured the imagination of spectators, and which still remains today considered an insoluble mystery of cinema.
In this action and science fiction feature film directed by Sylvester Stallone, police officer John Spartan, cryogenically frozen for “reckless homicide”, wakes up in 2032 and discovers a seemingly idyllic society, free of crime and violence.
In this futuristic world where cars fly and bad words are punished with fines, citizens no longer use toilets like they used to. Indeed, as a completely taken aback John Spartan discovers, the good old toilet paper has been replaced by… three shells!
Three shells of seafood waiting quietly near the bowl, placed on a promontory, where we used to find the traditional roll of paper.
In Marco Brambilla’s film, Spartan gets out of this bad situation by uttering a whole series of profanities, and using the ticket paper to satisfy nature. But nothing tells us how he should have gone about it if he had had to use the famous shells.
Since the release of the feature film, obviously, fans have come up with their own theories on the subject, and have long sought to elucidate the mystery on the forums. Even if no official explanation has really been provided on the subject, Sylvester Stallone revealed his solution in 2006, on the site Ain’t it Cool (relayed by Screenrant):
“Okay, this might border on the grotesque, but the screenwriter explained it to me this way: you hold two of the shells like chopsticks, gently pull, and scrape up what’s left with the third. You asked for it, you have it !”he explained.
Warner Bros.
“You have to imagine a bidet”mysteriously added Sandra Bullock in 2013 on MTV. “There are always multiple processes. You have number 1, number 2, and then cleaning.”
As you have understood, unfortunately no one has clear and precise instructions on the subject, and that is what makes all the humor of the scene.
As for how the three seashells were invented, screenwriter Daniel Waters explained during a Q&A session on Reddit that he was wondering how to decorate toilets in a futuristic way, and that one of his colleagues, on the phone, had described to him the small bag of shells that sat on his own toilets.
Enough to imagine one of the most famous scenes from Demolition Man.
(Re)discover our video dedicated to Sylvester Stallone…