Summary

• The three seashells in Demolition Man remain a mystery, though Sylvester Stallone may have revealed their gross secret in a 2006 interview.
• Sandra Bullock also offered her own humorous take on the three seashells, likening them to a bidet and musical instruments.
• The three seashells were a simple addition by screenwriter Daniel Waters to distinguish the futuristic world of 2032 in Demolition Man.

The Demolition Man seashells are one of the most bizarre aspects of the future in 2032 presented by the outlandish Sylvester Stallone sci-fi movie — and despite over three decades passing since its release, many still wonder exactly how the citizens of the future use seashells instead of toilet paper. In Demolition Man, Sylvester Stallone plays John Spartan, a cop who is cryogenically frozen for 40 years. He awakens in 2032 in San Angeles to stop his old enemy, Simon Phoenix, wreaking havoc. However, 2032 comes with a lot of changes, including the three seashells method of using the bathroom.

Demolition Man's utopian version of 2032 reveals a world where war is a thing of the past, while substances like cigarettes and alcohol have been banned. Another curious change is toilet paper being replaced with the Demolition Man seashells. Spartan understandably finds this utterly bemusing, which isn't helped by no one successfully explaining to him how the three seashells work. The sci-fi joke has taken on a new life since the movie was released with many viewers wanting to how this new bathroom method works and even hoping for an answer in a potential Demolition Man 2.

Demolition Man is available to rent or purchase on most digital platforms, such as AppleTV and Amazon Prime Video.

The Three Seashells Are A Gross World-Building Mechanism

Stallone Offered His Own Detailed Understanding Of Demolition Man's Best-Kept Secret

Stallone's rather gross reveal behind the long-held mystery confirms that Demolition Man made the right decision by keeping the truth about the three seashells hidden from the audience.

In the years since the movie's release, many have speculated how the three seashells in Demolition Man actually work. The movie itself doesn't actually provide an answer, and much like Demolition Man's contactless high five, the three seashells were simply a bit of fun world-building that deliberately weren't fully explained. Though Demolition Man screenwriter Daniel Waters was protective of the truth behind the Demolition Man seashells, Stallone himself revealed how they work in a 2006 interview (via Ain't It Cool News):

OK, this may be bordering on the grotesque, but the way it was explained to me by the writer is you hold two seashells like chopsticks, pull gently and scrape what’s left with the third. You asked for it…. Be careful what you ask for, sorry.

Stallone's rather gross reveal behind the long-held mystery confirms that Demolition Man made the right decision by keeping the truth about the three seashells hidden from the audience. Not only is it funnier that Spartan is never told how to properly use them, but the truth according to Stallone makes it questionable if that is a cleaner method compared to the supposedly barbaric use of toilet paper of the past.

How Sandra Bullock Explained The Three Seashells

Bullock Joked About The Ongoing Demolition Man Mystery

Sylvest Stallone wasn't the only star of the movie to offer an explanation of Demolition Man's three seashells. Sandra Bullock, who starred in Demolition Man as Lenina Huxley, was asked about the mystery behind the three seashells (via MTV), and she gave her own take on it. Bullock went into even more graphic detail while also jokingly mocking the interviewer for having to have this long-lasting movie mystery clarified:

"Well, think of a bidet, right? There's several processes. You have number one, you have number two, and then the cleanup. You can use them as little maracas as well. See, it's a musical instrument, and it's a hygiene element. It was obvious. It was obvious to me when I read it. I thought you were an intelligent man, but obviously not."

Why The Three Seashells Made It Into Demolition Man

Screenwriter Daniel Waters Shared The Simple Origins

The three seashells aren't central to the plot of Demolition Man at all, but they are one of the most widely discussed elements of the movie. They were conceived by screenwriter Daniel Waters as one of several aspects of Demolition Man specifically included to distinguish his vision of 2032 from other futuristic sci-fi movie. Though Waters has never explained the three seashells, he has revealed how he conceived of the idea, feeling that bathrooms of the future would have some kind of unique features.

Despite the legacy of the concept of the Demolition Man seashells, Waters admits that its creation came about in a very simple and fitting way for the silly idea (via Den of Geek):

"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.'”

The fact that the three seashells are such a small joke in Demolition Man and that there was not a lot of thought put into it makes it even funnier how popular it has become. Demolition Man has become a cult classic in the decades since it was released, and the fact the seashells are still so widely discussed and speculated on cements the brilliance of the idea and shows how the absurdist future Waters created resonates with audiences in a strong way.

How The Three Seashells Became A Meme

Real-World Connections Popularized The Idea Again

The surprising shortage of toilet paper at the beginning of the pandemic suggested the ideas of the future that were seen in Demolition Man were smarter than they appeared.

Like anything online in the current day and age, social media memes can take on a life of their own, and the Demolition Man three seashells meme was born in 2007. It regained popularity in 2020 when connections were drawn between the COVID-19 pandemic and the world presented in Demolition Man. Along with the contactless society of 2032, the surprising shortage of toilet paper at the beginning of the pandemic suggested the ideas of the future that were seen in Demolition Man were smarter than they appeared.

To further cement the concept as part of pop culture history, on February 8th, 2008, Urban Dictionary listed an entry titled "Three Seashells," further explaining the proper procedure. The Demolition Man three seashells method has now become the stuff of legend, bringing the movie sporadically back into the spotlight.

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  Demolition Man

  Summary:

  In the 1993 action movie Demolition Man, Sylvester Stallone stars as time-displaced police officer John Spartan, who struggles to adapt to the year 2032 after being cryogenically frozen for messing up a job. However, his old-school skills come in handy for innocent cop Lenina Huxley (Sandra Bullock) and the futuristic city of San Angeles when the criminal Simon Phoenix (Wesley Snipes) is thawed and the complacent authorities don't know how to react.

  Release Date:

  1993-10-08

  Budget:

  $57 million

  Cast:

  Sylvester Stallone, Wesley Snipes, Sandra Bullock, Nigel Hawthorne, Benjamin Bratt, Bob Gunton

  Director:

  Marco Brambilla

  Genres:

  Action, Crime, Sci-Fi, Thriller

  Rating:

  R

  Runtime:

  115 minutes

  Writers:

  Peter M. Lenkov, Robert Reneau, Daniel Waters

  Studio(s):

  Warner Bros. Pictures

  Distributor(s):

  Warner Bros. Pictures