Why doesn't John Spartan know how to use the 3 shells?
In Demolition Man, shortly after Spartan is thawed out, he tries to use the toilet after which he declares they have 3 shells where the toilet paper should be.
Later on in the film when Spartan finds himself knitting without thinking about it, we find out that everyone who was frozen went through a program during their sentence.
So my question is if they could teach prisoners new skills while they were frozen then why would they miss out something so fundamental as using the toilet properly?
My first thought was that the programs were predetermined before the sentence but then I realised that Simon Phoenix's program was altered to give him access to the cities' computers and a bunch of martial arts skills along with his mission to kill Edgar Friendly.
Best Answer
The prisoners were exposed to
subconscious rehabilitation techniques
Instead of stealing or killing, the prisoners are "brainwashed" to do other, more harmless, stuff, e.g. knitting. Keeping them up to date with social and technological changes is not part of the program, which is why
the revived John Spartan has trouble adapting to life in the future
Spartan and Huxley check prison records and determine that Cocteau programmed Phoenix to make him an even more dangerous criminal and assassin, with the goal of eliminating Edgar Friendly.
Simon Phoenix's rehabilitation program was "hijacked" by Cocteau, e.g. Pheonix knows the password to open his restraints, which allows him to escape, and, as security measure, he has been programmed not to harm Cocteau (which he circumvents by simply ordering one of his goons to kill him).
Pictures about "Why doesn't John Spartan know how to use the 3 shells?"
How are you supposed to use the 3 seashells?
\u201cHe doesn't know how to use the three seashells!\u201dDo you even know how do you use the 3 seashells?
He then called a writer friend for inspiration, who revealed he kept seashells in his bathroom as a decoration. How they work was once revealed by Stallone in a 2006 interview, explaining that a writer told him '...you hold two seashells like chopsticks, pull gently and scrape what's left with the third.How does the three seashells work in Demolition Man?
John Spartan's daughter was cut out to shorten running time. Maybe Lenina Huxley could be the step mother of John Spartan's daughter in a sequel if it happened.Buying Eggs: What Matters (And What Doesn’t) | Epicurious
More answers regarding why doesn't John Spartan know how to use the 3 shells?
Answer 2
For the most part, in the U.S. our education systems don't teach us all of the intricacies of daily living and social norms. Sure, you can learn some basic life skills such as cooking, but using a toilet is typically taught as you grow up, by your parents. We don't know for sure, but in their society there may have been a subtle shift from toilet paper to the three shells. Parent swould change their teaching to match their preferences.
To someone of that time it seems ridiculous that someone wouldn't know how to use the three shells because everyone was taught to use them at a young age. So they wouldn't think "Oh, these convicts used to use toilet paper, we need to teach them to use the three shells." It's just something you wouldn't even think about.
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Gustavo Fring, Gustavo Fring, Ann H, Andrea Piacquadio