In 1999 Larry and Andy Wachowski wrote and directed an American science fiction action film entitled The Matrix. The film depicted a future where many humans might perceive it to be real, but it is actually a simulated reality. The Wachowski brothers made many explicit references in their film based on the work of French sociologist Jean Baudrillard. In Jean Baudrillard's essay entitled “Simulacra and Simulations” he mentions how society has replaced all reality and meaning with the representation of symbols and signs. Baudrillard begins with an example from Borges's story, “the cartographers of the Empire draw a map in a detailed way that ends up covering the territory exactly (but where, with the decline of the Empire this map frays and finally ruins)” (365 ). He is explaining how a flawless map rots while the territory on the map still remains. He goes on to explain that “it is the map that generates the territory and if we were to revive the fairy tale today, it would be the territory whose shreds are slowly rotting on the map” (366). This story wants to underline that our modern society is playing the role of the map, which self-destructs and the territory represents its simulation. It clarifies that simulation is "the generation through models of a real without origin or reality: a hyperreal" and "hyperreal: the simulated generation of difference without any distinction between the real and the imaginary" (lecture slides 3/6/12 ). One very obvious scene in particular that clearly shows the existence of Baudrillard's argument incorporated into the film is at the beginning of the film where Neo opens a copy of Baudrillard's "Simulacra and Simulation". The place where Neo keeps his black market software... in the middle of paper... with his personal touch. Works Cited Baudrillard, Jean. "Simulacrums and Simulations". Ed. Julie Rivkin and Michael Ryan. Literary Theory: An Anthology. 2nd ed. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., 2004. 365-77. Print.Vartan P. Messier . “Baudrillard in The Matrix: The Hyperreal, Hollywood, and a Case of Improper Reference.” The cinema diary. 2004-2006The Film JournalWikipedia “Watergate Scandal”Jim Rovira, Drew University. “Baudrillard and the Matrix Trilogy” subvert the mechanisms of control: ©2003IMDB “The Matrix” < http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0133093/synopsis>Sparknotes < http://www.sparknotes.com/film /matrix /section1.html>