As the dawn of a new millennium approaches, people from all walks of life find themselves asking questions like "what will become?" and "what will destiny bring in the next century?" An event that happens but once every thousand years brings with it a sense of anticipation. In some, this anticipation is one of nervous fervor, and in others, it may be a cautious eagerness for a fresh start. Whatever the polarity of this event may be on the individual, one cannot help but notice the way the millennium is engulfing our society.Thousands of clever devices in our society pull for our attention every day using what is referred to by many as "Millennium Madness." Through using our anxiety, hopes, and fears for the new century, governments, corporations, and artists use various forms of media to get their agendas to our consciousness. One of the most popular comes in forms of moving pictures. Commercials tap into the madness by proclaiming their product is the official one of the millennium, while huge corporation hope that somehow through this moving picture many will trust them and make their product part of the millennium experience.Another popular form in this particular medium is movies. Movies, although seen by the majority as entertainment, offer another chance to get ideas to the masses. One movie in particular, The Matrix, uses millennium madness in a much different way. The Matrix not only entertains with dazzling effects and stunts, but at deeper levels it challenges our very existence. The Matrix, to put it simply, is a graduate thesis on consciousness in the sheep's clothing of an adventure flick.Keanu Reeves plays Thomas Anderson by day and "Neo" the computer hacker by night. His world can be divided into two existences; one analog and the other, digital. In his analog world, he gets up, goes to work, and does everything that a "normal" life would entail. In his digital world, he lives in a virtual space with no ru...
