[huffer]

But indeed, if they had the _option_ to escape from reality from time to time, people like Cypher would be happier (I know I am when I do it :D). Indeed the irony of partaking precisely in the thing that you fight against is there; however, what they actually fight against is the enslavement by it, not the casual enjoyment of it: it's bad to be a medieval serf forced to toil the soil, it's quite another thing to play gardener to take your mind off the day..

They have an unsophisticated, binary view of the world (for plot reasons, I guess) while some nuance and tolerance would have had made a more realistic and_human_take on the situation.

[Teever]

Agent Smith: Do we have a deal, Mr. Reagan?

Cypher: You know, I know this steak doesn’t exist. I know that when I put it in my mouth, the Matrix is telling my brain that it is juicy and delicious. After nine years, you know what I realize? Ignorance is bliss.

Agent Smith: Then we have a deal?

Cypher: I don’t want to remember nothing. Nothing. You understand? And I want to be rich. You know, someone important. Like an actor.

Agent Smith: Whatever you want, Mr. Reagan.

Cypher: Okay. I get my body back into a power plant, re-insert me into the Matrix, I’ll get you what you want.

Cypher didn't just want to eat fake steak, to him that wasn't enough. Ignorance is bliss. He wanted to eat fake steak and not know that it was fake.

[gurchik]

To add to this, in most media that shows virtual reality, people who are addicted to it are also shown. Those people, even knowing it is not real, still enjoy riding roller coasters or whatever. Yet in The Matrix franchise there isn't a single person (that I know of) that is addicted to training programs or some such.