How do you explain this? Did these people understand at all that the heart of the movie is about how taking the red pill will free you from the Matrix?

My guess is they didn't get the message of the movie and just liked it for the effects and action scenes. And they just wanted to watch it and say it was cool because everyone else said so. Or they did sort of understand the message of the red pill for a bit during the movie, and then once they finished it, they completely forget about it and indulge in their fears due to their blue pill mentality

When the movie first came out, I didn't take it seriously because I had been an anti-conformist at the time and assumed if something was popular, it must've sucked. It wasn't until years later that I actually watched it and understood it, only because most MGTOWers considered it one of their favorite movies