It's probably easier to spot if you're older because absolutely everything in that movie screams reference to past cultural artifact. So you'd be looking for th

It's probably easier to spot if you're older because absolutely everything in that movie screams reference to past cultural artifact. So you'd be looking for that in every detail. A younger person would be more likely to take the plot elements at "face value", as original or as standard story tropes. That said I was around 15 at the time I saw it so recent history probably had a lot to do with it. AIDS was in the news a lot more in the 90s.