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I saw it in theaters when it was first released (and we're about the same age), and I don't think its scathing social commentary was as obvious to me then as it is now.
Although I'm not sure if this was intentional or not, one element I didn't at all identify until much, much later was the nature of Phillip Glass's soundtrack to the film. Like any other movie, the soundtrack attempts to accommodate various points of the film, but the one to this movie plays out in such a way that it sounds like the score to any hollow, derivative fluff you might see on network TV- which is more or less what I understood the writers of this film to be criticizing (that and the fact that millions seem to gobble it up without question). If I'm just reading too much in to this, it's still a very nice soundtrack from Glass. 
Nevertheless, I don't find it to be as thoroughly disturbing as you have remarked. Although the essential plot would be unsettling in its own right, the fact that it's intrinsically tied in to its satirical depictions of media and consumerism tends to take a lot of the edge off.
That said, maybe I've just become too accustomed to the presence of reality television in all its grotesque forms to be as disturbed by it as I should be. 
Here's a quote from a professional reviewer which sums it up nicely:
"Not even the more risk-taking alternative cinema, the Independent Film, has been so ruthless in its umbrella indictment of movies, television, music, advertising, commercials and infomercials."
Full Review
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