Encino Man: Actually kinda fascinating, or am I missing something?

Okay, so I rewatched Encino Man the other day, fully expecting it to be the vapid 90s nostalgia trip I remembered. And, yeah, a lot of it is. Pauly Shore is dialed up to 11 irritating, Brendan Fraser's caveman schtick gets old fast, and the plot is thinner than the ice Link was frozen in. But... there's something else there, right? I'm not going crazy? Specifically, I'm thinking about how the movie handles Link acclimating to modern society. Initially, he's just a source of slapstick and culture clash gags, but there's a subtle commentary on the superficiality of high school social dynamics. Stoney and Dave, the 'losers', suddenly become popular because of Link. The cool kids are drawn to the novelty, the 'otherness'. It feels like a bizarrely prescient critique of how trends and manufactured 'cool' work. Remember the scene where Link just naturally excels at skateboarding, completely unintentionally becoming a trendsetter? It's almost Lynchian in its absurdity. Like, what is the point here? And then there's the ending, with Link choosing to stay in Encino instead of, you know, finding other thawed-out cavemen (presumably). Is that supposed to be a commentary on the allure of suburban comfort? Or just a convenient way to wrap up the plot? I genuinely don't know! I feel like I'm reading too much into a movie that also features Pauly Shore yelling "Weeze the Juice!", but I can't shake the feeling something is more complicated at play. So, am I the only one who sees a kinda-sorta clever subtext hidden beneath all the Valley dude silliness? Or am I just projecting my own anxieties about the meaningless of life and the fleeting nature of trends onto a dumb comedy? Hit me with your thoughts!