I'm an underdog person, so I align myself with those who seem to be not considered valuable in polite society.
I would not encourage everyone to take up this profession. Not everyone is suited for any particular field.
Realism is always subjective in film. There's no such thing as cinema verite. The only true cinema verite would be what Andy Warhol did with his film about the Empire State Building - eight hours or so from one angle, and even then it's not really cinema verite, because you aren't actually there.