Your friend is right in that sound designers aren't always striving for kitchen-sink realism. Tentpole film sound design is often subjective and hyper-real, on

Your friend is right in that sound designers aren't always striving for kitchen-sink realism. Tentpole film sound design is often subjective and hyper-real, only because it's both meant to denote how something actually sounds, as well as how the sound makes us feel.