In the film industry everyone knows they're being taken advantage of, it's very explicitly discussed at the lowest ranks of production. It's just that it's the only entrance to the field if you aren't wealthy or heavily connected. You have to suffer until you build your network and credits enough to pull yourself up. There's little to no delusion, just embracing the suck.
People will always be willing to suffer (maybe even enough to skirt paternalistic regulations that were enacted to protect them) when there is such an imbalance of supply vs demand. “Everybody” wants to be a movie director or actor or make AAA games but few such positions are available. It’s not a delusion if it’s a known gamble. I admire them for it, tbh.
> “As we’ve seen in other industries, in the early years, companies will burn through 20-year-olds like fuel to grow whatever business they’re in,” said Andrew. “But after a certain point, you’re going to either run out of people, or those who have been in the industry for a decade and now have kids just won’t stand to be treated that way any more.”
Union movements are on the rise because the status quo is a result of a power imbalance, not from necessity. If there are less movies with better VFX made by healthy staff, then so be it.
And, of course, there is no way for everybody to pull themselves up. You have to hope that you are one of the lucky few, while the rest are ground up and spat out by the machine.
